Peter - If you are really looking for the best desert courses in the US then I can't improve on this list. But if you're willing to consider Mexico, you should consider Cabo San Lucas. Cabo Del Sol & Eldorado are two of the best of the desert genre... plus you've got the Pacific, great beaches... It's the only place I've played where we killed a rattlesnake one minute & watched whales swim by the next (should be in their tourist brochures!).