ARIZONA GOLF AUTHORITY

Tag: arizona golf course reviews

  • Robo Golf Pro Now in Scottsdale at Boccieri Golf

    Robo Golf Pro Now in Scottsdale at Boccieri Golf

    Thanks to Boccieri Golf and their Robo Golf Pro, you can “feel” your perfect on-plane golf swing, over and over again. Because golfers come in all different sizes, your plane will be a bit different than mine, and a lot different than that guy over there.

    The Robo Golf Pro is computer-coded with your individual physical size, together with your body’s flexibility and movement capabilities to swing you through your “personal” perfect swing plane. Watch the video to see the Robo Golf Pro in action with the Fox 10 News staff in Phoenix.

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    The training at Boccieri Golf mixes repetitions of your perfect plane swing on the Robo Golf Pro with hitting balls. You’ll find the more you feel that perfect plane swing on the Robo, when you step around the corner and start hitting shots, the more often you can reproduce it – and you retain that feeling a little longer each time.

    For the average avid player, the results are immediate. Here’s our only warning: It’s a bit intoxicating. When you have a look at the shots your hitting with a move seems a lot easier than what you were using before, you’ll want more and more of that success.

    Get in touch with Boccieri Golf at 888.788.8374 and schedule a free, 30-minute session. Feeling where your body and golf club should be, makes it a lot easier to get into that position again. And everyone deserves to strike a perfect golf shot, even if you must travel to Scottsdale to do it.

     

     

     

  • Cave Creek, Encanto and Grand Canyon to Host 2016 Phoenix Championship

    Cave Creek, Encanto and Grand Canyon to Host 2016 Phoenix Championship

    It’s time to get your game in shape for the 2016 City of Phoenix Stroke Play Championship. Play begins Friday, April 8 at Cave Creek, moves to Encanto Saturday, April 9 and finishes up at Grand Canyon Sunday, April 10.

    Players must carry a handicap index of 13.6 or below and four flights of competition are available. Players will compete in threesomes with assigned tee times each day, beginning at 6:30 each morning.

    If 54-holes of individual stroke play is not for you, have a look at the other competitive events offered later this year by the City of Phoenix. You’ll find Men’s Net-Stroke Play event, Gross and Net events for Senior Men, Gross and Net Stroke Play for Women, and a Two-Player Team Gross Score event for men.

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  • SunRidge Canyon Golf Club – “Wicked Six” is Wicked Good

    SunRidge Canyon Golf Club – “Wicked Six” is Wicked Good

    From the Excellent Arizona Golf Adventures at the Arizona Golf Authority

    Put SunRidge Canyon Golf Club on your near-term play list and go enjoy one of Arizona’s most demanding, yet rewarding, championship layouts. Owners Don and Cindy Misheff, who purchased the club in 2010, have implemented some serious improvements during their stewardship and the results are spectacular.

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    First, the golf course. Long before the term became popular, avid local players respected Keith Foster’s 1995 “minimalist design” for its maximum challenge. The uphill climb home through holes 13-18, dubbed the “Wicked Six”, is one of the most memorable finishes in town.

    These six closers require precise play to score well, but whatever you post, the spectacular scenery you traverse while playing them always seems to pay off in spades when the last putt is holed, high atop the property on the 18th green.

    Looking down over the climb you just completed you’ll find within yourself a warm feeling of accomplishment and the quiet, rewarding sense of “a day well spent.”

    True to form, the Misheff’s used the summer season to raise the SunRidge Canyon playing experience to a higher level by converting all 18 greens to Champion Dwarf Bermuda. Be advised the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program Trials concluded that Champion achieved STMP meter speeds approaching two feet faster than other ultradwarf cultivar surfaces.

    Which is fine, since most players agree the “Can’t be too thin” and “Can’t be too rich” paradigm includes putting surfaces, “Can’t be too quick.”

