The Challenge of Arizona Golf

A river of green is visible in the distance, some 150 yards away. Between here and there lies native desert: several mature saguaros and a sea of brittlebush and cholla cactus. "Take aim at that big three-armed cactus out there and let her fly," says Michael Mascolo, the course ranger-a sort of "rulesenforcer”-at The Boulders Golf Club in Carefree. It's his day off, and Michael, the golfer, is enjoying a round with friends, a benefit of his job at one of Arizona's well-known resorts.

(LEFT) Chip Beck bits out of a bunker during the Shoot-Out at Ventana Canyon.

(BELOW) The Bradshaw Mountains form the backdrop for Wickenburg's Los Caballeros Golf Club.

(FOLLOWING PANEL, PAGES 8 AND 9) It's not so much the desert terrain that lies between the tee box and the landing zone that causes my trepidation. It's that the lush fairway is flanked by desert rough to left and right, and an imposing sandfilled bunker glares back from just left of fairway center.

My moment of concentration and the courteous silence of the rest of the foursome are suddenly shattered by the crack of metal striking hard wound rubber. The white projectile soars skyward, fades slightly to the right, pushed by a gentle cross breeze, and descends in seeming slow motion against an azure backdrop of distant mountain peaks.

"That'll come out just fine," says Michael. He knows the ball should land safely on the forgiving side of the earthen mound lining the hole. And with any luck at all, it will kick and roll back toward the center of the fairway.

"You'll have a tricky second shot onto the green from there," the sprightly retired truck dealer adds, with a quick smile.

"You'll have to bring a 6 or 7-iron in over a big grassy bunker to an elevated putting surface and stop it real quick.

"But it sure beats having to hit it out of the desert again, doesn't it?" He's right. Almost anywhere on the course is better than in the desert, because the desert is definitely jail in "golfer-think." On a course skillfully carved through the natural terrain, getting the ball to drop in the cup is an objective very often secondary to keeping it in play. Although a slightly errant shot may drift only a few feet into the domain of the mesquite, paloverde, and cactus, very few balls can be advanced much distance toward the hole from its rough and usually rocky floor.

Even when the ball lands in a rare clearing, the next stroke is taken with some risk to body and equipment. Most would agree that when playing a desert shot, it's best-if you can get away with it-to use someone else's club. Many an iron bears a souvenir nick or gouge earned making a recovery. In spite of the difficulties, there is a beauty to golf in the desert that makes it well worth its probable impact on the scorecard. The stark contrast of emerald, well-watered fairway to arid borders, especially as viewed from an elevated tee, demands a pause to enjoy and remember.

The additional elements employed by the course designer-bunkers of sand or grass, earthen mounds, rocks and boulders, greens of multiple shapes and putting levels, and an occasional lake or pond-can be sculptured artistically into an aesthetic setting beyond rival. And, so often in Arizona, there are distant views that make concentration on a golf shot an act of sheer willpower. Who could be faulted for peaking from a swing a moment early when distracted by the legendary Superstition Mountains at Gold Canyon Golf Club, the spectacular red rock cliffs at Sedona Golf Resort, or the towering Santa Catalinas at Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club?

Today golf in the Arizona desert is a far cry from what it once was. Gone is the time when creating a course here simply meant transplanting a Midwesternstyle layout: leveling 125 acres of land, seeding it with grass, planting deciduous trees and shrubs, and then pouring on the water. Now preservation, enhancement of the natural terrain, and water conservation are basic to most golf course architecture, and what has emerged is a look, a feel, a game changed more drastically than at any other time since golf's basic rules evolved at St. Andrews in Scotland.

