Carefree is a Smart, Last-Minute Escape

Six Ways to Beat Arizona’s Coming Summer Heat Now

Chris Duthie | Photos © By Chris Duthie

With the LPGA Tour returning this week to Phoenix for the JTBC Founders Cup at Wildfire Golf Club, we’re reminded there’s still time—albeit a short, tentative window—to beat Arizona’s approaching summer heat and head south for a blissful vacation. And while Phoenix is a great choice, there is a fabulous alternative just a few miles north amid the elevated, saguaro-fertile foothills of the Continental Mountains.

Carefree is its no-worries moniker. Perhaps more than any other town in the Southwest, diminutive Carefree is an “it” spot for affluent and avid golfers. The mountain-view surrounds entice with über-exclusive golf properties like Desert Forest, Desert Highlands and Desert Mountain, and nearby Whisper Rock, Scottsdale National (formerly the Golf Club of Scottsdale, pictured below), Blackstone, Silverleaf and others.

Finagling a tee time at any of these private communities is well worth the effort. If you can’t, don’t despair—Carefree and its nearby neighbors deliver on dynamite, public-access golf. Here’s a six-course, stay-and-play sampling:

THE BOULDERS: This five-star vacation destination offers explosive, Jay Morrish-designed golf. The twin 18-hole courses weave through space shuttle-size granite boulders—hence the resort’s name—with some holes offering soaring balata rebounders that are mere steps from tight greensites. Steer clear of the skin-piercing desert foliage and watch for native javelinas, the desert’s wild pigs. Preferred tee times available for guests of The Boulders, a Waldorf Astoria Resort. 480-488-9009 or theboulders.com.

RANCHO MAÑANA: Also in Carefree, semi-private Rancho Mañana beguiles with transcending mountain panoramas and a well-paced, woman-friendly layout crafted by Bill Johnson. Players quickly discover that this innocuous-looking routing can be both testy and tenacious, especially when teeing into tight landing zones where desert flora gobbles anything offline. 480-488-0398 or ranchomanana.com.

WILDFIRE: Unmitigated fun is the operative lexicon of Wildfire’s twin courses, site of the LPGA Tour’s JTBC Founders Cup. Sited in northeast Phoenix, golfers may opt for a forgiving, Arnold Palmer-designed layout that offers wide fairways and generous greens, or they can test a beastly, Nick Faldo-crafted course that demands pinpoint precision and nerve-tasking patience. Preferred tee times available for guests of the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. 480-293-5000 or wildfiregolf.com.

TROON NORTH: This is 36 holes of the West’s best golf—quintessential Morrish- and Tom Weiskopf-designed courses set amid heaving granite rock outcroppings, sloping arroyos, giant saguaros and gangly mesquite and ironwood trees. The jaw-dropping mountain scenery of North Scottsdale is simply a bonus. Preferred tee times available for guests of the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North. 480-515-5700 or fourseasons.com/scottsdale.

TPC OF SCOTTSDALE: The Weiskopf/Morrish designed Stadium Course in North Scottsdale is the celebrated host of the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, yet less well known is its stunning sister, the Desert Course, a highly underrated track crafted by and recently updated by Weiskopf. Preferred tee times available to guests of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. 800-344-4758 or fairmont.com/scottsdale.

KIERLAND: In North Scottsdale, architect Scott Miller bulldozed 1.3 million cubic yards of earth to create a sublime, 27-hole golf experience rimmed by sweeping mountain views. Evenly paced and playable, the triplet nines are noted for plunging elevation changes and Troon Golf-managed conditioning. Preferred tee times available for guests of the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa and for pupils of the on-site LaBauve Golf Academy. Kierland also offers the “Great Scott Experience” of playing in a kilt and sampling different Johnnie Walker blends. 800-354-5892 or kierlandresort.com.

RELATED LINKS

Desert Golf vs. Target Golf

Play It Forward: Pick the Right Tees

Bring the Family: Phoenix is Fun

Download Your Scottsdale Golf Guide

Chris Duthie is a contributor to Colorado AvidGolfer, the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.