Tag: arizona golf course reviews

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Lake Havasu City Northern Arizona

Island Golf Course – Lake Havasu

island-golf-course-lake-havasu-photo

Island Golf Course – Lake Havasu
The Island Club executive golf course, which is part of The Nautical Beachfront Resort, has long been known as a fun course with a neat little design. It’s convenient location  in the heart of Lake Havasu City has made it a very popular play.

island-golf-course-lake-havasu-photoCreated by Red Lawrence, whose work is well known around Arizona, the Island Course opened in 1974 and is virtually surrounded by water with excellent views and a nice variety of holes. But in recent years, water issues have been a challenge for the course conditioning staff.

The cost of treated effluent, which is used to irrigate many Arizona golf courses, has tripled in the Lake Havasu City area and the salinity levels of that water have climbed significantly, which can be deadly to normal turf grasses. The resort and city officials have been working to resolve the problems, but players may wish to check on seasonal course conditions prior to teeing it up.

Under “normal” conditions, the Island Course is a fun golf experience in a lovely setting, where you can complete a round in about three hours and have plenty of time left over to enjoy everything the lakeside resort and the city have to offer.

The Island course offers two sets of tees – 4,211 and 3,594 yards – and both play to par 62, with a rating of 60.8 and slope 98 from the back tees. The key to scoring well here is “staying dry,” because lakes and ponds bring water into play on 7 holes and the namesake Lake Havasu is in play on three others. Thick shrubbery and other vegetation line several holes, adding to the challenge.

The front-9 is the tougher test of the two because it has five of the seven par-4 holes on the course; you won’t be bothered with any par 5s here. In fact, the front starts with two par-4 holes, of 351 and 339 yards, and ends with two more, at 342 and 309.

The No. 1 handicap hole is the par-3 seventh and demands an accurate 183-yard tee shot, surprise, over water.

Playing the final three holes in level par is a particular challenge because all are par-3s; 200, 193 and 191 yards respectively. Practice facilities include a driving range and putting green.

After the round, golfers relax at Bogey’s Sports Bar and Grill with full food and beverage service and the patio offers nice views of Lake Havasu and surrounding mountains. Lodging and other amenities are available at the resort proper.

Read the Arizona Golf Course Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Central Arizona Sun City West

Grandview Golf Course

Grandview Golf Course – Sun City West

Grandview Golf Course is the longest and, to many, the most challenging of the 7 golf courses managed by the Recreation Centers of Sun City West, Inc. in the active retirement community located northwest of downtown Phoenix.

Greg Nash designed this course that stretches to nearly 6,800 yards, has water in play on seven holes and, in some cases, as many as eight bunkers lying in wait. While that combination makes it a challenge to any skilled player, Grandview offers four sets of tees, making it playable to all skill levels, particularly those who can avoid the “trouble.”

Like the other Sun City West courses, this one is technically private, but all 7 are now open to public play on a limited basis. Public golfers can snag tee times late in the day during peak season and all day during non-peak season.

Grandview, which opened in 1984, plays at 6,775 yards from the back tees and 5,598 from the front. From the tips, the par-72 layout is rated at 72.3 with a slope of 129.

The front-9 has several standouts, starting with No. 6, a 387-yard par-4 that features a lake on the right side of the fairway, five bunkers running down the left side and three more around the front, right and back of the green.

The 8th hole, a 147-yard par 3, offers up a challenging tee shot over a lake to a green with two massive bunkers behind. No. 9, a 350-yard par-4 is another tester with a mammoth bunker along the right side of the fairway and seven bunkers completely surrounding the green.

You’ll find the signature hole at Grandview after the turn at No. 13, a 575-yard par-5 with two water hazards in play. The tee shot on this dogleg right is over the water to the first portion of a bisected fairway. A lake runs along the right side of the second half of the fairway and wraps in front of the green, and three large bunkers guard the left side of the fairway with two more around the back side of the green.

Just relax here; hit it where you can see it, keep it on the grass and the hole is a whole lot of fun – tweak this recipe and you may have a different experience.

Grandview has full practice facilities with a driving range, putting and chipping greens and a recently opened academy staffed by Drew Reid and Ralph West, who have been longtime popular instructors at nearby Hillcrest Country Club.

The golf shop has a bar and the Crooked Putter Restaurant, which offers a full dining menu. Along with access to six other courses, Sun City West residents have numerous other amenities to choose from, including bowling alleys, tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness facilities and a library.

Read the Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Arizona Golf Course Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/; it’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Central Arizona Glendale

Five Hundred 500 Club Golf Course

500 Five Hundred Club Golf Course - Arizona Golf Course Reviews from the Arizona Golf Authority
500 Five Hundred Club Par-5 18th

Arizona Golf Courses – Arizona Golf Authority Golf Course Reviews

The 500 Club is a terrific combination of fun golf holes in a lovely secluded setting for a greens fee golfers will find reasonable, especially during Arizona golf’s “peak season” winter months.

