Second to None

The evolution of developments like Encanterra and Trilogy at Vistancia

Jon Rizzi | Colorado AvidGolfer

Arizona’s golf communities have evolved past being second-home enclaves for seniors and snowbirds. As this sampling shows, they’re more dynamic than ever with personality that makes residents want to stay year-round.

Encanterra

Located on 800 acres an hour southeast of Phoenix and Scottsdale, the six-year-old affordable luxury development whose name suggests “enchanted earth” is casting its spell on more and more people. Encanterra, which will ultimately grow to 2,200 homes, embraces two communities: Encanterra Country Club, for all ages; and Trilogy at Encanterra, a 55-plus neighborhood. Both have access to the gorgeous 60,000-square-foot clubhouse, highly decorated Tom Lehmandesigned course, Mossa Athletic Club, three swimming pools, four restaurants, tennis center and countless other amenities that make up what the developer, Shea Homes, aptly calls The Good Life. Shea is offering a Try Before You Buy program, where for $399, you and one other person can stay three nights and four days in a stunning home, dine once at an Encanterra restaurant, and play a round of golf (or receive a treatment at Alvea Spa). New, fully finished homes, which range in size from approximately 1,300- to 3,800-square feet and in price from the high-$100,000s to the mid-$400,000s, are Shea Green Certified and, for a limited time, include “SheaXero- No Electric Bill” features. Residents, who become social members as part of their homeowners’ dues, are not required to take full golf memberships ($20,500 initiation) but the $330 in monthly dues ($495 for November-April residents) make Encanterra an attractive value proposition.
encanterra.com; (800) 685-6494.

Desert Mountain

For 25 years, this 8,000-acre, 1,680-home north Scottsdale development has set the standard for Arizona golf and recreational communities, attracting numerous Coloradans such as Denver banker Chuck Harrison, a Cherry Hills and Rolling Hills member who joined the club in 1992 and has built two homes there. Like most of the 4,000 full- and part-time residents, Harrison and his wife Anita love the variety of Desert Mountain’s six Jack Nicklaus courses and their six separate clubhouses, as well as the development’s nine distinctive restaurants. Desert Mountain’s Cochise Course still stages the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup, and recently opened a $1.6 million Jim Flick Golf Performance Center. But Desert Mountain has evolved. The members now own it and golf has become just one of the many lifestyle amenities that include a 19,000-square-foot spa and fitness center; 10-acre tennis complex featuring nine courts utilizing hard, clay and grass surfaces; three resort-style pools; a youth activity center; private hiking trail system; dog park; and onsite concierge. Golf members no longer have to live in the community; nor do residents have to join the golf club. With an increasing percentage of residents living there year round, three of the courses remain open every summer. Bids on reissued equity golf memberships start at $65,000, with $1,260 per month in dues. Non-golf equity members pay $10,000/ $420.
desertmountain.com; (480) 595-4000.

Desert Highlands

Three decades have passed since the pioneering 850-acre development in the shadow of Pinnacle Peak opened its gates and hosted Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Gary Player in a Skins game on Jack’s 7,108-yard masterwork of target golf. But Desert Highlands remains as intimate, prestigious and exceptional as ever. Only owners of one of the 560 homes (starting around $600,000) may join Desert Highlands, which adds a $75,000 membership fee to the home purchase price. Monthly dues run $1,050. For that, members get unlimited golf and also gain access to the first 18-hole putting course in America (designed by Gary Panks). They also can avail themsleves of 13 grass and hard surface tennis courts, stocked fishing lake, 7,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, and a spectacular, award-winning clubhouse with two restaurants. Dues also cover the impressive security system for the development’s four communities. Easy access to Old Town Scottsdale, Desert Village Shopping Center and Mayo Clinic and hospital.

Trilogy at Vistancia

Preferred tee times, rates and access to one of the top-rated courses in the west Valley—the daily-fee Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia—are just some of the benefits of living in this 1,000-acre development less than an hour’s drive from SkyHarbor Airport. Vistancia divides into three communities—Trilogy, Village and Blackstone—with home prices ranging from $200,000 to north of $1 million. A Shea homes development, Trilogy at Vistancia is the active adult (55-plus) neighborhood featuring single-story homes and resort-style state-of-the-art athletic club and aerobics studio, an indoor Olympic-style pool and an outdoor resort pool, a golf course and Alvea Spa. The multi-age Village at Vistancia includes the 15,000-square-foot Mountain Vista Club and its aquatic park, indoor basketball gym and a tennis center with four lighted tennis courts, as well as the Foothills Center with a six-lane lap pool, a children’s playground and a picnic arbor. On the more rarefied end, there’s Blackstone at Vistancia, a private, gated community boasting a private Jim Engh design and a 30,000-square-foot haciendastyle clubhouse, fitness and tennis centers and fine dining. Blackstone equity golf memberships run $20,000, with $690 in monthly dues. The affordability ( “About 70 cents on the Scottsdale dollar,” says Blue Star Resort & Golf Membership and Marketing Manager Ben Keilholtz), highly amenitized and multigenerational aspects of Vistancia hold considerable appeal for both snowbirds and permanent residents, an equal number of which live here.

Vistancia.com; (623) 933-6233

No-Home Courses
If living in a private Arizona golf community isn’t how you roll, maybe joining one of the Valley of the Sun’s many private golf clubs is more your style. Here are two worth considering:

FireRock Country Club

Part of the Troon Privé collection that includes Colorado’s Club at Cordillera, this Fountain Hills club features a magnificent 29,000-square-foot clubhouse and an equally impeccable 7,001-yard Gary Panks layout that combines dramatic elevation changes, deep canyon washes and holes that hug the slopes of Red Mountains. Built in 2000, it was Fountain Hills’ first private golf club. Equity golf memberships cost $45,000, non-equity $25,000 (nonrefundable); monthly dues for both memberships are $765. Members can also enjoy fine dining, tennis and fitness.
firerockcc.com; (480) 836-8100

The Golf Club Scottsdale

With no residences intruding on its 7,561- yard Jay Morrish-Dick Bailey collaboration is renowned for its hacienda-style clubhouse compound and a stout string of four finishing holes known as “Gambler’s Bluff.” At press time, rumor had it that member Bob Parsons, the Executive Chairman and Founder of GoDaddy.com, was in the process of buying the club, changing its name and establishing a new membership fee structure.
thegolfclubscottsdale.com; (480) 443-8868.

RELATED LINKS

The Hidden Golf Course Gems of Scottsdale

FREE Scottdale Golf Guide

Let the Good Times Roll in Scottsdale

ilovescottsdalegolf.com

Colorado AvidGolfer is 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. Jon Rizzi is the founding editor and co-owner of this regional golf-related media company producing magazines, web content, tournaments, events and the Golf Passport.