help re Desert Forest Arizona

[mark chalfant]

     Id  apppreciate info on this  course  by  Red  Lawrence

memorable  and  fun to play  ?


terrain

strategy

best  holes  (besides the well  known par  5)

  Thanks

[Dan Grossman]

Here is a good article on the course:

http://www.cactusgolf.com/departments/coursereviews/phoenix/desert-forest-golf-club.htm

I really enjoyed the course.  It is a very difficult test of golf.  If you miss a fairway, you will be hitting out of the cacti and scrub, if you are lucky enough to find the ball.  My biggest complaint was the bunkering, consisting of push-up bunkers flanking the sides of most greens.  It just got a bit repeatative.

Here is the aerial, courtousy of Scott Burroughs.

[A_Clay_Man]

Mark, A little quid pro quo, please. Why do you ask?

I was fortunate to golf with a memebr last year, he was even a greens cmte member. He did inform me that Dr. Klein is doing the course history. The words didn't do the look in his eyes justice. He obviously was very proud of his course and knew a great deal.

Sorry I can't give you a feel for the course, other than that.

[Joel_Stewart]

I played it once, two years ago.  They had just finished a minor restoration, taking out bushes and planting new fairways.  The membership averages about 70 years old and they have one hell of a golf course, and they know it.  I didn't think tee to green it was that overly hard but I hit the ball really well that day.

The greens are some of the most severe greens I have ever seen.  Hit the ball on the wrong side of the hole (especially above the hole) and forget about it.  As a result, it is a fascinating course, one that could challenge you everytime you play it.  

I know Red Lawrence did a number of other courses but appartently nothing in the league of Desert Forest which is a mystery?  

[Brad Klein]

Looks to me like the aerial is at least three years out of date. They've removed almost all of the pines, taken down the oleander wall behind the 15th and aded a new back tee, removed the big mesquite on the first hole dogleg, etc.

Look for the club history, which is much more than a club history. It answers the question of how DFDGC was so good compared to everything else Lawrence did. It also deals with the growth of metro-Phoenix, the move towards lush, suburban golf at other area courses, as wel as the characters behind the utopian real estate scheme that was Carefree back in the 1960s. There's also a close reading of the golf course, hole-by-hole.

"From Stark Land to Carefree Links: Red Lawrence and the Making of Desert Forest Golf Course"
by Brad Klein
photography by Tony Roberts
map by Forrest Richardson and Patrick Burton
175 pages, full color, hardcover
$35-$40

to be published in September 2004

[Joel_Stewart]

Brad:
Without giving away the book, was there any reason that Desert Forest was so superior than anything else Red Lawrence did?  

I thought he did a pretty good course in New Mexico?

[Joe Andriole]

The course is low profile, pure golf, lots of strategy and great green complexes. I think of it as Pinehurst #2 among the cacti.  If you have the opportunity to play, avail yourself.

[Matt_Ward]

Mark C:

Desert Forest is certainly a jewel of a design but I would have to add that the relatively new Whisper Rock -- the course in Scottsdale by Mickelson and Stephenson is just a tad better.

It possesses all the detail and sophistication you see at Desert Forest but less so from the penal aspect in the driving zones IMHO. One other thing -- the greens at Whisper Rock are also neatly crafted to keep you guessing throughout the day.

Joel S:

I would also mention UNM / Championship in Albuquerque as another well done Lawrence course. The problem with UNM is that the powers-that-be have this crazy notion that the course must be constantly overwatered. If the Championshipo were kept really firm'n fast the overall design would only improve a good deal more IMHO.

[ChipOat]

Usually rated #1 in AZ, I think.

Perhaps Matt Ward has identified a new contender?

[Brad Klein]

Fairways are much more interesting at DFGC than WR. At WR, the landing areas, though relatively narrow and emphasizing angles, are not hog-backed and convex as at DFGC. Both are good courses but DFGC has much tougher shot-making demands whereas WR is more suitable to the modern power game.

The book compares DFGC to UNM-Championship Course and explains the secret to Desert Forest, which had less to do with Lawrence than with the nature of the site and the genius of the shaper who did the construction work - Vernon Ward.