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Ocotillo Golf Club

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Also known as one of Arizona’s finest daily-fee courses for providing its guests with high standard course condition and customer service, Ocotillo Golf Club offers an extreme golf vacation experience. A getaway experience from the urban world, this golf club provides a refreshing and unique setting – from the award-winning facilities, wide rolling fairways, strong mature tees, to the different mountains, hill views, and many more. This undisputed golf club has many interesting wonders that’s worth more than a praise.

The three 9-hole courses of Ocotillo Golf Club played in combinations with various ranges of yardages give the golfers challenging rounds. Aside from the gaming aspect of the club, it also features the luxurious facilities associated with an elite private golf facility. When craving for aesthetics, the golf resort has lots of colorful flowers and other epic views such as the gigantic mountains, dark blue waterfalls, and mirror-like lakes which will absolutely feed the eyes. Ocotillo golf resort exceeds the expectations of a typical golf trip. The facility is a wise choice to create indelible memories for weddings, birthdays, anniversary celebrations and class reunions.

No wonder why it has received awards and recognition. The club is listed as one of the top 50 resorts of Golf World Magazine 2009, top 100 golf shops of Golf World Business Magazine 2006, and rated four and a half stars by 2008 Golf Digest Magazine’s Best Places to Play. Its breathtaking scenery, top golfing facilities and a challenging desert course layout make golf trips at the Ocotillo a heavenly retreat for golfers anywhere. Ocotillo Golf Club never fails in providing the guests with high class recreational experience. It’s really worth a visit for golfers who wish to encounter a one of a kind vacation.

Desert Canyon Golf Club

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A golf course that has a great view is great. One that has an excellent playability is even greater. But if a golf course offers the best views of Nature and offers an unequaled quality of game – the kind that combines fun and challenge altogether – then it must be the best. This is what the Desert Canyon Golf Club in Arizona is. And for the last 30 years, it has been proving itself as the best choice for golf vacations in Fountain Hills. AZ.

The Desert Canyon Golf Club is known for its majestic views of the Red Mountain, the Four Peaks, the Sonoran desert, and the canyons and mountains of Fountain Hills. The view doesn’t end there. Being at the Desert Canyon affords its guests a view of the highest fountain in the world – the 550-feet fountain in the middle of the desert, northeast of Phoenix. The 18-hole golf vacation destination may be short, playing only at 6,550 yards from the back tees, but it doesn’t come short of challenging. It plays uphill for most of the holes, causing a battle against the desert wind, and has open but tight oak-lined fairways. Golfers also have to try their best shots at the strategically set doglegs and the dramatic elevation changes innate in desert golf courses.

The qualities that make the Desert Canyon Golf Club the best have not remained unrecognized. Apart from its countless golf trip patrons, Golf Digest has awarded it as one of its ‘Best Places to Stay’ and the ‘Best Public Golf Course’ from 2005-2008 by Market Surveys of America. For it to last 30 years without being overshadowed by its younger and larger neighboring courses, it leaves no question that the Desert Canyon is indeed the best.

The Raven At South Mountain

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It has received a 4.5 star rating from Golf Digest and has been recognized as the number one in Guest Service in North America – these are just some of the numerous awards that makes The Raven At South Mountain a must-visit golf course in North America. What makes it more fascinating is one of its makers is a former golf Champion Tom Lehman. Its background alone makes it very interesting, what more personally experiencing this premiere golf vacation destination?

The Raven At South Mountain should be on top of the list when planning a golf vacation for those who seek the very best that Arizona golf has to offer. The place is surrounded by tall, refreshing trees circling the rolling fairways. A chain of desert mountains makes it more captivating. Raven provides on-site meeting facilities good for 200 people. Situated just minutes away from the Sky Harbor Airport and downtown Phoenix, this golf club a perfect place of businessmen and golfers on the go. A meal, a snack, and a drink are included with every green fee.

Because of its reputation as one of the top courses in the area, the Raven At South Mountain has been given the honor of hosting such huge events as the Arizona Stroke Play Championship. Raven is proud to be associated with their 2001 World Series Champions and Arizona Diamondbacks, serving as their official home golf course. Effortlessly, the Raven lives up to the prestige of its maker, and of everything good said about it. For a superb golf trip experience, there’s just no thinking twice about choosing the Raven.

Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatio

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In looking for a golf vacation destination, the course and the facilities are the core factors that golfers consider. Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatio is one golf club which gives its visitors great convenience with its above average facilities and adequate course. Considered as the shining jewel of the Pointe Hilton Resort in Phoenix, the course has been recognized as one of the top 25 golf courses in Arizona, and one of the top 50 public courses in America. It is also been rated 4 stars by Golf Digest. These are just some of the things that make Lookout Mountain interesting.

According to visitors’ feed backs, Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatiohas quality facilities and a paradise-like environment. The resort alone makes the place almost perfect. The mountain scenery feeds the viewers’ eyes, not to mention the fascinating swimming pools, tennis court, fine dining, and other first class accommodations. A restaurant that serves delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals is also available. Moreover, the golf course is just a stone’s throw away from the guest rooms. So the guests don’t have to waste time in going to the course. They can enjoy endless rounds of golf right on! The field’s dramatic elevation make it a really big challenge to the players. Visiting this golf club is like having an all-in-one golf vacation.

 No wonder why Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatio has received so many honors, recognitions, and awards. It satisfies a guest’s need of fun and enjoyment in golfing. To put it rather simply, it’s a highly recommended golf trip destination for golfers who wish not only to play a typical golf game but also for those who thirst for a heavenly vacation.

Las Sendas Golf Club

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Golfers always thirst for challenging courses. Aside from that, they seek golf trips which would feed relaxation to their spirits. These qualities can be experienced at Las Sendas Golf Club. Also known as the “green and brown course” because of its desert and grass fields, the place also serves guests with convenient rooms, dining, and other necessities that are surely satisfying.

 Giving golfers eighteen superb holes of challenge and fun, Las Sendas Golf Club greatly attracts many golfers, both amateurs and highly experienced players to develop and improve their golfing skills. As expected from a Robert Trent Jones design, fairways move spontaneously on the constructed swales and contours, and main lay of the land. Las Sendas requires critical thinking and strategy to play it well. Mere ball-hitting would never be enough. Therefore, players must have their best angles through correct positioning. The greens are very subtle. It requires precision to avoid the balls to slip past the hole. So much for the great challenge it gives, Las Sendas also brought the entire club to a higher level by giving its visitors the first class experience they deserve. Brand new carts with the latest braking technology, full cart paths to lessen the wear and tear on the desert, and on-course facilities such as halfway house and new bathrooms were also added to take the supreme golf experience to the optimum. Only Las Sendas defines the golf vacation that professional golfers dream of.

 Las Sendas Golf Club has been rated as one of the top 100 golf courses in the nation, top 10 in Arizona, and ranked 12th as the most challenging. What makes it unique from other courses is because its true desert course quality. Accuracy and consistency are the keys will make every round fulfilling. Las Sendas, indeed, has all the qualities and characteristics for an ideal golf trip.

Longbow Golf Club

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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.

ASU Karsten Golf Course

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The Karsten Golf Course at the Arizona State University was built to mold champions. The world class golf course designer Pete Dye was commissioned specifically to create a golf course that could provide enough challenge to hone the skills of ASU’s athletes. Pete Dye delivered exactly that. And since its opening in 1984, the Arizona State has sent countless of championship contenders and bagged home several trophies from the collegiate golf tournaments. It is not surprising why countless golfers choose to spend their golf trips here. Everyone becomes a champion, or at least feel like one.

Pete Dye and his firm had to totally overhaul an empty piece of land at the ASU grounds, 156 acres in size, to create this championship golf course. The 18-hole par-72 ASU Karsten Course bears its designer’s signature of railroad ties, huge mounds, hidden greens, and dramatic bunkering. The course could play to as long as 7,026 yards from the longest tees. Pete Dye’s wife, Alice, contributed a lot in the designing of the course to ensure that the course is playable and friendly with the lady golfers. The result is a golf vacation destination that will pose challenge to every single champion in the making, regardless of handicap.

