COURSE REVIEW
Scottsdale Silverado Golf Club: Scottsdale's secret public golf course flies under the radar
By Chris Baldwin,
Senior Writer
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Secrets in Scottsdale golf last only slightly longer than secrets in the world of celebrity starlets. Sure, you'll hear about Britney Spears going out clubbing without her underwear again faster, but golf courses in this town cannot keep anything quiet that much longer.
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Which makes Scottsdale Silverado Golf Club a complete anomaly.
This is the Scottsdale golf course that nobody knows about. It's right on Indian Bend Road, smack dab in the middle of the every trendy desert city's heavy traffic corridors. Heck, you could finish munching on one of Patsy Grimaldi's delicious thin pepperoni slices in Old Town and be on the first tee in under 10 minutes.
Yet, Scottsdale Silverado carries less name recognition than Scott Baio's hairdresser's third cousin.
Part of this is due to the unique setup of the club - Silverado is a cooperative partnership between a group of private businessmen (and dedicated golfers) and the City of Scottsdale. And none of these parties seems too concerned with whether tourists ever find their way to the course.
Instead, you find a group of steadfast regulars and a marshal who hovers like a mother at her daughter's wedding out on the wide-open fairways.
Anyone can play Scottsdale's secret course, though. And if you do, chances are you'll be treated right. Silverado is the type of course where the clubhouse guys only charge late afternoon stragglers the cart fee (around $26 bucks) to get in as many holes as they can.
If you're looking for a good cool-down course, a place to get in more golf before the sun sets, Scottsdale Silverado is a good choice too. This is also a great track to play that first round in the Valley of the Sun if your game's been in winter hibernation back home. Or if you simply want to lower your handicap, play Silverado several times.
This is a 6,313-yard course with a slope rating of 108 - that's no misprint. At Silverado, everything is in front of you the same way the plot is to a Sylvester Stallone movie. The fairways are wide, the forced carries are few and hardly scary, and the lies are great.
That's right, great. This is one of the few easy courses you'll find in really good shape. At Silverado, green means very green. In fact, Silverado removes a lot of the intimidation from golf. People who dread how they're swinging can show up here and leave feeling pretty good about themselves.
Rough is as hard to find as Dick Cheney often is.
"It's not all about kicking you in the fanny," golfer Mabel Irving said. "I hate those desert courses that just want to kick you in the fanny. Here, you can play a friendly game with another couple and both the husbands and the wives have a good time."
The greatest danger at Scottsdale Silverado does not come from any obstacle, it's the parallel fairways. When someone else is swinging, you might be ducking. You've never seen so many guys on the wrong fairway - and sometimes the wrong green - hitting back across to the hole they airmailed.
It's hard to tell whether this is because golfers swing with more reckless abandon at Silverado or because Silverado brings out more golfers whose swings are naturally wayward.
Silverado certainly gives you a good look at everything you're swinging at. Most of the tee boxes are slightly elevated - in Florida they would be considered huge elevation changes, here in the desert they're minor bumps and ridges — and they provide a great window of all that's in your way.
You don't really find yourself squeezed in at all until you get to the ninth tee and find trees on either side of the driving corridor.
Not that you're likely to mind. It's just nice to be in on a green so secret that many Scottsdale golf vacationers know as much about it as they do the area's libraries.
The verdict on Scottsdale Silverado Golf Club
You probably don't want to play Scottsdale Silverado for its prime-time, high-season greens fee. It's not a memorable enough course for that. Plus, you're swinging along plenty of golf course homes. But if you can get on in the afternoon for $45 or less (and you often can even in high season), it's a quirky secret worth checking out.
There are six par 3s. Many are straight-on shots, but No. 18 is also a par 3 and the finisher has you shooting down from a raised tee to a green running along water across from the clubhouse. This would be a fun hole no matter where it was, and that may be the best thing about Silverado: It has some holes that are as much of a blast as a Will Ferrell movie.
Like No. 5 - a par 4 that's 303 yards from the back tees and as inviting as your grandmother on Thanksgiving. This is the hole where mere mortals have a legitimate chance to reach the green with a little roll.
Maybe that's why Silverado stays secret: The regulars want to keep the unexpected highs to themselves.
Scottsdale area restaurants
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If you're looking to surprise your group, try Wrights at the Arizona Biltmore. When most people think of the Biltmore, they assume it's all old money and stuffy due to its storied history (every president for the past 40 years has stayed and golfed there).
But the recently redesigned Wrights turns out really good meals in a good setting that's relaxed enough not to have any special occasion that brought you there. There's much more game (elk and the like) then you'll find at your average trendy 'Zona spot. It can be a man's man menu.
Scottsdale hotels
For the sometimes-dreamed-about Westin beds and a great location with golf, the Westin Kierland Commons is a good choice. There are three nines right behind the resort and a mix of quality chain stores and unique Arizona stores in the big outdoor shopping center right next door. There's also a huge Barnes and Noble you can hang out in.
December 20. 2007
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.
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