Arizona's new golf courses

[Bill Schulz]

As a avid walker, I am pleased to report that the majority of the Valley of the Sun's new golf courses are placing an emphasis upon walkable golf courses and several are offering active caddie programs:

Southern Dunes (Schmidt and Curley with Couples as a consultant). Played this wonderful men's only club again for the 5th time in the past month and my appreciation for the nuances of the strategy of the layout make this my current 3rd favorite course in Maricopa County only behind the tough as nails Desert Forest and visually spectactular Estancia. Southern Dunes is located in the middle of nowhere (Mobile, AZ) and if 20 miles off Highway 10. On a flat piece of property Schmidt and Curley have fashioned a course with wild native grasses, extremely deep bunkers, and fast putting surfaces with interesting green complexes. Honestly, the course has the feel of Sand Hills with the Coore and Crenshaw practice of bunkers in the direct line of play which require decisions to go right, left, long or short. The 491 par 4 14th hole with the massive and scraggly fairway bunker in the middle of the fairway which dramatically rewards a draw with a hugh incline kick takes me to Mullen. Think of Talking Stick's wonderful 36 holes and add more land movement and much more challenging green complexes (partially due to Troon Golf's dumbing down the green speeds at Talking Stick which reduces the strategy in placing the courses as putts above the hole lose their architect's intended fear factor). The ground game is very much available as the wide fairways narrow into greensites which will accept well thought out bounced approaches which excites this 6 handicap playing the 6851 monuments. Course will be rerated in March and the head pro projects the 7430 tips to slope in the high 140s. Calcevechia is a dues paying member and apparently holds the course record of 68. The 18th hole is little bit unnatural as a pond guards the right side of the green. Easy to walk although walking trails need to be added. The two biggest negatives (balls plug in the soft bunkers and the greens don't hold) will be mitigated with time. No real estate at all will be offered and the current clubhouse is a small portable. With continued maturity, a solid 7 on the Doak scale. Might even be an 8 someday if all the native grass areas grow in fully.

Silverleaf (Tom W. solo)-Solid effort with much more internal green contours than Tom W.'s other solo projects out West). The last 6 holes are outstanding stategically and aestheically. The head pro, Denise Martinez, in my opinion is the most gracious and hard working pro in the Valley (she used to be the head pro at my club, Forest Highlands. The 10th hole is a challenging uphill long par 4 into the wind with a barranca fronting the green and a neat runaway green like the 1st at Oakmont. For some reason the developer brought in rocks to place alongside the fairways which detracts from the naturalness of the site. A walkable course with the caddies wearing their player's name on the back of their white coveralls. A Doak scale 6.

Whisper Rock (Mickelson as a consultant)-Another high budget affair in North Scottsale with excellent strategic interest and requiring significant accuracy off the tee (as previously reported the original fairways have been recently widened due to member complaints). Course flows smoothly with short par 3 17th an exciting challenge late in the round. Disagree with the decision to plant pine trees in a few spots-they don't look natural and probably won't survive the Arizona summers. Love the smaller, traditional greens. Excellent caddie program. A Doak scale 6.

Mirabel (Fazio)-Very playable and enjoyable course that would be a delight to play on a regular basis. Course is not high enough to enjoy the views found on other North Scottsale courses such as the neighboring Desert Mountain courses. The 8th green of the 183 par 3 could be reduced 50% and still offer a huge target. Tough finishing par 4 with a somewhat blind second shot uphill. Excellent caddie program. A Doak scale 6.

We Ko Pa (Scott Miller)-Winding beautiful public golf course (currently $150 for non-residents and $100 with a Maricopa zip code as verified by a driver's license) the weaves though natural washes. Significant strategic decisions on the par 4s and 5s make it a pleasure to play with repeated rounds. Carts not allowed on the fairways make for flawless lies in the fairways although they are a bit too lush for my taste. While Talking Stick North is a Doak scale 7, the too slow and not firm and fast playing surfaces offered by Troon Golf have made me reach the conclusion that We Ko Pa is the best public golfing experience in the Valley (like Talking Stick it is on a reservation and therefore has no housing or real estate). I always walk but sadly the staff reports to me that only a couple of players walk each week. A Doak scale 6.

Wildfire ("Faldo course" but really Schmidt and Curley)-Australian sunbelt feel public course connected with the new Desert Ridge resort. A realiable source tells me Faldo has made 2 visits-with the hot looking girlfriend at home I guess Nicky isn't sweating the details of his layouts. Like Southern Dunes, Schmidt and Curley are serving notice they are notice they are architects on the rise. I love their placement of fairways bunkers not at guard rails but as hazards in the line of play that need to be navigated. A very walkable course. Housing around the course and activity from the busy resort prevent this from being a better pure golfing experience but still a Doak scale 6.

