Spotlight
Photo gallery: Arizona Grand Golf Resort in Phoenix boasts captivating desert holes and plenty of variety
Located in Phoenix, Arizona Grand Golf Resort boasts one of the more unique settings for a round of golf in the Valley of the Sun. The opening four holes all feature lots of green grass and water hazards, the middle stretch is desert-style target golf, and the final six holes play along South Mountain Park and are the most open and quiet on the course.
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It's hard to find a better bargain in Tucson than Quarry Pines Golf Club
Quarry Pines Golf Club isn't the glitziest golf course in Tucson, but it is the best bargain. Quarry golf courses are some of the most entertaining you will ever play, and Quarry Pines is no exception. It's a fun and challenging course, and you can't beat the scenery -- or the price, David R. Holland writes.
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Golf Channel Am Tour lets you test your game on some of Tucson's top courses
Every sports fan wants to know what it's like to dunk a basketball, hit a 95-mph fastball or sink that 4-foot par putt on No. 18 for the victory and first-place check. Well, the Golf Channel Am Tour is giving swingers of every stripe an opportunity to go 1-for-3. The Am Tour, which features 11 tournaments in the Tucson area, culminating with the Tucson Tour Championship in mid-August, is the closest thing amateurs will get to knowing what touring pros feel like on a week-to-week basis.
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Feature Stories
Golf Channel Am Tour lets you test your game on some of Tucson's top courses
Every sports fan wants to know what it's like to dunk a basketball, hit a 95-mph fastball or sink that 4-foot par putt on No. 18 for the victory and first-place check. Well, the Golf Channel Am Tour is giving swingers of every stripe an opportunity to go 1-for-3. The Am Tour, which features 11 tournaments in the Tucson area, culminating with the Tucson Tour Championship in mid-August, is the closest thing amateurs will get to knowing what touring pros feel like on a week-to-week basis.
... full article »- Talking Stick Golf Club and Troon North: A tale of two Troons in Scottsdale
- Ten reasons why a tee time at Troon North Golf Club in Scottsdale is worth the hefty green fee
Reviews
Quarry Pines Golf Club: It's hard to find a better bargain in Tucson
Quarry Pines Golf Club isn't the glitziest golf course in Tucson, but it is the best bargain. Quarry golf courses are some of the most entertaining you will ever play, and Quarry Pines is no exception. It's a fun and challenging course, and you can't beat the scenery -- or the price, David R. Holland writes.
... full article »- New ownership and Jim McLean Academy gives new life to SunRidge Canyon Golf Club in Fountain Hills
- Tiny but tough: Don't be fooled by the scorecard at Rancho Manana Golf Club in Cave Creek
Arizona Golf Destinations
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Northern Arizona
Northern Arizona will never be mistaken for the Valley of the Sun when it comes to golf, and therein lies the beauty. At elevations ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level, the northern part of the state presents golfers with a completely different set of challenges, landscapes, and (for the budget minded) price points.
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Prescott
Outside of Arizona, Prescott largely remains a mystery, its charming old-time downtown streets and its ancient Victorian homes almost as undiscovered by tourists now as Arizona was in general back before the gold rush boom of the mid 19th century. Not surprisingly, it's a few club-toting, birdie-seekers who are starting to change that. Prescott is emerging as a golf destination, a quality, lower-priced alternative to the crowded meccas of Phoenix and Scottsdale.
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Tucson
Savvy Arizona golfers are quick to remind anyone who asks that the Valley of the Sun is like the Old Pueblo on steroids when it comes to fairways available for public consumption. But since the early 1990s, Tucson has made a respectable run in the realm of high-end resort and daily-fee golf. What's more, Tucson is not nearly as inundated with players as Phoenix or Scottsdale, and the Old Pueblo's lack of serious traffic issues will enable you to get from one course to another in a much more expedient fashion than in grid-locked Phoenix.
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Phoenix/Scottsdale
The Valley of the Sun -- made up of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa and a slew of other rapidly growing cities -- is the golf capital of the American Southwest. With close to 200 courses, the Valley can make a legitimate claim to being the most golf-rich region in the United States. Each year millions of golfers from sun-starved winter climates make their way to this sun-splashed golfing pantheon to test their mettle on desert courses that yield more lost balls than birdies.
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Southern Arizona
Make the trip out to Arizona and the Phoenix area will attract you like a magnet with its legion of golf courses and resorts, all fighting over your golfing dollar. But if you are overwhelmed by the choices the "Valley of the Sun" has to offer, head south into spacious, affordable Southern Arizona. The small towns here have a certain charm that Phoenix, Tucson and Scottsdale lack, not to mention a handful of challenging, affordable golf courses.