Because of the taxing job of making champions out of their athletes, the ASU Karsten Course also goes through rigorous maintenance measures. No wonder it is one of the best maintained courses in the entire state of Arizona, and perhaps in the entire United States. Its superb conditioning and excellent playability earned it 4 ½ stars from Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play rating. The ASU Karsten is a champion in itself, and only it can deliver a golf vacation fit for a champion.

Raven Golf Club at Verrado

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 The Raven Golf Club at Verrado is perhaps one of those golf courses that can lure one into thinking that it is an easy, relaxing course. True, the views of the White Tank Mountains is breathtaking and a delight to the senses, but this shouldn’t fool anybody. This championship golf course 25 miles outside of downtown Phoenix goes beyond the pretty little course it appears to be. It has some of the most dramatic elevation changes and the most unforgiving bunkers among all the other golf vacation destinations in Arizona.

Half of the Raven Golf Club at Verrado plays on mostly level terrain while the other half gives a heart wrenching twist to an otherwise ordinary golf trip as it sits on the slopes of the White Tank Mountains giving the course highly dramatic elevation changes. The fairways are wide and friendly, but the bunkers are a make or break and requires the golfer to carefully plan a shot when a bunker is nearby. Some of the greens are easy, but the others are not, thus the entire play at the Raven necessitates versatile plays – perfect for players of all handicaps to find their own level of challenge.

To complete the golf vacation, the Raven Golf Club at Verrado offers services fit for royalty. They have some of the most excellent golf resort amenities and staff including the gastronomic indulgence offered at their western-inspired Cocina Grille. This is where the atmosphere is easiest at the course, when the guests can relax and breathe after an exciting, heart pounding round of golf. And that, perhaps is the best way to cap off a day at the Raven Golf Club.

TPC Champions Course

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A golf course owner never would spend some millions of dollars on a golf course for nothing. A lot of work, money, and results are expected to come out of a major course renovation – expecting the old one to come out better than anything it has ever been. The $12million overhaul on the TPC Champions Course delivered. The golf vacation destination that used to quietly stand behind the shadow of its more famous sibling course Stadium (home of the FBR Phoenix Open) as the Desert Course, now stands as its equal in both beauty and playability.

The former Tom Weiskopf and Jay Moorish design was revamped by Randy Heckenkemper, keeping the original beauty of the golf trip haven, only adding a little more edge to the play. It meanders through the desert following its natural edgy contours giving a little more than an upbeat of the heart on the closing four holes. The TPC Champions Course was made in such a way that golfers cannot trust a single type of play but approach each shot in so many different ways. This makes it a versatile course that can accommodate players of various handicaps.

Not a single cent has gone to waste in the renovation of the TPC Champions Course. The former easy Desert Course has elevated its status into one of the most exciting sites for golf vacations in all of Arizona. The now challenging layout coupled with the naturally breathtaking scenery of the Arizona desert have created a championship layout worth more than a single visit.

Club West Golf Course

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There’s no better place to hold golf trips with friends than a golf course that can accommodate everyone’s playing level. The Club West Golf Course in Arizona is exactly this: a versatile golf course with 4 different sets of tees that can stretch the game from 4,985 yards to as much as 7,142 yards in length and is a welcome haven for golfers regardless of playing level. Golfers can play according to their own handicap and desired difficulty in a championship golf course with stunning views of Arizona’s Sonoran desert and the mountains surrounding it.

The 18-hole championship course designed by Ken Cavanaugh and Brian Whitcomb, apart from being so versatile, has some very dramatic elevation changes on each hole. It has all the classic elements of desert golf – of playing over desert foothills and vegetation, as well as some really stunning rock formations – and a lake and a pond to add to the already challenging and exciting layout. Club West Golf Course is the perfect golf vacation destination for golfers who want to add more spunk into their game but enjoy a picture-perfect environment.

Because of its versatility and unique brand of challenge, Club West Golf Course is a consistent member in the top 20 list of Arizona’s Best Golf Courses. Its versatility as well as scenic quality are like open arms that welcome every golfer that comes their way. No wonder it is the site of countless golf vacations, and the subject of many positive reviews from golfers of all levels.