But Arizona also is rich in magnificently styled courses from the school of tradi tional design. That achievement began in 1913 with the famed San Marcos Golf and Country Club in Chandler. The Arizona Biltmore Hotel's first golf course, the Adobe, soon carried on the standard in Phoenix, and then the Wigwam Golf and Country Club was built in Litchfield Park, destined to gain renown with its Blue and Gold Courses designed by Robert Trent Jones. In due time came the stylized resorts of Gainey and McCormick ranches in Scottsdale, the Tucson National Golf Club and Randolph Park in Tucson, and the Antelope Hills Golf Course in Prescott. The list of Arizona courses goes on, exceeding 200 statewide, with several more in construction or planning stages.

With the discovery and appreciation of the natural desert by a new generation of innovative designers-notably Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, and Jay Morrish-a new kind of tapestry came into prominence, rich in beauty, character, and nuance. In many cases, the courses can be enjoyed by Arizona golfers and visitors alike. Some are private clubs open only to members and guests, yet host one of the six tour stops or other major profes sional events that visit the state each year. Many other courses are available to resort guests, or can be toured for a daily fee.

Nicklaus was the first of the major designers to make the journey to Arizona, and Desert Highlands Golf Club in north Scottsdale stands as testimony to his efforts.

Arizona Golf

Arizona Golf

Continued from page 7 This members-only club ranks in the top 25 of Golf Digest's best courses in the United States.

Wound strategically through the Sonoran Desert around the base of Pinnacle Peak, the Desert Highlands course is known nationally as the original setting for the annual Skins Game. Here in 1983 and 1984 Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, and Nicklaus battled one another and the many hazards offered by this new breed of layout.

The view south toward Phoenix from the 16th tee perched on the side of Pinnacle Peak is among the most spectacular in central Arizona. It, and all of the beauty this course has to offer, can be enjoyed by guests of members and by spectators at the Spalding Invitational ProAm played here in December.

Equally dramatic are three more Nicklaus-designed courses at the Golf Club at Desert Mountain, a private community in north Scottsdale. The three are named Renegade, Cochise, and Geronimo. The Renegade course brings a revolutionary concept to the game. Each green has two pin placements, one relatively easy and one difficult. Players are offered the choice of hitting to either placement while attacking the course from one of four tee options per hole. Played from the back tees to the tough pins, the course has a rating of 77.6, the most difficult in North America. The Spalding Pro-Am will also open this course to spectators.

Cochise is the current home of The Tradition, the newest tournament on the Senior Tour of the Professional Golfers Association. The course is skillfully woven through the foothills bordering the Tonto National Forest and offers panoramic mountain and valley views. Part of a 600acre golf park, Geronimo will soon open as another tournament course.

Twenty-seven holes designed by Jack Nicklaus (and rated among the top 75 resort courses in the United States by Golf Digest) are available to resort guests at La Paloma Country Club in Tucson. A beautiful setting for golf in the Catalina foothills, the elevation provides exceptional views of the city below. Hills, canyons, washes, and elephantine mounds surrounding many of the greens provide a worthy test. In springtime, the course is alive with desert flowers. Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club, set several hundred feet higher in the foothills, is an up-the-road neighbor of La Paloma. Two 18-hole courses of Tom Fazio's design gracefully rise and fall across its rugged terrain.

Mike Stephens of Denver and 11 friends have enjoyed a spring outing at Ventana Canyon for the last five years. "We love the two Fazio courses and the resort hospitality," says group organizer Stephens. "The desert courses are so different from anything we play in Colorado."

Visitors and staff members often gather on the first fairway to enjoy one of Tucson's memorable sunsets. In midMarch, after a chilly and sometimes misty day of golf, the sun breaks through cloud cover just above the horizon to illuminate the Catalinas in soft, reddish light.

Back northward, the golf club at Gold Canyon Ranch near Apache Junction combines a flat desert nine designed by Greg Nash with a rolling mountain nine laid out by Ken Kavanaugh. Always present is the splendid vista of the rugged Superstition Mountains.

If the Lost Dutchman of Superstition fame had been a golfer, the 13th fairway would undoubtedly have been his private domain. The delightful view is pure gold from the tee of the 479-yard, par four hole. Mountains backdrop this dogleg left, which sports mining camp remnants near the green.

