Scottsdale CVB
When Canadian golfers think “golf getaway” it’s natural for them to think of Arizona. Take more than 330 days of sunshine annually, add in hundreds of top-notch courses with clinics, schools and facilities to satisfy any golfing level and you’ve got a winning combination.
Most of the Arizona courses are concentrated in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Mesa) and a large number are also found in the southern part of the state, near Tucson. But across Arizona you’ll find dry skies, sunshine and stunning mountain and high desert scenery, along with friendly, affordable clubs and courses that provide a variety of challenges. Many offer getaways designed for golfers.
Greater Phoenix CVB
- The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain near Tucson hosts the PGA TOUR World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship February 18-24, 2013. The event features the top 64 players in the world from the Official World Golf Ranking. www.worldgolfchampionships.com
- Whether your musical tastes lean towards Aerosmith, Van Morrison or the Eagles, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Range practice facility at the Grayhawk Golf Club has got you covered. Classic rock hits are piped into the practice facility to help golfers get warmed up for a day on one of Grayhawk’s two 18-hole courses –Talon and Raptor. www.grayhawkgolf.com
- The historic Tubac Golf Resort & Spa was made famous on the big screen as one of the filming sites for Kevin Costner’s hit Tin Cup. The course was recognized by Conde Nast Johansens as one of two finalists for the prestigious 2011 Awards for Excellence as The Most Excellent Golf Resort. The three very playable nine-hole courses have lush green fairways lined with mesquites and old growth cottonwoods. www.tubacgolfresort.com
- The FORE-MAX training system at the Kierland Golf Club at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa offers a program that blends the best of exercise physiology with top golf instruction. FORE-MAX’s personalized workout program teaches golfers how to make lifelong fitness changes that result ingreater driving distance and stamina on the course. www.kierlandresort.com
- Scottsdale’s Talking Stick Golf Club provides play for all skill levels in a stunning desert panorama setting. Two courses offer different styles of play – one with links style through grasslands and the other on more traditional tree-lined fairways. Add an award-winning golf shop and large clubhouse facility and you’ve got the makings of a fantastic golf holiday. www.talkingstickgolfclub.com
- The Phoenician Golf Club, managed by Troon Golf, features three different nine-hole courses with verdant greens, stunning Sonoran Desert views and Arizona’s only sand-island green. The Phoenician’s courses have been ranked among the Top 75 Golf Resorts in America by Golf Digest. Add into the experience a 2,508 square-metre practice facility with driving range, chipping green and oversized putting green. www.thephoenician.com/golf/
- Novice golfers will feel comfortable at the McCormick Ranch Golf Club in the heart of Scottsdale. The club was awarded Beginner Friendly Course Certification by the National Golf Course Owners Association. An extensive practice facility has one of the Southwest’s largest putting greens, a spacious driving range and a bunkered chipping green. www.mccormickranchgolf.com
- The Troon Golf-managed Whirlwind Golf Club at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa is ringed by the spectacular Sierra Estrella Mountains, creating a pristine desert setting. The club is home to the PGA’s Nationwide Insurance Tour, the Gila River Golf Classic, held every year in October. Two courses, Devil's Claw and Cattail, challenge golfers of all skill levels. www.whirlwindgolf.com
- The 18-hole course at the Sedona Golf resort consistently receives a four-star rating from Golf Digest. Designed by Gary Panks, the course flows through a cedar-strewn valley between the area’s massive red rocks. The spectacular view of Cathedral Rock from the tee on the tenth hole is one of the most photographed golf spots in the western U.S. www.sedonagolfresort.com
- When the Valley courses are hot, golfers can seek relief and play at Elephant Rocks Golf Course in Williams (one of the gateway towns to the Grand Canyon). Elephant Rocks winds through a forest of tall Ponderosa pines at a cool 2,130 metres elevation. The club boasts a Gary Panks-designed 18-hole golf course. At this elevation above sea level, it usually takes golfers a few holes to adjust to the extra distance their ball is flying. www.elephant-rocks.com
- Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort is set in unique rugged terrain, with both an inland and links course set on a mountain. The club has been honoured with a place on Golf Digest’s list of the top 450 courses in the country. Consistently making the list of top courses on surveys and in publications, Lookout Mountain’s 18-hole course features lush greens set in the dramatic Sonoran Desert. The onsite Hilton Golf Academy offers on-course instruction, short game techniques and tips for mastering even the most difficult shots. www.lookoutmountaingolfclub.com
- The Legacy Golf Resort, at the foot of Phoenix’s South Mountain,has a Gary Panks-designed, par 71 course, the site of the 2000 LPGA Standard Register PING tournament. Golf Digest named the Legacy as One of the Top 10 Golf Courses to Play in Phoenix. www.shellhospitality.com
- The quintessential desert golf experience can be found at Troon Golf Club at the base of Pinnacle Peak in North Phoenix. Troon boasts two Tom Wesikopf-designed 18-hole courses (Monument and Pinnacle), weaving through the natural ravines and foothills in the Sonoran desert landscape. Forecaddie service provides players with tips and professional strategies for each golf hole. www.troonnorthgolf.com
- Naco is home to Arizona’s oldest continuously operated course at Turquoise Valley Golf. Located near Bisbee in the southeast part of the state, Turquoise Valley is famous for the 747-yard Rattler, the only par 6 in Arizona and the fifth longest golf hole in the United States. Founded over 100 years ago, the original course was crisscrossed by train tracks, providing an extra hazard that could literally carry the ball away! www.turquoisevalley.com
- They call it The Greatest Show on Grass. Every year, up to half a million spectators descend on TPC Scottsdale for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The event claims the largest crowds on the PGA TOUR, which makes people-watching almost as entertaining as watching the pros on the course. The website for the 2013 event has tips for spectators: come prepared with a hat, sunscreen and binoculars and plan your day depending on whether you’ll watch the action “parade style” or follow the players around the course “cross-country style.”www.phoenixopen.com
- Golf Digest rates the Emerald Canyon Golf Course overlooking the Colorado River at Parker as a four-star golfing experience. The 18-hole, par 72, championship course also offers two practice greens and a lighted driving range. www.emeralcanyongolf.com
- Surrounded by two courses regularly ranked as one of the nation’s top golf courses by GOLF Magazine and Travel and Leisure, The Golf Academy at The Boulders offers immersive multi-day packages taught one-on-one on the resort’s two championship-level, Jay Morrish-designed courses. www.theboulders.com
- On the desert outskirts of Scottsdale, bordered by the rugged McDowell Mountains, the Cholla and the Saguaro courses of the We-Ko-Pa Golf Club offer golfers a balance between gentle and rugged play. The award-winning clubhouse integrates design inspired by the Yavapai tribe culture. www.wekopa.com