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Apache Junction Central Arizona

Apache Creek Golf Club

The Buzz: You won’t find it listed among the Valley of the Sun’s prominent courses, but Apache Creek is an enjoyable layout with just enough challenges to keep you focused and its rates make it a good value play. Set in the far Southeast Valley in Apache Junction, and free of housing and other development, the course maneuvers through the desert with low-lying fairways, medium-to-large greens and minimal bunkering. There are two lakes and a large pond, which are connected by a narrow stream that brings strategy into play on several holes on the back nine. This is one of those courses that would work perfectly as the second round of your 36-hole binge.

Designed by Joe Alsip, the course is dotted with indigenous ironwood, mesquite and Palo Verde trees and offers generous fairways but some rugged transition areas between them. It also has an island green, several strategic doglegs, some nice mountain vistas and four sets of tees, ranging from 5,315 to 6,785 yards. The par-71 layout is rated at 71.3 with a slope of 123 from the back tees.

Highlights on the front nine are the fifth and sixth holes. No. 5, a 529-yard par 5, is a sharp dogleg left that plays into a prevailing wind with a lake along the right side of the fairway and a single Palo Verde tree in the middle of the fairway that always seems to get in the way. The sixth is a 145-yard par 3 to an island green in the middle of that same lake.

After the turn, No. 12 is another good par 3, at 153 yards, with a tee shot over a lake to a green with a bunker on the back that can make for a difficult sand shot back toward the water. A stream from that lake cuts across holes 13, 15 and 17 in menacing fashion. No. 15 is a double dogleg par 5 at 548 yards with the stream cutting across just in front of the green in the spirit of famed Rae’s Creek at Augusta National. The same is true at 17, where the stream crosses in front of the green and connects to a large pond near the left front corner of the green and end of the fairway.

The finishing hole can be a beast of a par 4 at 490 yards from the tips. You can shorten it considerably by cutting the corner on this severe dogleg left, but if you come up short of the fairway, an endless waste bunker awaits.

Apache Creek has an older, ranch-style clubhouse with a full golf shop, bar and grill and a western ambiance. Practice facilities include a generous driving range that has mobile shade and a misting canopy to help beat the summer heat, putting and chipping greens. Combine all of that with scenic views of the Superstition Mountains and Four Peaks, reasonable green fees and Internet specials, and it’s easy to see why this is a popular course among local golfers.

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Anthem Central Arizona

Anthem Country Club – Persimmon Course

The Buzz: This course, which opened in 1999, is the first of two excellent championship layouts created by designer Greg Nash at Anthem Country Club, five years before the Ironwood Course was unveiled in this master-planned community. Persimmon is the more traditional of the two and remains the favorite of many members at this private club. The par-72 course has six sets of tees, ranging from 5,405 to 7,253 yards and is rated at 74.9 with a slope of 141 from the tips. Lakes bring water into play on six holes.

It is best known for its 18,000-square-foot green complex that serves as the green for both the ninth and 18th holes, but there are several more memorable holes in this layout, including a three-hole stretch that starts at No. 2. The second is an intimidating par 3 at 197 yards from the back tee with a lake running along the right side and a lake and two bunkers on the left and playing slightly downhill. No. 3 is a 556-yard par 5 with a 30-foot drop from tee to fairway. Bunkers on the right direct the tee shot to an area where the fairway narrows and the second shot club selection is determined by pin placement. A front-right pin allows for a wood to carry a fairway bunker on the right, and a back-left pin placement is protected by a long, deep bunker short left and a lake on the back left. No. 4, a 440-yard par 4 features a long, uphill dogleg right with a wash running down the entire left side, and tee shots must carry two pot bunkers to avoid grass traps on the left. The three-tiered green is highlighted by a pot bunker on the back right.

No. 9 is a truly memorable hole, a 400-yard par 4 where a tee shot that avoids a large fairway bunker will set up an easy approach. However, a deep canyon separates the fairway and green with a bailout area short right. The double green, shared with 18, is two-tiered with a bunker protecting the back tier. Highlights on the back nine include the par-4 10th and the par-5 16th holes. The risk-reward 10th is the shortest par 4 on the course at 343 yards and plays downhill, but a deep swale runs through the middle of the landing area, setting up a tricky approach and a lake on the left catches errant tee shots. A large green is bisected by a ridge with a bunker back right and water on the left side. No. 15, at 582 yards, also plays downhill to a generous, plateau fairway bisected by a wash. The second part of the fairway, near the green, is divided by a long, snaking bunker with the right side hugging the mountain edge and allows a bold second shot to roll onto the green. Shots to the lower left will not hold the green.

Add it up and this is a course that keeps you thinking for 18 holes, or at least it had better. Anthem offers its members a host of first-class amenities. Locally, it is known for offering two of everything: Two courses, two impressive clubhouses, two dining rooms and bars with formal and casual dining, two fitness centers, two heated pools and two tennis gardens with nine courts, including one stadium court.

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Anthem Central Arizona

Anthem Country Club – Ironwood Course

The Buzz: The goal in designing a second course at the private Anthem Golf and Country Club was to offer a contrast to Persimmon, the original course that opened in 1999. Architect Greg Nash achieved that with the Ironwood Course, which opened in 2004, by creating a layout that features more of a dunes look with its large, shallow bunkers. “Especially for the members, we wanted a different look and feel,” said Nash, who designed both championship courses in this master-planned community. “I think it’s every bit as nice as the first course, but it definitely is different. This one, I think, is more strategic.”

