The Buzz: There is a good reason why McCormick Ranch hosts more than 1,000 scramble tournaments a year. No, that’s not a misprint — three per day, book it. These guys have turned scrambles into a science, but that still won’t work if you don’t have something special to offer, and McCormick has plenty. Created in the early 1970s, this place set the standard for resort golf in Arizona for about two decades, and what makes that all the more impressive is that it’s not part of a resort. Confused? Not surprising, considering that the guy who designed the McCormick courses is known as the “Mad Scientist” of golf. British-born Gordon Desmond Muirhead worked his magic on this place, and if that name doesn’t ring a bell, it might be because he had a falling out with his former partner, a guy by the name of Jack Nicklaus, while the “Golden Bear” was creating Muirfield Village. Anyway, “Gord-o” had a flair for the bizarre, but didn’t really go to extremes until later years (at Aberdeen he designed a “Marilyn Monroe green” with two large mounds, topped by “nipples”). Fortunately for McCormick, he showed up in the Valley earlier and created a pair of beauties that are scenic, challenging, player-friendly and well-conditioned.
They also are far more traditional than Scottsdale’s upscale, desert-style layouts further north, and this location is splendid, near the heart of the city’s cultural and night-life venues. This one, the Pine Course, is the more straightforward of the two and lives up to its name with mini-pine tree forests framing many of the holes. It also is the tighter of the two and, if you’re not careful, those pines will make you wish you packed a chainsaw. If you’re game for playing from the tips, it is longer than the Palm Course at 7,157 yards with a rating of 74.4 and a slope of 130, and isn’t as benign as it appears. There are several blind tee shots (pay attention to the GPS system on the carts), sand often comes into play, water is prominent on five holes and the shortest par 3 from the tips is 184 yards.
Among the memorable holes are Nos. 4, 6 and 15. The fourth is a 537-yard par 5 that requires a 200-yard carry over water and that 40-acre lake runs down the entire left side, then cuts close to a very deep and narrow green. The sixth, which is the No. 2 handicap hole, is a 423-yard par 4 with an approach shot over a lake that must avoid trees on the right and a pot bunker guarding the right side of an island green. No. 15, the signature hole, is a beautiful and brutal par 4 at 458 yards with an island fairway and an island green. Because the water cuts across the fairway on a diagonal, ball position and club choice off the tee are crucial. You need to cross three bridges to reach the green, and the up-and-down on this hole is as tough as any on the course.
When you’re done, relax in a clubhouse that offers some of the best hotdogs and cheeseburgers you’ll find at any 19th hole in the Valley, plus some awesome views of Camelback Mountain and the always-entertaining ninth hole on the Palm Course with its island fairway and peninsula green. Chances are, you will be coming back to play that course tomorrow because it’s even more popular and scenic than this one.