Arizona Golf AZGA Buzz: The Lakes Course is the original course at Westbrook Village, a semi-private club that welcomes public play and offers two distinct 18-hole championship courses.
The Lakes Course, designed by Ted Robinson, opened in 1980. The Vistas Course, a sister facility nearby, was designed by Ken Kavanaugh and opened 10 years later. They are part of the overall Westbrook Village master-planned community for active adults, which offers many facilities and amenities amidst nearly 4,000 homes.
The Lakes Course is a traditional design with mature landscape and trees accented by water hazards, bringing water into play on six holes, and strategic bunkering; it offers a nice contrast to the Vistas Course, which is more of a links-style layout.
Lakes plays to par-71 with four sets of tees at 6,366, 6,003, 5,708 and 5,333 yards, making it the shorter of the two, although it also plays a whole lot tighter. It is rated at 70.3 with a slope of 123 and has back-to-back signature holes, which make for an exciting finish to your first round here.
If, on the other hand, you’ve played here before these two golf holes torment you from the time you unload your clubs in the parking lot as one of the toughest finishing stretches in Arizona.
The 17th is a 183-yard par 3 that requires a full-carry tee shot over water and the vertical face of the retaining wall separating the green from the lake. The only run-on option here is a well played right-to-left runner; bunkers and mounding around the green complicate the execution of that shot.
The 18th demands a choice early: two shots or three to reach the green? The dogleg-right par-5 of 530 yards is certainly reachable but a two-shot plan requires flirting with the water running along the right side of the fairway and through the corner.
The green is elevated, severely tiered and fronted by the same water hazard that compromised the inside corner of the dogleg in the fairway. A front pin on this green is terrifying; short in the water’s no good, and anything above the cup is unlikely to be holed.
Play these two finishers well and life seems so good; spoil a good looking card at 17 and 18 and, well, you’ll join the tormented parking lot veterans mentioned above; it’s a big group.
The Lakes Course pro shop is well stocked, locker rooms and full practice facilities are pleasantly generous and a full-service bar and restaurant completes the package. The Sunset Bistro at the Lakes Course serves up lunch and dinner daily, with a wide variety of menu items, and Sunday breakfast.
Members here receive various playing privileges and discounts, and Westbrook Village residents have access to two recreation centers with swimming pools, tennis, a fitness center, arts and crafts rooms, auditoriums, a library and media center, and social clubs.