By Ryan Finley,
Staff Writer

A million-dollar summer overhaul and a change in ownership has left the links-style course 42 miles outside of Tucson a desert oasis of golf.

“Our 13th hole is the one that everyone remembers”, golf pro Fred Trekell said. “It’s the hole they see from the freeway and the one with the water. This is the hole you look forward to playing.”

The 13th hole is a paradox: short yet challenging, simple yet complex.

The par 3, 197-yard hole would appear easy if not for the lake and the green.

A forty-yard elevated green yields to a lake that encompasses roughly 170 yards of the hole itself. The green is roughly twice the size of an average green.

The 13th hole of the links-style course is mostly water…not that it makes the hole any less daunting.

• Grande Valley course information • Recent GolfArizona.com course reviews • Past articles by Ryan Finley

“The game’s not over once you get over the water,” Trekell said. “You’ve got to master the odd-shaped huge green.”

Trekell thinks mastering the large green is the key to handling the hole.

“There’s a huge green there, some 6,000 square feel,” he said. “But there are humps on the large green. So you’re mentality goes from ‘get on the green’ to ‘get on the right quadrant of the green’.”

His best advice is to aim for the back of the green.

“If you aim for the back, you’re not worrying about getting it over the water,” he said. “A lot of people shorten up when they see a hole that short. My advice would be to kill the ball, even if it means going long, and working from there.”

The 13th hole is the jewel of the newly revamped course, which changed its name following an ownership change last year.

Over the summer, the new owner pumped nearly a million dollars into the course, adding two lakes, a new clubhouse, and new carts.

“People come back from playing the course just wowed,” Trekell said. “They’re shocked at the improvements we’ve made and how cheaply they can play the course.”

At roughly $30 to ride, the new course appears to be worth every cent.

Just try not to spend too much on golf balls.

Grande Valley (formerly Eloy-Tohono) Golf Course
1505 S. Toltec Rd.
Eloy, Arizona 85231
520-466-7734