It is one thing to be called an excellent golf course. It is another thing to be called the “Essence of Arizona Golf”. Skeptics – especially the purists – may have more than raised an eyebrow when The Longbow Golf Club in Arizona was given the title, but the golf vacation destination quickly turned doubters to believers once it was put to a test. The Ken Kavanaugh design has captured the best of desert golf in its purest form – both in playability and in scenery.

Ken Kavanaugh reworked on his original 1997 design, and in 2003, the Longbow Golf Club came out better than it has ever been. The acreage was expanded to reach as much as 7,003 yards from the back tees, playing at par 71. It features the designer’s signature of bold bunkering, dramatic hazards and tricky mounds. Critics say this one stays closest to the essence of the sport itself. Golf trips are even made more scenic by the sweeping views of the surrounding McDowell Mountains, Red Mountain, Usery Mountain, and Superstitions. The best of desert golf is featured in its natural desert environment – unadulterated, as there are no houses nor roads to obstruct the golden desert vista.

Prior the renovation, the Longbow Golf Club was good. But the overhaul must have done it well, in 2009, it was named in the top 100 Resort Courses in the Country by Golfweek, and one of the Top 20 Best Public Access Courses in Arizona in 2010 by the same publication. It has had doubters, but the course has long since rightfully earned its reputation of being a golf vacation favorite that even golf purists praise.