500 Five Hundred Club Golf Course - Arizona Golf Course Reviews from the Arizona Golf Authority
500 Five Hundred Club Par-5 18th

But no matter what season you play, the rate is always worth the rich payoff received when you literally play up to, around and over the protected mountain preserve of the Hedgpeth Hills. Brian Whitcomb used these rugged outcroppings, together with lakes and arroyos, to produce the fun and, depending on your tee selection, challenging par-72 500 Club layout.

From the tips, the course measures 6,867 yards with a rating of 71.5 and 121 slope. Tee markers are also provided at 6,203 and 5,601 yards; rating and slope are 68.5/119 and 69.8/112, respectively. Par for the course from the forward tees is 73.

This is one of those rare Phoenix golf courses that is not a series of house-lined fairways. Due to its location in the preserve, the only house you’ll see all day is the Clubhouse.

The challenge begins early at the 500 Club so stay focused; the lovely setting here can be distracting. The 553-yard par-5 2nd green is literally butted against the mountains – don’t be long. The 409-yard par-4 3rd doglegs left around them – don’t tug it left, and the 4th offering at the 500 Club is a 4-par 419-yard thrill ride down the hill which leaves you staring at an island green, death-gripping your carefully chosen second-shot club. A second, non-island green shares daily duty here from time to time.

Here’s more fun. The mountainside 161-yard par-3 11th plays 2-3 clubs uphill to a green surface too elevated to see, and the 12th tee is perched at the top of that mountain. The view of the preserve from the 12th tee-box is spectacular, as is the view of your drive on this 380-yard par-4 as it falls 80+ feet to the fairway and lake-hugging green complex below.

At the 500 Club, the native desert terrain is kept alongside the fairways and rarely crosses your direct path of play to the green. In the event that you stray a bit right or left, no worries, you’ll find your ball and likely be able to play it without too much trouble.

The lakes are kept alongside as well; you’ll have to hit it sideways to find them. The only forced carry over water on the course protects the 18th green, but along the right side of the green it shrinks in size to form a narrow creek you may step across if you wish.

The 500 Club is a terrific golf course and we recommend to all our avid club players. The facility is outfitted with all the amenities, including a very generous practice range and a separate 9-hole course named the Futures Course.

The Futures plays at 1,620-yards to par-28 and is the perfect spot to groom a veteran player’s iron-game, encourage a developing player’s full-game and sharpen everybody’s short game. Rest assured, the turf conditions here are maintained at the same high level as those on the championship course.

The 500 Club’s ambiance is “come as you are” and anyone who enjoys golf, at any skill level, will feel comfortable. The staff does an exemplary job of providing an entertaining round of golf for one of the fairest rates in town.

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” for the 500 Club is Dillon’s, on the east side of 59th Avenue, just north of the 101 Loop; you’ll enjoy the drive through the preserve on the way.

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Northern Arizona Parker

Emerald Canyon Golf Course

Arizona Golf Courses Guide List Directory and Arizona Golf Course Reviews from the Arizona Golf Authority.
Emerald Canyon Golf Course - Parker, Arizona

Arizona Golf Courses – Emerald Canyon Golf Course
If your list of Arizona golf’s hidden gems doesn’t have Emerald Canyon, located just north of Parker, Arizona, at or near the top, then you need a new list.

Arizona Golf Courses Guide List Directory and Arizona Golf Course Reviews from the Arizona Golf Authority.
Emerald Canyon Golf Course – Parker, Arizona

Combine great golf course design with stunning Colorado riverside scenery, great course conditioning, quality greens, value for your dollar and a capital “WOW” factor, and it doesn’t get much better than the golf course at Emerald Canyon.

Move this course to Scottsdale, and the green fee would be out of sight; here, most think they’ve climbed to the summit of golf-bargain mountain. Many words have been used to describe Emerald Canyon; “exotic” might be the best.

Located between Lake Havasu City and Parker in the Buckskin Mountains and sculpted out of land better suited as a hideout for the “Hole in the Wall Gang,” Emerald Canyon is a rugged journey that can tan your hide and leave you wondering how they ever got lush fairways to grow here.

Bill Phillips designed the layout which mixes desert-style with traditional golf holes on this unique piece of property that opened in 1991. The landscape here may be the most dramatic of any course in Arizona with its combination of boulders, cliffs, canyons, ravines, stunning views of the Colorado River and surrounding mountains.

Emerald Canyon has received a four-star award from Golf Digest and is ranked as one of the favorite places to play by out-of-state visitors, often drawing golfers from Nevada’s river-side gambling towns just up the road. Despite all that attention, Emerald Canyon has maintained a quaintness befitting a municipal course, perhaps because its owned by La Paz County, Arizona.

Three sets of tees are offered at 6,437, 5897 and 4,756 yards, with a rating of 71.1 and slope of 130 from the tips, and water in play on four holes. That might not sound too scary, but there are plenty of challenges with elevation changes, doglegs, craggy transition areas and strategic bunkering. Sometimes that topography can be your friend, which is the case during a three-hole stretch on the front-9.

No. 4 is a drivable par 4 at 278 yards from the tips with steep canyon walls along both sides that can “kick” errant shots back into the fairway. The undulating green is tucked in a cove on the right side and must be approached from the left, or it leaves a blind, uphill approach over a canyon wall.

No. 5 is a downhill par 3 of 147 yards, which requires you to carry a deep ravine with your tee shot, but shots over the green often get a favorable kick from the mountain wall behind the green.

The 6th also plays over a ravine and has canyon walls along the sides that might provide a friendly carom, but this 397-yard par 4 has a tough green complex at the bottom of a gorge. It’s the No. 1 handicap hole and bogey here is just fine.

The back-9 has another great three-hole stretch. No. 15, a 353-yard par 4 features a rock cliff on the left, large desert arroyo on the right and a tiered green at the base of the canyon.

The 16th, another drivable par 4 at 283 yards, offers excellent views of the Colorado River from a tee perched 130 feet above the green, which is fronted by railroad ties holding back gravel from adjacent hills, giving it a “Jaws” appearance from a distance.

No. 17 is a 524-yard par 5 with a 150-foot elevation drop to a tight fairway and the approach must clear a 130-foot cliff drop-off.

Whether you’re making birdies or bogies here, when the last putt is holed you’ll look back on a day-long thrill ride of fun golf.

The course has full practice facilities and a modest clubhouse with a snack bar. There are plenty of casinos, hotels and dining places to choose from nearby. Wherever you stop, you’ll probably see someone wearing the popular T-shirts that feature a golfer hacking his way through cactus, rocks, snakes, tarantulas and Gila Monsters, with the words, “I survived the Emerald Canyon Golf Course.”

And if you ask them, nearly every single one will say, “Yeah, it was great fun.”

Read the Arizona Golf Course Guide List Directory Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory; it’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Marana Southern Arizona Tucson

Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain

Arizona Golf Course List - Dove Mountain Ritz-Carlton Golf Course - Arizona Golf Authority
Dove Mountain Ritz-Carlton - Tortolita Golf Course

Arizona Golf Courses – Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain
“Jack is Back.” Only 10 years separated Jack’s last two Masters’ victories, but over 25 have passed since Mr. Nicklaus built a golf course in the Tucson locale. Savor a round at the Dove Mountain Ritz-Carlton Golf Club and we expect you’ll agree, it was certainly worth the wait.

Arizona Golf Course List - Dove Mountain Ritz-Carlton Golf Course - Arizona Golf Authority
Dove Mountain Ritz-Carlton – Tortolita Golf Course

You will recognize the Saguaro-9 and the Tortolita-9 as the 7,849-yard 18-hole host venue for the Accenture Match Play Championship televised each February. The Wild Burro-9 completes Dove Mountain’s 27-hole offering and it may be the best of the 3, so don’t skip it.

This harsh Sonoran Desert setting, artfully adorned with the elegant ribbons of manicured golf course turf which televise so well, is genuinely stunning in person. The Tortolita Mountains provide a gentle enclosure from the east, while the vistas to the west from the course’s 3000 foot elevation seem to go on forever. The 3-nines are Nicklaus Signature Design golf at its best. Generous fairways beckon your tee ball among vast expanses of native desert washes and stands of sentinel saguaro cacti.

These are second shot golf courses and the greens are the most formidable line of defense here. Elevated and contoured is the norm, with penalizing run-off areas for the imprecise approach shot. Unless you are a truly skilled player, choose a comfortable tee marker and play your second shots to these inviting targets with enough loft to enjoy holding them; you will be rewarded.

Our take on the raging debate regarding the dramatic undulation Jack built into the greens? They are great fun and they will teach avid amateur players an important lesson.

Mr Nicklaus, perhaps the finest clutch-putter of all time, came back, took a look around and revised them once. The lesson is this; if you’re putting from over there where your ball shouldn’t be instead of over here where the pin is, be quiet, accept your 3-putt, and next time, play a better approach shot.

Visit our Arizona Golf Course Directory List and read the AZGA Player’s Review for every golf course in Arizona at http://www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.