10 Things You Might Not Know About Golf in Arizona

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

The Arizona Golf Association (AGA) celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2023. With approximately 90,000 members, the AGA has the eighth most total members and the fifth most female members of any golf association in the country.

DESERT HISTORY

One of the country’s oldest public golf clubs was founded in Phoenix in 1946. That’s when a group of African-American men finished their round of golf at Encanto Golf Course and formed the Desert Mashies Golf Club. More than seven decades later, the group has over 100 members who play in monthly events, run one of the country’s largest junior golf tournaments, and enjoy a tight-knit bond among generations of members.

SEEING DOUBLE

You can find Arizona’s only double green (public or resort course category) at Sewailo Golf Club at Casino Del Sol in Tucson. The massive 29,000-square foot surface, inspired by similar double greens found at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland, connects the first and eighth holes at Sewailo. Make sure you aim at the correct flagstick for the hole you are playing on your approach!

SNEAKY HARD

You might assume the famously chaotic par-3 16th is the hardest hole of them all at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course when the WM Phoenix Open rolls into town each year. Nope. Last year the toughest was actually the par-4 11th, followed by the par-4 14th. The 16th? It was merely the 10th hardest.

HOMETOWN DESIGNS

Bill Coore is a North Carolina native, but he’s lived in Scottsdale for many years. He and his partner, Ben Crenshaw, are highly-regarded for their golf course designs around the world. Here in Arizona the public can play two of those: the Saguaro Course at We-Ko-Pa and the O’odham Course (formerly North Course) at Talking Stick Golf Club.

WATCH FOR ELEPHANTS

The altitude in Williams, Arizona, 33 miles west of Flagstaff, will help your ball fly a little farther at Elephant Rocks Golf Course. But when you enter the facility, you might think the thin air is messing with your vision. It’s not. The course namesakes, located right at the main entrance, are ancient lava rocks that, at certain angles during certain times of the day, could be mistaken for elephants.

TIN CUP GHOSTS

The fourth hole on the Rancho Course at Tubac Golf Resort & Spa, located 45 minutes south of Tucson, is more than just a long par 5. It’s where a famous scene from the 1996 golf-themed movie “Tin Cup” was filmed. You could lay up on your second shot like Don Johnson’s character or you could pull a Roy McAvoy (played by Kevin Costner) move and go for it. Look for a plaque in the fairway noting the spot.

VIVE LE FRANCE

Why would a golf course in Arizona have a green named after a town 5,550 miles away in France? Head to the 18-hole, par-3 Short Course at Mountain Shadows Resort in Scottsdale to see why. You’ll see the answer on the fourth hole, where the green is bisected by a deep swale. This architectural feature, implemented by course designer and Arizona native Forrest Richardson, was inspired by a similar green found on a course in the town of Biarritz, located on the southwest coast of France.

A CLASS BY ITSELF

What school has won the most NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championships? That would be Arizona State, whose home course is Papago Golf Course, a municipal facility right in the heart of Phoenix. The Sun Devils won their first title in 1990 and their most recent one in 2017.

THE VAULT

Deep inside the Phoenix headquarters of golf equipment company PING is a vault containing more than 3,000 gold-plated putters. Each represents a win by professional golfers who used a PING putter during their victory. The replica putters date back to 1962 and include wins on the PGA, LPGA, and PGA CHAMPIONS tours. The best year? 1988, when PING putters were used to win all four majors in men's professional golf.