Part of that strategy on a course framed by Daisy Mountain comes from the 65 bunkers that force golfers to play the smart shot instead of the aggressive shot. There are eight sets of tee combinations, ranging from 5,405 to 7,253 yards on the par-72 layout, which is rated at 74.8 with a slope of 146 from the back tees. Plus the surrounding mountains and wind shifts can create dramatic differences in the way the course plays. It presents generous fairways, bent-grass greens and a particularly nice variety of par-3 and par-5 holes.

Those par 3s are no bargain. No. 4 plays at 220 yards with a lake wrapping around the front and right side of the green and No. 11 plays at 217 yards to a peninsula green. The 11th is part of a three-hole stretch known as “Anthem Alley,” with all three holes playing into a prevailing wind. No. 10 is a 411-yard, downhill par-4, with a peninsula green that doglegs to the right and has a large bunker guarding the front of the green. No. 12 is a par-5 that stretches to 598 yards with a double dogleg. One lake comes into play on the tee shot, another guards the left-front of the green and a wash cuts across the fairway on a 45-degree angle. Right behind that stretch, No. 13 is the second-longest par 4 on the course at 468 yards with a dogleg left and large bunkers on both sides of the fairway coming into play on the tee shot.

Ironwood also offers an impressive 12-acre practice facility with driving range, practice bunkers, a putting green and a unique feature: Nash designed it with flagsticks in the greens that serve as practice targets but also can be used to create a short par-3 course for junior golfers. Locally, Anthem is known for offering two of everything: Two championship courses, two impressive clubhouses, two dining rooms and bars with formal and casual dining, two fitness centers, two heated pools and two tennis gardens with nine courts, including one stadium court.

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Northern Arizona Prescott

Antelope Hills Golf Course

Antelope Hills Golf Course - Arizona Golf Course Reviews from the Arizona Golf Authority
Antelope Hills - North Golf Course

Arizona Golf Courses – Arizona Golf Authority Golf Course Reviews

Located on the eastern outskirts of Arizona’s “Mile High City’’ – Prescott (5,300 feet above sea level) – Antelope Hills is where the locals play. And they’ve been playing here for quite some time.

Antelope Hills Golf Course - Arizona Golf Course Reviews from the Arizona Golf Authority
Antelope Hills - North Golf Course

The North Course was built in 1956 by one of Arizona’s architectural pioneers, Lawrence Hughes, and embodies traditional values like tight, tree-lined fairways, strategic bunkering and roller-coaster, bent-grass greens.

Avid club players consider the North Course to be an Arizona golf treasure and routinely make the 90-minute drive north from the Scottdale – Phoenix metro area to savor its long-protected and preserved aura from a time gone by.

If stately elms and old school golf is not your thing, tee it up on the Gary Panks-designed South Course, where the links-style fairways and greens are wide open and expose awe-inspiring views of the surrounding Chino Valley and surreal Granite Dells rock formations.

Before and after your round, the on-site Manzanita Grille will handle any food and beverage needs you may have. The patio overlooks the South Course and the Bradshaw Mountains beyond. It’s a full service bar and restaurant affair that’s so good, it serves just as much local traffic that’s not playing golf that day, as golfers who are.

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” – If you plan to stay in town a few days, just make sure you “camp out’’ downtown at the 100-year-old Hassayampa Inn, just a pitching wedge away from Prescott’s infamous saloons on Whiskey Row.

Who knows? A couple of shots at the Palace Bar or Cadillac Saloon and perhaps you’ll see the Hassayampa Inn’s notorious ghost, fondly named “Faith,’’ who keeps an eye on things around the hotel. You wouldn’t be the first to say you did!

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Central Arizona Scottsdale

Ancala Country Club

The Buzz: Nestled in the rugged foothills of the scenic McDowell Mountains, Ancala Country Club is graced by the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert and presents a well-conditioned target-style layout with plenty of challenges and amenities befitting an upscale private club. The par-72 layout has five sets of tees, ranging from 4,344 to 6,815 yards and is an excellent test of length, precision, shot-making and strategy with desert ravines that crisscross fairways and a large lake running the full length of two holes.

Over the years, there has been a series of misinformation about the course that has been misleading. For example, depending on which web site you access, the slope from the back tees will range from 152 down to 139. Ancala’s own score card puts it at 145 with a handicap rating of 73.5. One thing to keep in mind here is that when slope climbs above 135, it’s a layout with plenty of teeth and every review agrees on that one.

Various sites also say that it stretches to 7,000 yards (not really) and list the legendary Pete Dye as the designer. It actually was designed by Dye’s son, Perry, who works with his father, and is a well established golf course architect who has probably done his most impressive design work overseas. One more thing that’s a little confusing is that Ancala CC is not part of the master-planned Ancala community, which surrounds the course and is comprised of 542 high-end custom-designed homes. In fact, the community’s web site cautions its homeowners against using the course for jogging, walking pets and other activities and points out that only members are allowed to play golf there. That said, Ancala CC offers a wide variety of equity and non-equity golf and social memberships and excellent amenities, including tennis facilities and a well-stocked wine and spirits shop.

It has several interesting holes, starting with the sixth, an uphill par 4 at 356 yards from the back tees that features dramatic mounding along the right side of the landing area and a long bunker protecting the left side. Another large bunker protects the left side of an undulating green with a false front. The 15th is a drivable par 4 at 304 yards but demands a well-placed tee shot. The green is protected by a bunker on the right side about 30 yards short of the putting surface and a pot bunker on the left. No. 18 is an excellent par 4 and the No. 2 handicap hole at 453 yards. The green is protected by a bunker on the left side and a water hazard and waste bunker on the right, which will help your approach shot from getting wet, but presents a difficult up-and-down. The green is one of the largest and most undulating on the course. Ancala, which opened in 1991, also has received certification in environmental planning from the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses as a result of its conservation and wildlife enhancement programs.