The Golfer’s Guide to 2025 Arizona Spring Training
Arizona offers a variety of great golf, food & terrain this spring training season
READ MORE: 2025 Arizona Spring Training: Where to Eat, Stay & Golf
By Jim Bebbington
For Colorado golfers, this winter has been long, cold and unforgiving.
But as with the swallows and Capistrano, Colorado golfers will be flocking to warmer locations this spring – their golf clubs in tow – to catch some Major League Baseball spring training.
The Cactus League in Arizona is a perennial favorite, and this season, some of Arizona’s best courses are ready and waiting.
The Grapefruit League in Florida offers an entirely different level of entertainment. A shorter flight than Cancun, South Florida’s spring training cities make it too far to travel among them easily. Sovisitors combine visits to their favorite teams with local golf and beach life.
NORTH VALLEY
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick
The 11,000-seat stadium shared by the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks has been named the best spring training facility in Arizona by numerous entities. More than 300,000 fans have packed the stands in each of the last seven seasons – the only Spring Training complex to draw that many. Seats on the outfield lawn can be had for as low as $19 and you can spread a blanket on the grass to watch the action. Public golf in Scottsdale abounds, but great courses within a few minutes’ drive of Salt River Fields include Scottsdale Silverado Golf Club (scottsdalesilveradogolfclub.com), Talking Stick Golf Club (talkingstickresort.com) and McCormick Ranch Golf Club (mccormickranchgolf.com).
Camelback Mountain and Old Scottsdale
Nestled against Camelback Mountain and less than a mile from one another, The Phoenician Spa and old town Scottsdale offer a great combination of resort golf as well as great restaurants and shopping. The Phoenician (ThePhoenician.Com) features everything from separated villas to cozy traditional rooms. Its outdoor pool complex received renovations this fall. The short and tricky 18-hole course on the grounds features holes clinging to the sides of Camelback Mountain. Old Town Scottsdale is a two-minute Uber away and includes Scottsdale Stadium, the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants, as well as boutiques for fashion, art, antiques and gifts. (OldTownScottsdaleAZ.com).
One Hole to Try
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club’s Cholla Course No. 8 – The No. 1 handicap, par 5 runs between 550 and 600 yards. Drives must clear the waste area and find a narrow fairway. Approach shots need to navigate a fairway that rolls balls left toward a deep and rocky waste bunker.
South Valley
Mesa dubs itself ‘City Limitless’ and the options for good food, beer and entertainment live up to the name. 12 West Brewing Tap Room and Restaurant in downtown is part of the city’s ‘patio tour’ with outdoor dining and relaxation. Patio restaurants throughout the city take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and gorgeous sunsets. Others include Tacos Chiwas, What’s Crackincafé and The Patio at Las Sendas. VisitMesa.com
The Taco Trail
If you’re closer to Chandler, take advantage of their pride-and-joy taco restaurants. Many independent restaurants are opened by first and second-generation residents using recipes from the old country. Bierrieria Don Jose, Calitacos Restaurant and Backyard Taco are all good options. VisitChandler.com
Where to Play
Legacy Golf Club (GolfLegacyResort.Com), ranked as one of the best in the Phoenix region, offers fairly wide-open, flat greens with one or two bunkers each, minimalist tee boxes surrounded by desert, and somewhat rare tree-lined fairways. People staying at the resort can participate in a weekly 1-hour golf clinic for $25. The Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa (akchinsoutherndunes.com) is a perennial favorite of visitors. Long and winding, many greens are protected by enormous bunker complexes.
One hole to play
The Ocotillo Golf Club, an Arcis club in Chandler, has 27 holes of championship golf available. No. 16 is a 550-yard+ monster with trouble left early, then right. Ball placement is crucial.
Baseball
Tempe Diablo Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Angels, is nearby. The stadium is in the midst of a $20 million renovation, building a new major-league clubhouse on the grounds to accompany the 1968-era minor-league clubhouse. Sloan Park in Mesa, the home of the Chicago Cubs, is often packed; given how well the Cubs fans fill Coors Field when Chicago comes to Denver, there are a lot of Chicago ex-pats in Colorado.
West Valley
The Baseball
Stadums dot the west valley of the Phoenix region that host the Royals, Twins, Mariners, Padres, Dodgers, White Sox, Guardians, Reds and Brewers. Fresh from their stomping of the Yankees in the 2024 World Series, the Dodgers will open up at Camelback Ranch Park in Glendale on February 20.
Golf
For visitors looking to play a lot of golf at an affordable price, the Sun City public courses offer the best deals around (SunCityAZ.org). The top rate is $61 for 18-holes at any of their eight golf courses – five regulation courses and three executive tracks. One of the newest golf courses in the valley, Verrado Golf Club includes two desert beauties designed by Tom Lehman – The Founders Course and the Victory Course. (VerradoGolfClub.Com). The Arizona Traditions Golf Club in Surprise (aztraditions.com) is an enjoyable parkland-style course, compact and great for an accessible, quick round.
One Hole to Play
Verrado’s Victory Golf Course No. 18 – After a long journey through beautiful desert terrain and holes studded with natural rock formations, you’ll have to blast it over water first and then have two strong follow-ups to finish well on this long par 5.
Fun on the Side
In 2023, Tiger Woods’s new venture, Popstroke, opened in Glendale and has been providing good food and golf entertainment to families since. It’s TopGolf, but with putters. And if you’re looking to use all the clubs in your bag, you can make it a two-fer and visit the TopGolf facility a mile away on the other side of the NFL Cardinals’ StateFarm Stadium. PopStroke.com
Tucson
The Golf
Sewailo Golf Club, designed by Notah Begay III – friend of Tiger, former PGA Tour member and NBC and Golf Channel commentator – is adjacent to the Casino Del Sol (Casinodelsol.com). The well-maintained resort course keeps you in sight of the resort’s iconic tower and the Sierrita Mountains on the horizon. Northeast of downtown Tucson, Ventana Canyon Club and Lodge (Ventanacanyonclub.com) has two 18-hole Tom Fazio courses that can test all levels of players. The Mountain Course is a huge test that gives stunning views to the surrounding foothills. The Canyon Course is just a little shorter and, during the rainy season, can feature mountain runoff coursing through the washes. Other great local courses include the Club at Star Pass and Arizona National Golf Club.
One Hole to Play
The signature hole at Ventana Canyon’s Mountain course is its par 3 third hole. It plays just a smidge over 100 yards, but it’s all carried over a deep desert ravine. It’s a stunner.
Sonoran Desert Getaway
Tubac Golf Resort and Spa is a quiet, beautiful golf resort away from the crowds. A 50-minute drive south to Tucson, Tubac offers a perfect getaway with enough golf to challenge the active traveller, but laid-back shopping, hiking and restaurants. (Tubacgolfresort.com)
The Culinary Capitol Called Tucson
Tucson humbly boasts of having the best Mexican food in the U.S. and it would be hard to argue. The variety, complexity and availability of fantastic restaurants helped lead Tucson to being named one of the world’s great culinary cities by UNESCO. (VisitTucson.org/eat-drink/Mexican-food).
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