Pete Dye brings his trademark railroad ties into full use around traps and water hazards at Red Mountain Ranch in Mesa. The greens, some of the trickiest in Arizona, are surrounded by high mounding and deep bunkers, making this this course a particularly tough test, especially for a golfer who is on a first outing.

In desert-style golf, players are re-warded for hitting the ball to designated landing areas, and nowhere is this more evident than at Red Mountain Ranch, says golf pro Bill Pearse. Hit it straight and generally all will be well.

"Play patient, percentage golf," he says, "and you'll do all right out here. You have to use your brain. You can't just come out and play 'blast it and find it.' In desert golf, you are rewarded for intelligent play." Nonmembers can enjoy this course for a daily fee.

One of Arizona's newest and most promising courses is Sedona Golf Resort. Open year-round (weather permitting in winter), the links-style layout winds deep into red rock country. By the fifth hole, urban ills and workday worries fade as the course heads for the hills. By the 10th, such cares are forgotten and only the game and a panorama of colorful cliffs and distant peaks remain.

This Gary Panks-designed course offers daily-fee players a fair and enjoyable test of skill. At an altitude of more than 4,000 feet, the landscape is dotted with yucca, juniper, piñon pine, and prickly pear. The view from the 10th tee is one of many that make this course well worth the 120-mile drive from Phoenix.

In Wickenburg, Los Caballeros Golf Club provides a desert-style track that has (RIGHT) From an elevated tee box, Ben Crenshaw drives for the fourth bole at the Ventana Canyon club. (BELOW) A loyal gallery of saguaro cacti lines the fourth fairway of the Canyon Nine at La Paloma Country Club in Tucson.

Arizona Golf

placed it in the ranks of the top 75 resort courses in the country, again according to Golf Digest.

This 10-year-old course, designed by Greg Nash and Jeff Hardin, is open to guests and daily-fee players. Vulture Peak looks out over a challenging valley layout, while the distant Bradshaw Mountains, northeast toward Crown King, offer a scenic backdrop, especially to shots launched from the elevated fifth tee, a rolling 531-yard par five.

Back at The Boulders in Carefree, 27 holes designed by Jay Morrish await the winter resort guest and summer daily-fee player. The resort derives its name from giant rocks that dominate the landscape throughout much of the property. Subtle mounding, fair entryways into tricky but true greens, and some well placed lakes provide an interesting test of skill and verve. A visit to the pro tee box on the second hole of The Boulders nine is a must. Local lore has it that Arizona's own national long-drive champ, Wedgy Winchester, reached this 355-yard par four in a single blast.

Terrain and scenery weigh heavily at several other interesting courses around the state. The Foothills Golf Club in Phoenix is a Tom Weiskopf-Jay Morrish design, a daily-fee course with South Mountain Park and the Estrella Mountains as scenery. Troon Golf and Country Club in Scottsdale (members and guests only) combines desert and mountain layout by Weiskopf-Morrish in a handsome setting near Pinnacle Peak and the McDowell Mountains. In 1989 Troon was named the 64th best course in the world by Golf Magazine, making it the only Arizona course in that publication's international ranking.

A trip to Lake Havasu City warrants a stop at London Bridge Golf Club. Built on sloping terrain above the Colorado River, it combines hilly landscape and valley breezes to test a player's savvy. Abundant palm trees lend an oasis flavor. Beyond the remarkable array of golf courses to be played in Arizona, spectators of the game have much to enjoy, especially in January. The Northern Telecom Tucson Open is scheduled for the Tournament Players Club at StarPass from January 8 to 14. Two weeks later, January 22 to 28, the pros will display their talents in the Phoenix Open at the Tournament Players Club at Scottsdale.