    The layout remain the terrific test it’s always been: two precise shots over two transition areas at the picturesque par-4 seventh, an elevated, white-knuckle tee shot at the water-wrapped par-3 14th and the solid, uphill 18th closer. The elegant greens only enhance the experience of playing SunRidge’s artful design.

    sunridge-canyon-golf-patio-four-peaksAnd when the last putt drops, prepare yourself for more great fun: the new Wicked Six Bar and Grill at SunRidge Canyon.

    The hacienda-style clubhouse at SunRidge has always provided one of the best “local hang” spots in town, but now it’s been amped up with a new full-service menu, an engaging staff and a comfortably-modern decor.

    When you add in the elegant indoor-outdoor patio and that panoramic view of Four Peaks beyond, your card totals: great golf, good vibe, wicked fun.

    Visit SunRidge Canyon Golf Club at www.sunridgegolf.com for all the details.

    Click SunRidge Canyon Golf Course Review to read our AZGA player’s review of the golf course.

    It’s one more jewel in the treasure of “All Things Arizona Golf” at the Arizona Golf Authority.

     

  • Wigwam Celebrates 50 Years of Golf With Holiday Scramble

    Wigwam Celebrates 50 Years of Golf With Holiday Scramble

    The Wigwam Gold and Wigwam Patriot golf courses — now that’s a pair to draw to! Split by RTJ, Sr. in 1965, the two original nines are part of the package this holiday weekend.

    The Wigwam Golf Club invites players to join in commemorating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Gold and Patriot courses with its Throwback with Bunkerville, an event Memorial Day weekend, May 22nd through May 24th, that includes a two-person scramble tournament complete with tournament prizes, Stay & Play packages, entertainment and more.

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    All proceeds from the tournament’s Mulligan ticket sales will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Plus, Wigwam is donating $10 for each room booked that night to benefit Fighter Country Partnership, to support the men, women, families and mission of Luke Air Force Base.

    “The Wigwam originally featured just one 18-hole golf course, which was transformed into two separate courses, the Gold and Patriot, by master designer Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1965,” said Leo Simonetta, Wigwam’s Director of Golf. “The Gold and Patriot are true parkland courses woven in and around the natural terrain of trees, lakes, canals and streams. Wigwam is thrilled to celebrate their golden anniversary with fellow golfers who appreciate this rich history as we do, and look forward to introducing these storied courses to those who have yet to experience their magic.”

    The weekend’s festivities include:

    • Lunch, raffle, music by the Big Break’s Rob West and awards celebration
    • Unveiling of historic photos and golf memorabilia
    • Contests and giveaways for guests which feature prizes such as Stay & Play packages, $50 gift cards to Wigwam Golf, HgO and more
    • Live entertainment and dancing with True to Life Band, acoustic guitar with Mary Hoffman and Classic Rock, Jazz, Blues & Country from 60’s to today’s hits with Sunday Drive
    • Lunch at the new Red’s Bar and Grill
    • Fun “Throwback” activities
    • Live Bunker to Bunker Radio remote during the tournament and festivities
    • Golden Ticket kickoff
    • And more opportunities to win through Labor Day!

    “We have a new superintendent, Jason Snyder, and the conditions are better than they have ever been,” said Simonetta. “The great golf certainly won’t stop after Throwback with Bunkerville. We have plans for the whole summer that include weekly promotions and special rates the whole family can enjoy!”

    Every Thursday, Wigwam Golf will feature special greens fees rates of $19.65 in commemoration of the year 1965, when the Gold and Patriot courses first opened. Additionally, every Sunday after 3 p.m., kids can play one round for free with the purchase of an adult round at only twenty five dollars.

    May 25th also kicks off Wigwam’s Summer Splash stay package, which includes rates starting at just $99 plus discounts on cabana rentals, golf, spa and more.

    Click on Wigwam Gold Course Review, Wigwam Patriot Course Review, and Wigwam Heritage Course Review at the Arizona Golf Authority before you play.

    And, for more information on the Gold and Patriot 50th anniversary events and offers, including to register for the tournament, please visit www.bunkergolf.com. To book your room reservation visit www.wigwamarizona.com or call (623) 935-3811.

