History of "Golf" ratings on Desert Forest

[Brad Klein]

I'm searching in vain on the Web for the history of Golf Magazine top-100 US and top-100 World golf course rankings for its ratings on Desert Forest Golf Club, Carefree, Az. Anyone have a link, or know what DFGC's ratings have been there historically? I'm basically trying to determine, when, for how long and the last time DFGC was in the top-100 for the world. I have current ratings but not past ones.

[Tom_Doak]

Brad,

I have all the back issues of the rankings in my office and will look it up for you next week.

I'm pretty sure, though, that Desert Forest was never ranked among the top 100 in the world.  It might have been ranked a couple of times among GOLF's list of the top 100 in the USA.

Send me an e-mail so I remember to look for it on Monday!

[David_Madison]

Brad,

I don't have Golf Magazine's ratings, but I can give you the info from Golf Digest (I've saved each of their Top 100 Ratings issues since 1993, and that one shows the history of their top 100 going back to 1987). Anyway, here's what they had:

    1987 -  67
    1989 -  61
    1991 -  64
    1993 -  94
    1995 -  67
    1997 -  57
    1999 -  63
    2001 -  69

[Forrest Richardson]

Brad — Did you ever get a more complete list of courses without ANY fairway bunkers — as is the case at Desert Forest? I would think this list would be of great interest to your complete and unabridged history of Desert Forest.

[Brad Klein]

Now lets, see, Forrest, you've been involved with this DFGC book project for a year now. You did some wonderful maps and drawings. I've visited you and the desert tortoise ("Chewy") several times now, we email back and forth and talk on the phone occasionally. And now, in late May 2004, when I'm at the last-minute stages of proof-reading and tweaking the facts in an otherwise fully designed manuscript, you (finally) come up with a brilliant idea for a comparative chart showing courses w/o fairway bunkers. Great idea, about four months too late. Where in the world have you been these past 12 months?

Do all of you out there at GCA see how this man works?

If you and the folks at GCA can get me a list in two days, we'll try to find a place for it. AAArrrggghhh.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Brad Klein,

How much of Desert Forest's rating would you attribute to regionalism ?

How would the course fare if it was in the Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago or New York area ?

[Forrest Richardson]

Pat — I would rate it extremely high in the area of agronomic and arbor care, considering saghuaro cactus do not typically thrive in the East!

[Forrest Richardson]

Brad — I may be wrong, but it seemed there was a thread about bunkerless courses...can anyone here use the search feature of GCA? I have never been able to get it to work.

[Brad Klein]

Pat, I don't mean to be blockheaded, but I don't know what you mean by regionalism or its relevance to DFGC.

Here's a course that's hosted a U.S. Senior Am (1990) and gets a lot of play from folks in the east, Midwest and Pacific West. Half of its membership hails from the Midwest. It's known to everyone who has ever been to Arizona and it has outlasted all of the state's desert and ponderosa pines courses in the ratings. It's been consistently high on the Golfweek Modern list and is one of only 33 courses to have made every Golf Digest national ranking since 1966. I don't see any evidence of regional bias there.

[Forrest Richardson]

If anything, Desert Forest might be blackballed by regionalism — after all, it stands in the way of the more modern desert courses which have come on line since Desert Highlands started a wave.

[Joel_Stewart]

How much of Desert Forest's rating would you attribute to regionalism ?

How would the course fare if it was in the Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago or New York area ?

Pat:
It has very little regionalism, the greens at DF are world class as well as the shot values. You have to place the ball on the correct spots on the greens precisely or risk 3 and 4 putting.

Its very different than all of the other desert courses, the billion dollar memberships and clubhouses, DF clubhouse reminds you of 1960's architecture.  I believe you would like it, it's the NGLA of Arizona.

[Brad Klein]

Can't resist the plug for an upcoming book, in case you haven't guessed:

Desert Forest Golf Club: the First Forty Years
by Bradley S. Klein

with:
-principle golf course photography by Tony Roberts
-maps by Forrest Richardson
-drawings by Bruce Kimball
-design by Carol Haralson
-DVD by Grant McClintock

160 pages
hardbound, large format
historical black & white and color photography
20-minute DVD slip-cased in back book cover

published by Desert Forest Golf Club
date of publication: Oct. 1 , 2004

price: $35-$40

(We'll arrange to make a special price for GCA posters, probably starting at $100!)

[A_Clay_Man]

Having only seen the aerial, I wonder is that little thing known as desert, would serve as one gigantic fairway bunker?

Also, from the aerial, the lack of width, looks like every shot is tested. Is this true?

[Jim Franklin]

I have all of the Golf Magazine world rankings from 1991 and Desert Forest was not on any of those lists.

[ChipOat]

I've been told (by a non-member) that DFGC is "the best course in Arizona".

Is it rated that way by any national publication or is this opinion "double totally subjective" on my friend's part?

Either way, is he (close to) correct?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here is the current GD ranking for AZ:
DFGC slipped from #1 to #2.

Arizona
1. Forest Highlands G.C. (Canyon), Flagstaff [3]*
2. Desert Forest G.C., Carefree [1]*
3. The Estancia C., Scottsdale [2]*
4. Troon G. & C.C., Scottsdale [7]*
5. Stone Canyon C., Oro Valley*
6. The Rim G.C., Payson [4]*
7. Desert Highlands G.C., Scottsdale [9]*
8. Forest Highlands G.C. (Meadow), Flagstaff [11]*
9. Troon North G.C. (Monument), Scottsdale [5]*«
10. Whisper Rock G.C., Scottsdale*

GW has DFGC at #31 in Top 100 Modern behind #20 The Rim GC thereby making it #2 in AZ.

[Dan Grossman]

Also, from the aerial, the lack of width, looks like every shot is tested. Is this true?

Very true.  One of the narrowest golf courses I have played from the back tees.  I also found it wonderfully natural and glad that the golf course didn't heed the advice of Tom Wieskopf to change the #18.  

My biggest "complaint" was that I didn't like the green complexes.  I felt like I was hitting to the same green complex (push up w/ flanking bunkers at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock) the entire day.  

[A_Clay_Man]

Dan- I might suggest hiting into the native, once in awhile, inorder to make those "same bunkers'" play closer to 12 and 6 O'clock.

Is this, 8 and 4, the Flynn influence? Or was there an RTJ, spill-over?

Probably impossible to answer, other than in the abstract. Which is fine mit mir.