Red Mountain Ranch CC ('86, Pete Dye) in Mesa, AZ

[Steve_ Shaffer]

This  Pete Dye Signature Course (the only one in the state of Arizona) features 18 championship holes with fabulous elevations and contours, undulating greens, challenging bunkers with some of the most breathtaking views of the Arizona Valley. With 6 different tee combinations Red Mountain Ranch Country Club offers play for beginners, juniors, ladies, men's, seniors and scratch & tour level players.
With Dye's famous Scottish mounding, water surrounded by railroad ties, abundance of bunkering & dramatic elevated views of the valley & mountains to the west, the course is one members and their guests look forward to playing over and over. One of Pete Dye's classic masterpieces right here in the East Valley!


Take a tour:


https://www.rmrcc.com/golf/course

[Tim Leahy]

"Dramatic elevated views of the valley"? I couldn't see any elevation change at all in the pictures of the holes. It looked flat to me.

[Mark Kiely]

It was right down the street from where my grandpa lived. I played it once as a teenager, and I believe Tim is correct. I don't remember any significant elevation changes in that neighborhood. Nearby Longbow has some long views across the valley, however, and is on similarly flat land, so it's not impossible that there may be some cool views.

[Tom_Doak]

Red Mountain Ranch is mostly a Perry Dye course, built just as I was leaving the company.  John Harbottle did a lot of the planning work, and John Gray was the construction foreman.  I guess Pete did make a couple of visits so they could call it his.

[Peter Sayegh]

Played Red Mountain Ranch in Jan 1993 as part of our first ever buddies trip.
Three things still stand out:

-it was a beautiful course
-it was the most difficult course I had played up to that point (I'm sure we played the tips since we were still young, athletic, and cocky).
-when the starter handed us the pin sheet, he noted the flag indicated which "tier" it represented-as opposed to the front/middle/back standard. it was very prophetic. ALL conjoining tiers had a significant difference in height.

FYI: how times have changed: I planned the rounds from a long-forgotten book that listed the best public courses in the area. The other rounds were: Ocotillo, Superstition Springs, ASU-Karsten, and Gold Canyon.

P.S. all five hats are still in rotation after thirty years.

[Ken Moum]

"Dramatic elevated views of the valley"? I couldn't see any elevation change at all in the pictures of the holes. It looked flat to me.

It does look flat. But there's 150 feet of elevation change from the east end of the property to the west. Form the first tee to six green is about 100 feet down from there 10 green is the highest point.


The 16 green surrounds are about 150 lower, then you climb back to the clubhouse.


From 10 green you can see pretty much all the way to Phoenix.


It's not popular with a lot of good players because it embarrasses them despite being pretty short. The general pitch from east to west confuses a lot of people on the greens.


Plus a lot of greens are 5-10+ feet above the surrounding ground and hole-high misses leave some wicked pitch shots.


I play it 4-5 times a week and it's never boring.

[Peter Sayegh]

Ken, are the greens as dramatically "sectored" as I recall or has my memory gone the way of my swing?
Selfishly, I'm glad to hear good players are still frustrated by the course.

[Ken Moum]

Re. the greens,  probably half of them could fit your description.


Four have two distinct levels with a significant slope between the levels.


Four or five more are, let's say "swoopy," with contours that make being on the wrong part of the green problematic.


Add the fact that some have what amounts to tongues that are very narrow with adjacent bunkers and you have complexes that I find endlessly entertaining...and sometimes frustrating.

[Peter Sayegh]

Thanks.

[Matt Kardash]

Just by looking at the green shapes, angles, and bunker placements from the course map you can tell it is Perry and not Pete. Let alone actually seeing the course on the ground.

[Mark Smolens]

Back in the day it was only semi-private. I've played there a number of times. It can be difficult around the greens -- lots of places to miss in bad spots where it's almost impossible to get it up and down (not saying that is a bad thing -- after all, you have missed the green). I do recall my father shooting even or 1 over out there, but he passed away in 1990, so that's going back a long time.

[Phil Burr]

To call it the only Pete Dye Signature course in Arizona is incorrect.  Pete also designed Ancala (still exists) and ASU Karsten, which closed just two months ago.  I would call both of these course more reflective of his “signature” in that both featured ninth and 18th holes which ran parallel to each other with a lake separating.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Perry Dye is listed on Ancala's website:
Ancala Country Club's spectacular 6,815-yard, par-72 championship golf course was designed by Perry Dye - the son of the iconic Pete Dye and part of the prestigious Dye Designs group - in the shadows of Scottsdale's majestic McDowell Mountains.

https://www.ancalacc.com/perry-dye-championship-golf-course

Karsten closed in 2019:
https://news.asu.edu/20190423-arizona-impact-asu-novus-innovation-corridor-hyatt-groundbreaking
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2019/02/19/end-of-an-era-arizona-states-karsten-golf-course-to-close-in-may/