The StarPass course, constructed over rolling desert terrain in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, requires precision execution to elevated, well-guarded greens, especially on the front nine. On the back nine, the par three 197-yard 16th hole requires a lengthy carry over desert to an elevated, bunkered green that is a particularly popular spectator hole.

Each January the Phoenix Open offers stadium golf at its finest. In 1987 the Phoenix Open's sponsors, the Thunderbirds, moved the event to the Tournament Players Club at Scottsdale. The new Weiskopf-Morrish course, just north of Bell Road between Scottsdale and Pima roads, makes each putting surface a stage, and the facilities accommodate huge galleries. Last year the Saturday round attracted more than 103,000 spectators, the largest single-day sports gathering in Arizona history.

The 15th, an island hole, always draws a crowd because the player closest to the pin in two strokes on Saturday and Sunday draws a bonus paycheck. A solid drive followed with the courage to attack the remainder of the 501 yards with a wood or long iron makes for some exciting shots. A great driving hole to watch is number 17, a 332-yard par four, heavily guarded by water and sand.

Both TPC courses are open for public play until the end of the week prior to the tournament.

The women professionals compete two weeks consecutively in March. The Circle K Tucson Open will be held March 12 to 18 at Randolph Park Golf Course, followed by the Standard-Register Turquoise Classic of the Ladies Professional Golf Association March 19 to 25 at Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix. The Senior PGA Tour has a regular Phoenix stop, the MONY Arizona Classic, scheduled for March 7 to 11 at the Lookout Mountain Golf Course, located at The Pointe at Tapatio Cliffs. The seniors return for The Tradition March 26 through April 1 at Desert Mountain.

NTERVIEW. Jack Nicklaus Talks Design

In the last two decades, multichampion professional golfer Jack Nicklaus has become one of the world's most innovative and influential golf course designers. And nowhere has his imagination been more skillfully utilized than in the challenging surroundings of the Arizona desert.

"When we designed the Desert Highlands golf course in the early 1980s," he says, "it took very careful planning to save the native vegetation and to provide for revegetation. We installed an elaborate irrigation and drainage system. No golf course in the desert had ever gone to such lengths to preserve the natural scene.

"In previous course developments, the desert had virtually been destroyed, then planted to grass along with other plants foreign to the desert. We decided to try to develop a course that would utilize the desert and preserve the environment as much as possible." Since that pioneering effort, Nicklaus has designed the three courses at the Golf Club at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale and 27 holes at La Paloma in Tucson.

Still, many of the principles of traditional golf course design are employed here too. "In the desert, you do the basic things you do everyplace else: you route the golf course through the valleys and through areas where water is going to move," says Nicklaus. "However, in the desert, you don't have much water to worry about."

The physical features of the desert lend themselves to the development of some truly distinctive holes of golf.

"Although much of the desert looks the same, there are some holes that have outstanding rock outcroppings or gorges to play over. There are some with water, and some that have great mountain views. There's such a diversity.

"Any golf course, if you design it properly, will feature several memorable holes, and you'll set those holes up. If a designer builds 18 spectacular holes, you as a player won't remember any of them.

"So my approach is to try to design a blend, a variety of holes, with maybe half a dozen that really will be memorable. You vary the sequence from the dramatic to the subtle to the spectacular. I think it's very important to design that way on any golf course."

Still, a person making the first trip to a desert course can find the experience a bit overwhelming. A tip from Nicklaus, the player, may help the visitor over the jitters.

"At first look, the desert can be intimidating, with the stark contrast of the fairways against the native rough. However, golf in the desert is really no different from golf anywhere else, if you can remember to play within your own abilities.

"You need to think about the hole-what the length is, what the options are, what your capabilities are, and then try to keep the ball in play within your own abilities. If you think your way around, you'll find that your game becomes just as good in the desert as it is anyplace else.

"As a matter of fact, because the desert is usually very dry and the ball travels higher and farther, you'll probably find that playing golf in the desert is easier. If not-well, just relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery."