Arizona Golf Course List – Arizona Golf Authority Golf Course Guide
This private country club layout, among the last designed by Jay Morrish, is the centerpiece of a sprawling 3,500-acre master-planned community that recently was ranked as one of the top 50 such communities by Where To Retire magazine.
Located northwest of Prescott, Arizona in the Williamson Valley, an area where Phoenix area residents often go to escape the summer heat, it offers a peaceful, serene setting where tees and greens appear to float on a sea of native grasses. The course winds through pinion pine forests, with mild desert terrain in the transition areas highlighted by wispy native grasses.
“The developers offered me the opportunity to design the course wherever I wanted it on the entire property, as long as it appeared as natural as possible,” Morrish said. “When you have that, you can do some pretty special things.”
The course is defined by generous landing areas, deep, strategically placed bunkers and aprons that allow golfers to run shots up to greens – a feature typical of the Scottish links-style courses that Morrish favors.
Among other high-caliber events, Talking Rock has hosted the Southwest Section of the PGA Championship event and from the tips it can be a beast, but golfers have plenty of options here to pick their pleasure or their poison.
Morrish provided six sets of tees, stretching to 7,350 yards from the tips, but plays at just 5,105 from the forward tees. From the back, the par-72 layout is rated at 73.7 with a slope of 136.
The front nine is the more level of the two, winding through pine forests with excellent views of local peeks such as Granite Mountain. The back nine climbs to higher elevations with rugged terrain and even better mountain settings.
Deep bunkers provide the most significant obstacles as there is water in play on just three holes and the par 5s are particularly strong. Those include the never-ending sixth, which stretches to 641 yards, and the 11th, which plays at “only” 563 yards and has a creek cutting across the fairway near the green that adds a risk-reward element.
The ninth and 18th holes, which play at 589 and 542 yards, are separated by a large lake near the end of their two fairways. Both fairways and greens are heavily bunkered.
Talking Ranch offers golf and non-golf memberships and those members enjoy first-class amenities such as fine dining, entertainment, an extensive trail system, outdoor activities and state-of-the-art fitness, tennis and swimming facilities.
Visit our Arizona Golf Course Directory List and read the AZGA Player’s Review for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory.
It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.