I should also mention that Fought and Lehman have redesigned the newly reopened Phoenix Country Club and DC Ranch. Both courses have benefited from the classical bunkering style and small squared off greens. Additionally, Phoenix CC has been deforested which results in more playing options and hopefully better turf conditions in the future. Phoenix CC is a Doak scale 5. DC Ranch was originally a very poorly designed course by Scott Miller (who must be improving by leaps and bounds based upon his outstanding performance at We Ko Pa) marred by obscenely large greens and poor definition along with being marginally walkable. The redesign is a Doak scale 4 (I'm admittedly pretty critical in my rankings).

The big news down the road will be the upcoming ground breaking of the Golf Club of Scottsale (pure golf with caddies and no real estate, swimming pools, etc.) by Moorish. Will have 265 members at $200,000 a pop and $800 monthly dues (contrast that to I believe current $17,500 to join Southern Dunes). Estancia and Desert Mountain are also over $200,000 to join in addition to the real estate purchase requirement. Crazy! Aren't we in a recession.

It's a shame that even though Bill Coore lives in North Scottsdale, he hasn't been retained to design any of the new layouts within minutes of his home.  This is a loss to AZ Golf.

Target golf in Arizona in part can be attributed to the City of Scottsale requirement that no more than 90 acres of turf be grassed. Did you know that Desert Forest has 59 acres of turf!!! No wonder I can't play to my handicap out there!

Sorry for the long report (I get excited sometimes) and I'm looking forward to spring when I hopefully play the final 2 courses to complete my quest to play the current Golf Digest Top 100.

[Paul Richards]

Bill:

I have played Mirabel and thought very highly of it.  I have written about it in previous threads.

This month I will be playing Whisper Rock and Quintero and will give you an opinion of them when I return from that trip.

[redanman]

I understand that the last 4 or 5 courses possible in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area have been approved and permitted so there will be no more. (Due to water restrictions)

Anyone know for sure?

[Matt_Ward]

Bill S:

Thanks for the report.

I'll be visiting the general Scottsdale area in the next few weeks and hope to play a few of the ones you mentioned. I've already played Mirabel and We-Ko-Pa and agree with you assessment on both although I have to say that the first few holes on We-Ko-Pa were merely stand-ins for the quality of the holes that come starting with the unique par-5 8th.Mirabel may be one of the most unique and exciting designs by TF and clearly is different from what he did at Esatancia.

FYI -- There will be a second 18 at The Gallery opening sometime in '04 to compliment the original 18 designed by John Fought.

Be most curious since I visit the state very frequetly given my distance from NJ, given your knowledge of AZ golf, how you would rate the top 15-20 courses in the state?

[Joel_Stewart]

Bill:
Good report.  I agree with most of your comments although I see Whisper Rock as superior to Mirabel and far superior to We Ko Pa.  My feelings may be in part to the walking, caddy programs at WR.  The ironic item which you mentioned is that Bill Coore lives across the street from Whisper Rock and was turned down for the second course in favor of Tom Fazio.  Bill is very low key and Fazio really went after it making numerous site visits and routings.   I'm not sure you ever see another C&C course in the desert, Bill hasn't seen any land which would be a candidate for a classical style golf course.

[somalley]

Bill,

Interesting comments.  Especially interesting about rating comments at Southern Dunes...people still don't get Slope!  The Course Rating from the Tips is 74.9!!! and a slope of 136.  This translates into a Bogey Rating of 100...much higher than your average layout.  Once again a misunderstanding of what Slope is and how it is misused for marketing.

I also love what Schmidt/Curley did at Wildfire.  Best bunkering I have seen around the area with some wonderfully strategic holes.  They just opened another course in Green Valley called Canoa Ranch that is a 6600 yard Par 70 with rolling topography and interesting putting surfaces.

I must add the new course at Whirlwind to your list.  The Cat Tail course will host the Nationwide event this fall, and Panks has pulled off another good one.  This one is also on Indian land (notice a trend where the good courses here are being built?) and a real treat to play.  

I still say for my money I will plop my $20 down and walk Papago 6 days out of 7!

[Andy]

Bill, interesting post, but I disagree a bit on some of it.  First, I have played Southern Dunes and thought it was okay, but not in the same class as Talking Stick.  Further, I do not understand the comment on green speeds, as I just played TS yesterday while visiting from California and the greens were at least 9.5 to 10, clearly equal to most bent greens even though the are poa triv overseeded on bermuda.  They were, in a word, perfect, and the best condition, firmest greens I played in AZ.  I played Grayhawk(not very good), We Ko Pa, good, but not great, and TS North and South.  The one other comment I would make is that Bill Coore does not really promote himself, which I find admirable, and won't really campaign for a job.  Also, Mickleson has the relationship with the Grayhawk developer who did Whisper Rock, which is the main reason they chose him.  Finally, Bill C told me that day in day out, TS was the best maintained course that he and Ben had done and he was very happy with the fact that they could recommend people play there and be assured they had a good experience with great conditions.  I have also seen Bill C at Talking Stick three or four times playing himself.  Agree on your other comments.