The Raptor Course of the Grayhawk Golf Club may be fierce on some shots, but it definitely doesn’t look like it. While the name may sound monstrous, as are its unforgiving bunkers, the Raptor holds some of the most breathtaking vistas of the Sonoran desert, the Pinnacle Peak and the McDowell Mountains which make it a golf vacation favorite in Arizona.

Together with its sibling course, the Talon, the Raptor Course is part of the renowned Grayhawk Golf Club whose ambassadors include 2010 Master’s Champion Phil Mickelson who spent much of his pre- championship days in the facility honing his now world-famous skills. The 18-hole par-72 championship course designed by Tom Fazio bears its designer’s signature large bunkers and daring-play layouts. The most prominent features of the Raptor Course of the Grayhawk Golf Club, apart from the heavy bunkering, is the tricky use of the water hazards that are as beautiful as they are treacherous. The greens are large and fairly undulating, and the fairways are wide with lush desert vegetation. There is that fair share of challenge and beauty to this course, and the ambiance is always fun and never intimidating – it is a powerful combination that makes any golf trip a memorable experience.

It could so easily be said of the Raptor Course of the Grayhawk Golf Club that it is simply one of the best golf courses in Arizona and in the country. This is not some solitary opinion, as Golf Magazine thinks so too. The golf vacation destination has been listed one of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the US. Perhaps the fiercest quality of the course does not only lie in its name. Among its counterparts, it is indeed fierce because of its characteristics that make for an exceptional golf course.