Arizona tees it up in style
The courses in Phoenix and Tucson boast great views and terrific layouts
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.— Golf fashion used to be one of the great oxymorons — up there with spend and save. Not long ago, old codgers, with closets bulging with khakis, tut tutted if your knee socks sagged. Times have changed.
The male pros now wear pink pants and belt buckles the size of hubcaps, and the women are decked out in dayglow miniskirts.
A couple of weeks ago, pro golfer Rickie Fowler brought some hiphop to the game when he introduced high-top golf shoes.
The most fashionable place to tee it up this time of year is Arizona. Maybe it’s because the Grand Canyon state was once part of the Wild West, but the royal and ancient game is a little funkier in the land of the cactus. Here are a few must sees:
Shake it off: Put the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the bucket list. Known as the “greatest party in golf,” the tournament is held annually in early February and this year attracted more than 600,000 fans. The best viewing is from a box overlooking the 16th hole, a short par three where fans are encouraged to boo big time if the pros make a poor shot.
The Stone Age game: The first time I ever teed it up at the Boulders Resort (theboulders.com) in Carefree, it was nearly noon and the air was flickering from the heavy heat. I thought for a minute I might be hallucinating. The two Jay Morrish-designed golf courses are lined with brown boulders the size of bungalows, each delicately balanced on top of each other, as if some prehistoric giant had been tinkering with a Stone Age Lego set.
Off-course action: The Valley of the Sun (the Phoenix metropolitan area) is home to more than 200 courses but it’s also loaded with other big-league fun, especially in Scottsdale (experiencescottsdale.com).
The Cactus League spring training starts on March 1 and runs until April 2, highlighting 15 baseball teams, including the San Francisco Giants.
The town also features more than 800 restaurants and a weekly ArtWalk, where local galleries along Main St. open their doors to the public and show off the work of the Southwest’s top artists.
Spotlight Tucson: A two-hour drive south of Phoenix lies Tucson, which deserves more love and attention. It’s home to some terrific layouts, including Dove Mountain, Omni Tucson National Resort and JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa.
The most stunning, though, is the Mountain course at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon (thelodgeatventanacanyon.com). The third hole boasts one of the most-photographed greens in the U.S. The short par 3 is wedged into a seam of unforgiving rock and crosses a canyon spiked with cacti. From the tee, you peer out to the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Sonoran Desert. On a good day, you can see all the way to Mexico.
Just the facts: The best deal in Arizona is the golf at the Tucson municipal layouts (tucsoncitygolf.com). Randolph North golf course has hosted both PGA and LPGA events and its sister course, the Randolph Dell Urich course, has been home to the world’s top women players. At both places, you’re treated to the same stunning desert and mountain views for just a fraction of the resort prices. Green fees at both courses range from $30 to $40 (U.S.)
Ian Cruickshank is a Toronto-based writer whose golf column appears on the fourth Saturday of each month. His trip to Arizona was sponsored by the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, which did not review or approve this story.