  • Desert Forest Golf Club Continues Reign as Best Desert Design

    Desert Forest Golf Club Continues Reign as Best Desert Design

    CAREFREE, Arizona – Desert Forest, the first desert golf course ever built is still the best desert golf course ever built. Desert Forest Golf Club enlisted the services of former Coore & Crenshaw protégé, David Zinkand who masterfully designed and implemented a modernization of the golf course in four months’ time, within the club’s $3 million budget.

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    Desert Forest now plays at 7,201 yards from the tips and every green complex was returned to its original perimeter profile, including the restoration of putting surface contours which tend to soften over 50-plus years of service.

    The most prominent visual change occurs here as well as the greenside bunkers were converted from the original oval-shaped design, a Lawrence trademark, to a more natural scalloped, rugged-edge shape favored by Zinkand, who carefully protected the original course design.

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    Desert Forest Golf Club – Hole No. 3

     

    “The routing and the way the course sits naturally on the contours is the genius of Desert Forest, rather than having been graded to suit preconceived notions. Leaving this landscape intact was the most important aspect of respecting Mr. Lawrence’s design,” said Zinkand, a graduate of Cornell University.

    “As we worked on the fairways, I re-contoured those areas so they appear as they did naturally, before the golf course was built. These tie-ins aren’t something that are readily apparent to many golfers, but removing that unnatural visual distraction enhances their experience nonetheless.”

    Over the years, Zinkand has worked for numerous prominent architects, most notably Arthur Hills, Gil Hanse and Mike DeVries. It was as a Design Associate working for Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, that Zinkand contributed his finest efforts, creating feature shaping on many of their projects including Bandon Preserve and Bandon Trails in Bandon, Oregon, Saguaro course at We-Ko-Pa in Fountain Hills, Arizona along with the renovation of Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, Texas.

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    Desert Forest Golf Club – Hole No. 18

     

    Zinkand is especially proud of the greenside bunkers and his newfound signature look. “The bunker edges are rugged. In fact, they are more rugged than even my bunker shaper, Jeff Bradley, was comfortable with at times. I pushed that envelope though to emphasize the rugged, natural character of the golf course. Desert Forest was the first desert golf course in the world! This place is really in the desert! It deserved to draw from that unique heritage and environment,” added Zinkand.

    Celebrating 50 years of unparalleled success in 2012, Desert Forest Golf Club moves forward after an illustrious first half century collecting accolades from Golf Magazine, “50 Greatest Courses in the Last 50 Years,” and “Top 100 Courses in the U.S.”; Golf Digest, “Best 100 Courses in America for 17 Straight Years,” among many other notable awards.

    Click Desert Forest Golf Club Review at the Arizona Golf Authority to read the full golf course review.

    Then, telephone your friend that holds a membership at Desert Forest and do what’s necessary to get it teed up; including an offer to wash and wax their car. It’s a small price to pay to savor the the first, and still the best, desert golf course in the game.

    For more information on Desert Forest Golf Club and membership opportunities, call (480) 488-4589 or visit www.desertforestgolfclub.com.

  • Southern Dunes Golf Club – Ak-Chin’s Great Golf Course Get’s Even Better

    Southern Dunes Golf Club – Ak-Chin’s Great Golf Course Get’s Even Better

    From the Arizona Golf News Desk at the Arizona Golf Authority.

    southern-dunes-schmidt-curley-photographSouthern Dunes has kicked off a significant renovation project to maintain playability for leisure players, while refining its famous championship venue shot-values.

    Ak-Chin Community ownership brought all the principals back to the design table to make sure things were done properly.

    Architect of record, Fred Couples, course architects Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley, and Troon’s design/development experts were tapped to lead the construction project, which will be completed this summer.

    Beginning with a complete bunker renovation phase, turf area expansion will occur between many of the forward tees and landing areas, eliminating forced carries for those choosing to ‘tee it forward,’ and re-vegetation of several areas of the elegant, native grasses will occur throughout the Southern Dunes layout.

