Best Arizona public-access courses you can play
Welcome to the Arizona version of Golfweek’s “Best 2023 list of the Top 100 Best Courses You Can Play in the U.S.”
Each year, Golfweek publishes many course lists, with its selection of public-access layouts among the premium offerings. The hundreds of members of Golfweek’s golf course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to 8 range.
From these lists are courses you can play in Arizona. All allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel.
The courses listed include ranking, name, rating, location and designer(s).
Golfweek’s Best 2023 top 100 Best Courses You Can Play
79 (T): We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro), 6.60, Fort McDowell, Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw
87 (T): Wickenburg Ranch (Big Wick), 6.57, Wickenburg, Wendell Pickett/Bill Brownlee
93 (T): Quintero, 6.54, Peoria, Rees Jones
Golfweek’s Best 2023 top 200 Modern Courses in the U.S.
Golfweek considers a course modern if it was built in or after 1960 in the U.S.
15 (T): Estancia, 7.86, Scottsdale (1995), Tom Fazio
51: Desert Forest, 7.36, Carefree (1962), Red Lawrence 110 (T): Forest Highlands (Canyon), 6.95, Flagstaff (1986), Jay Morrish/Tom Weiskopf
123 (T): Desert Highlands, 6.91, Scottsdale (1983), Jack Nicklaus
133 (T): Whisper Rock (Upper), 6.88, Scottsdale (2005), Tom Fazio
139 (T): Whisper Rock (Lower), 6.86, Scottsdale
(2001), Phil Mickelson/Gary Stephenson
159 (T): Stone Canyon, 6.80, Oro Valley (2000), Jay Morrish
183 (T): Silverleaf, 6.69, Scottsdale (2002), Tom Weiskopf
186 (T): Mirabel, 6.68, Scottsdale (2001), Tom Fazio
Golfweek’s Best 2023 top 200 resort courses in the U.S.
This list focuses on the golf courses themselves, not the resorts as a whole or other amenities.
60 (T): We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro), 6.60, Fort McDowell (2006), Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw
75 (T): TPC Scottsdale (Stadium), 6.50, Scottsdale (1986), Morrish, Tom Weiskopf 94: Golf Club at Dove Mountain (Saguaro/Tortolita), 6.37, Marana (2009), Jack Nicklaus
100: Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, 6.33, Maricopa (2002), Lee Schmidt/Brian Curley
108 (T): Ventana Canyon (Mountain), 6.29, Tucson (1987), Tom Fazio
122 (T): We-Ko-Pa (Cholla), 6.19, Fort McDowell (2001), Scott Miller
130 (T): Troon North (Monument), 6.15, Scottsdale (1990), Jay Morrish/Tom Weiskopf
137 (T): Troon North (Pinnacle), 6.12, Scottsdale (1996), Tom Weiskopf
172 (T): Casino del Sol (Sewailo), 5.99, Tucson (2013), Ty Butler/Notah Begay