Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia

The golden grass rough and the bunkers are the two things you will remember most about playing Trilogy at Vistancia, northwest of Phoenix. That grass, an unusual blend of three varieties, blue gramma, weeping love and sanddrop, turns gold in winter to provide a stunning backdrop for the emerald green fairways. And looking for lost balls in that stuff is like holding an Easter egg hunt in Kansas.

Designer Gary Panks drew his inspiration from grasses he saw on a hunting trip in southeast Arizona. He was in the Sulfur Springs Valley between the Chiricahua and Dragoon mountains. As for the bunkers, they're not the most you'll ever see while playing golf in Arizona or the deepest, but there are 72, about 30 percent more than Panks usually digs out on one of his courses. They can get pretty exciting.

Besides the golden grass and bunkers, you'll find generous landing areas on many holes and great variety in the par 3s. Vistancia plays 7,232 yards from the championship tees.