    New tees will be constructed for several holes, including No. 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, all 4-pars, and the notorious 3-par 17th. Plans describe a significant redesign here, with an expansion of the green, reshaping of a large dune on the left side, to open sightlines to the hole, and changes to the bunker complexes around the green – the family of three front right, and the “gobble up anything long” beast lording above the back-middle of the green.

    The final component of the construction project is a hybrid conversion of the practice facility, which will be artfully modified to act as a six-hole, “practice ground” short course in the afternoon, serving the Club’s “Player Development/Grow The Game” mission, while remaining one of the best pre-round driving ranges during busy morning hours and peak tee periods throughout the day.

    Visit Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club at www.golfsoutherndunes.com

    Before you tee it up, click Southern Dunes Golf Course Review at the Arizona Golf Authority.

     

  • Golf Bikes Join Segways at Kierland Golf Club

    Golf Bikes Join Segways at Kierland Golf Club

    From the Arizona Golf News Desk at the Arizona Golf Authority

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    SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Long known for its popular Segway golf vehicles, the innovative Kierland Golf Club at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa has introduced yet another new way for golfers to enjoy the course – by bicycle.

    New golf bikes allow golfers to enjoy the game while getting a workout. Designed to create minimal impact on the course and maximum fun and fitness for the golfer, the bicycles feature small-diameter wheels outfitted with wide rubber tires, and two custom-designed golf bags, mounted to the rear of the bike and sized to carry a full set of clubs.

    Nancy Dickens, director of golf at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, shares her resort’s players are looking for fun, new ways to enjoy the game through innovative programs and products.

    “The new golf bikes are another opportunity for us to make golf even more enjoyable for those who enjoy the fitness aspect of riding on the course and who may want to trim the time it takes to play a round,” she said. She estimates that it takes an average of one hour to play nine holes when playing on bikes.

    For information about the new golf bikes at the Kierland Golf Club or to book a tee time, call 480-922-9283 or visit www.kierlandgolf.com

    The Kierland Golf Club is a Troon-managed course designed by Scott Miller featuring 27 holes. The three nines, each with its own unique routing and strategy, pair up together nicely for an equally enjoyable challenge. Golfers rave about the air-conditioned golf carts and covered driving range.

    Kierland Golf Club’s innovative FORE-MAX program helps golfers step up their performance through improved fitness, flexibility and nutrition. With its customized workouts, FORE-MAX is also a popular fitness option for those who don’t play golf.

    For a unique golf experience, Kierland Golf Club offers a Scottish golf program, where golfers play in a traditional Scottish kilt, and Segway Golf, where golfers traverse the course on a Segway specially crafted to carry their golf bag. Traditional golf instruction by award-winning instructors Mike and Sandy LaBauve is offered at the LaBauve Golf Academy and ProFit custom club fitting also is available.

    For the complete player’ review, click Kierland Golf Course Review.

    Then visit the Arizona Golf Course Reviews for a player’s review of every golf course in Arizona – all 325 of ’em. Our Arizona golf course reviews are just one part of “All Things Arizona Golf” at the Arizona Golf Authority.

    The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
    In the heart of “new” Scottsdale, The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa provides contemporary amenities and design while helping its guests to experience the Essence of Arizona through an ever-changing collection of paintings, rare photographs, and commissioned artworks as well as an educational wildlife program.

    The Resort’s full-service spa, Agave, The Arizona Spa, showcases traditional therapies handed down from Arizona’s many cultures of healing, as well as rare ancient treatments infused with the essence of the Far East.

    The rejuvenation continues at the Resort’s 10 unique dining venues, with its renowned Heavenly Bed®, and with premier shopping and dining destinations located adjacent to the Resort.

    Complementing the Resort’s award-winning FUN program for all ages is its Adventure Water Park complete with 110-foot-long waterslide, 900-foot lazy river and the Kierland FlowRider board sport simulator.

     

  • Bill Huffman’s Arizona Golf Blog Sewailo Golf Club & Notah Begay Light Up Tucson

    Bill Huffman’s Arizona Golf Blog Sewailo Golf Club & Notah Begay Light Up Tucson

    From “Huff’s Stuff” Arizona Golf Blog by Bill Huffman at the Arizona Golf Authority

    The golf buzz in Tucson these days is all about the city’s latest, greatest golf course, Sewailo, the first true champion- ship layout to be built in Arizona in the past five years. Adding to the excitement: former PGA Tour player/ Golf Channel analyst/architect Notah Begay has his name on it.

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    Sewailo, pronounced “Say-why-lo,” is an enterprise of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, which also owns Casino Del Sol. The casino is in the southwestern corner of Tucson off Valencia Road, and the 7,500-yard golf course, which is managed by Scottsdale-based Troon, is directly south of the casino.

    Begay and his NB3 Consulting Company served as the driving force for Sewailo, with help from fellow architect Ty Butler and the tribe.

    So what does Begay, a budding star in both the architectural and broadcasting industries, think of his third course, which follows Sequoyah National in Cherokee, N.C., and Firekeeper Golf Club in Topeka, Kan.?

    “It’s vastly different from anything I’ve done yet, chiefly because we had to move a lot of dirt to create the type of big-theater feel we were after,” said Begay, a three-time All-American at Stanford and a four-time winner on the PGA Tour.

    “What we came up with in working with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is a golf course that is a hybrid between a desert and parkland style of layout. It’s a golf course that is in harmony with the desert, and that’s really the heritage of the Pascua Yaquis, who according to their history come from the ‘Flower World.’ ”

    Landscapes Unlimited, which works with Begay on all of his projects that are done exclusively with Native American tribes, had the task of moving 30,000 shrubs and trees, as well as hundreds of saguaros and other indigenous plants.

    According to Begay, the planting and replanting were quite successful on the 100-acre property that includes 14 acres of lakes and 1 mile of creeks. Additionally, there was a massive amount of rockwork done throughout Sewailo, including bridges and green settings.

    “Sewailo has three distinct feels or segments to the golf course,” said Begay, 40, who has an economics degree from Stanford and once shot 59 in a Tour event, the third player in history to do so.

    “There are lakes and streams at the beginning, and then the water disappears and you’re in the desert before the water re- emerges. And from the first tee to the 18th hole, there are lots of wildflowers. That was my goal, to implement the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s story into the golf course.”

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    The Yaquis migrated from Mexico to Arizona way back in 552 AD, where they lived between the Yaqui and Gila rivers. The history of the tribe can be found at www.pascuayaqui-nsn.gov. Sewailo is the Yaquis’ biggest enterprise following the casino, which today employs more than 700 members. The course also could add as many as 75 jobs to the payroll.

    Dan LaRouere is the course’s general manager, after spending the last 20 years as the GM of the Westin La Paloma, also in Tucson, and says the hype for Tucson’s latest property, which follows the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in 2008, “has been off the charts.”

    “This is a golf town with lots of great golf properties, and we’re the new guy in town. Plus, we’re managed by Troon. “It seems that everybody is talking about us, and that’s probably the reason we’ve already booked so many tournaments.

    LaRouere noted, “It’s a beautiful golf course in a beautiful desert-mountain setting, with lots of water, bunkers and wildflowers.” He also labeled fairways as “generous,” with green settings that are “as good as any I’ve seen in Arizona.”

    “The secret will be to navigate your ball through the strategically placed water because it will get you if you hit an errant shot,” LaRouere said. “And the bunkers, which are on nearly every fairway and around every green, also must be negotiated if you’re going to shoot a good score.”

    The 18th hole is the perfect example, as the fairway and near- island green bring water into play. It is a dramatic conclusion that crescendos at the finish, although LaRouere wasn’t quite ready to concede that the 18th is Sewailo’s signature hole.

    “That’s a matter of opinion. A lot of people think that, but a lot of people also think Number 3 is pretty special,” he said. “The third hole is a short par 3 over water, and, personally, I’m leaning to Number 3.”

    One thing is already dead-solid perfect about Sewailo, LaRouere added. And it’s all about the guy who worked for four years with the tribe to conceptualize the idea.

    “Notah Begay is a rock star to Native Americans, not just with the Yaquis,” he said.

    Begay, who is one-half Navajo and one- quarter San Felipe and Isleta, understands his role for the tribes he builds golf courses for to a “T.” He also gets golf, which makes for a terrific one-two punch.

    “The vast majority of the tribe has never played golf, doesn’t really know the game, and so my role is to help them form their ideas,” said Begay, who has several other projects with Native American tribes in various stages.

    “I’m like a facilitator in that my experiences in golf help bring things to life for them,” he said. “And golf is a very tough business these days, so I want to make sure I’m going to get them a golf course that will be so good that it’s profitable.”

    How good is Sewailo, according to the guy who dreamed it up?

    “I think we hit a home run, although we still have to see how the people take to it,” Begay said with cautious optimism. “I think the water holes are exceptional, and we were very creative in that we brought in lakes to fill in all the dirt we moved to make mounding and bunkers. And we moved a lot.

    “In the end, it was a very balanced project, and the cooperation and input from the tribe goes a long way in explaining why Sewailo is so phenomenal.” Visit Sewailo Golf Club at www.sewailogolfclub.com

    Click “Huff’s Stuff” Arizona Golf Blog to visit Bill’s complete archive at the Arizona Golf Authority.

    Then, before you tee it up, click Arizona Golf Course Reviews for our “Insider’s Playing Review” of every golf course in Arizona – all 325 of ’em!

    It’s just part of “All Things Arizona Golf” presented by the Arizona Golf Authority.

     

  • Don Littrell Skyline CC Pro in Shriners PGA Tournament

    Don Littrell Skyline CC Pro in Shriners PGA Tournament

    From the Arizona Golf News Desk at the Arizona Golf Authority

    Tucson Golf Pro Don Littrell Shoots 66 to Qualify for PGA Event – Skyline Country Club pro joins field in $6m Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

    don-littrell-pgaTucson golf fans had an extra reason to tune into the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas this year. Don Littrell, assistant golf professional at Skyline Country Club qualified for the starting field in the $6 million PGA Tour event. Although he missed the weekend cut, congratulations are in order for the terrific play that earned him a playing position in the tournament field.

    And he had to beat his boss to do it.

    Littrell nabbed the coveted slot by winning a Southwest region qualifier in August. While competing against hundreds of pros from Phoenix and Las Vegas, Littrell shot 66 to enter a playoff with one other player, which he won on the third play-off hole. Fellow Tucsonan Chris Dompier, Littrell’s boss at Skyline Country Club, shot 67 to finish right behind.

    “This will be the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,” says Littrell, who will turn 33 a few days after the tournament. “But I love to play, love to compete, and this is a huge step forward. Whatever I do to get past the nervousness and play will be something I can bring back and share with our members here.”

    Making his PGA Tour debut, Littrell will represent Tucson’s Skyline Country Club, displaying the club’s logo on his shirt and equipment. A small group of Skyline members will be traveling to Las Vegas to cheer for club pros Littrell and Dompier, who will be caddying for his close friend.

    A Class-A PGA member since 2007, Littrell began golfing in his teens with his step-father and has been at Skyline for more than eight years. A native of Michigan, he lives in Tucson with his wife, Melisa, and their two boys. He credits yoga, pilates and limited weight training for his on-course flexibility and fitness.

    skyline-country-club-logo-tucson-arizonaTo learn more about Don and Skyline Country Club, please visit www.skylinecountryclub.com.

    Skyline Country Club, an exclusive privately owned club, is nestled in the foothills of Tucson’s majestic Santa Catalina Mountains. Skyline offers the finest country club amenities and service in the Southwest, and boasts 56,000 square feet of clubhouse facilities, including casual and formal dining rooms.

    Skyline has been a staple in the Tucson Foothills for 50 years and offers members and guests spectacular daytime and evening views of Tucson. Skyline Country Club has been named into the very prestigious Platinum Club of America, and is rated as a five-star private club. Skyline Country Club is located at 5200 E. Saint Andrews Drive.

    Visit the Arizona Golf Authority, it’s “All Things Arizona Golf”.