Pointe Course a Wild Ride Around Lookout Mountain

By Shannon Gazze
GolfArizona.com Valley Editor

It is a great design, though, and a bit of a hidden treasure as it's carved into a fairly urban area in North Phoenix. The Pointe Golf Club delivers spectacular elevation changes from tee to fairway, several splendid views of Squaw Peak and the northwest Valley, and a handful of very memorable and challenging holes. And the pampering that golfers receive from head pro Mitch Ross and the Pointe staff is first-class.

From the ice-water coolers attached to the back of the carts and your name on the front of the carts to the wet towels delivered personally when the sun got to be too much, I was never left wanting on the Pointe course. You may want to arrive well before your tee time to take advantage of the practice range included with the greens fee - another nice perk.

Basically, it's everything you'd expect from a posh Valley resort bearing the Hilton name (including the rather-steep price tag of $125 in season).

The back nine, save a few holes, turns into target golf, with doglegs, water and some inconveniently placed trouble forcing a choice between going for it and laying up on almost every shot.

The overseeding process has recently been completed, so the greens are still a bit slower than normal, but otherwise the course is in outstanding shape for October. And as a note of warning: If your drives are not consistently straight on this course, bring an extra sleeve of balls.

The back (blue) tees play to 6,617 yards, a 71.2 rating and a slope of 135. The course becomes quite challenging from its farthest point. Most weekend golfers will want to tee off the middle white tees (6,002 yards). Women of most levels can enjoy this course as well, as it plays to only 4,557 yards from the forward tees and offers a nice variety of difficult and easier holes.

• Hole Profile: Pointe Lookout No. 10 • Past course reviews from GolfArizona.com • Past articles by Shannon Gazze

As you leave behind the traffic, you can hear the birds chirping and see the opulent homes spring up around you. The front nine are fairly straight-forward, though long and spread out. The eighth hole was my favorite hole on the course. Driving to a wide landing area over a patch of desert, you're left with a second-shot over an attractive desert wash to a narrow green guarded by bunkers on either side.

All the bunkers on the Pointe course are hacker-friendly. They feature fine, deep, dark sand and are shallow with very little lip to speak of, making escape nothing to fear and ruling out those dreaded snowmen on your card. Distances marked on the sprinkler heads and large attractive boulders representing the 150s also add to the playability of the course.

The Pointe course is meant to be strictly an 18-hole experience. Not only do the personalities of the holes change from front to back, but a steep climb away from the ninth green leaves you a good deal away from the clubhouse.

With no direct route, it would probably take about 20 minutes or so to get home from the Mid-Pointe, the snack shop at the turn sitting high above the valley floor. By the way, my playing partner says the restrooms at the Mid-Pointe are spotless and nicer than the one in his own home.

From the tee of the signature tenth hole, about 150 feet up, the course begins its second leg of landing areas and greens surrounded by foreboding desert. This is not the kind of desert you want to be hitting out of, a la Grayhawk. This desert is rocky to the point of being unplayable. If you have any kind of affinity for your clubs, don't even try it.

The round winds down with another swoop under Thunderbird Road and an exceptional par-5 18th hole capped by a peninsula green. The fitting closer is just about unreachable in two by an average golfer, and I wish I would have known the following before I played this hole: A lay-up shot to the right side of the fairway is basically a wasted shot.

While the green is wide open and accessible from the left, it is a delicate pitch to a small green over an intimidating lake with sand and more water on the back from the right.

Overall, this course gets high marks for creativity, challenge and architecture. Stone walls along the cart paths, sand and stone paths to the tee boxes, flowers, and interestingly shaped bunkers (I saw a horseshoe and a clover, but no green stars, or yellow moons for you Lucky Charms fans) show an attention to detail unequaled by all but the highest-quality courses in the Valley.

The impressive pro shop is nestled into the Tapatio resort, with its four restaurants and bars on premises, including the Pointe in Tyme, and its 584 guest suites. And as you might have guessed, the meandering terrain makes the course a blast to drive. Even the black and white checkered flags on the pins put you in the mind of the Grand Prix, and you'll give the cart brakes a workout on several of the descents.

While this course has hosted events such as the PGA Tour's Skills Challenge and the Senior Tour's MONY Championships, it's probably in over its head as a professional-caliber course. It compares favorably to other resort tracts, however, and I would highly recommend it to vacationers and those who prefer luxury over value. Locals may be better served to look for the off-season and twilight rates, which can bring the price down under $30.

For more information on The Pointe at Lookout Mountain or to make tee times, contact:

The Pointe Golf Club on Lookout Mountain
11111 North 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85020
(602) 866-6356