The Sanctuary Golf Club at Westworld is indeed a sanctuary. It is – for desert wildlife and flora, as was certified by the Audubon International when it awarded the club its Audubon Signature Status – the first one in Arizona, and the 17^th in the world. But to golfers who want everything easy breezy, and get a good scorecard without so much as raising an arm, the extra challenging desert layout of this golf course is just not for them. There is just nothing pretentious about desert golf in this golf vacation destination. It’s difficult, it’s hot, it’s real. IT’S FUN.

Its course architect, Randy Heckenkemper, worked on the Bureau of Reclamations’ Storm Water Retention area to come up with the Sanctuary Golf Club. The 6,624-yard, 18-hole, par 71 Sanctuary Golf Club is built on the western slopes of the McDowell Mountains adjacent to the Westworld equestrian center. Heckenkemper followed the natural topography of the land, thus creating a purely desert landscape of large saguaro cacti and desert washes. The most prominent feature about this golf vacation spot is not the scenery though, it’s the multiple forced carries off the tee. There’s just no other way to get past the thick desert vegetation.

Nothing is so ordinary about golf trips at the Sanctuary Golf Club. The layout is too challenging to be that. But not to worry, the golf club’s staff will compliment the difficulty with their superb and friendly service. For the real toughie of a golfer, who finds spells fun with C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E, then this is indeed, a sanctuary.