We-Ko-Pa – Arizona’s Best for 20 Years  

Over the last 20 years, avid golfers with high standards thought of We-Ko-Pa and thought one thing: great golf.

Many of the millions of people who flock to the Grand Canyon State to leave behind the cold and dreary winters and bask in the Arizona sunshine are avid golfers aching to take advantage of the nearly 200 golf courses that dot the local landscape.

With so many opportunities for outstanding golf, it can be difficult to find a home base of operations close enough to accomplish one’s ambitious golf bucket list. In the case of proximity, pleasure and exceptional playability, few have invested more in their all-around stay-and-play experience than We-Ko-Pa.

Over the last 20 years, avid golfers with high standards thought of We-Ko-Pa and thought one thing: great golf. The shoe certainly fits. The two golf courses at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club – Cholla and Saguaro – tend to stand out to discerning players as among the best tracks in the state. But with the completion of the all-new We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort a little under one year ago, there’s now more to the We-Ko-Pa story than great golf set against the natural beauty of the untouched Sonoran Desert. Much more.

A new decade brings with it fresh energy for We-Ko-Pa. The 167,000-square-foot gaming facility offers guests a larger casino with a garden court, specialty high-end dining, a sports bar with entertainment stage and other best-in-class amenities. As for the golf experience, it doesn’t get much better than We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. The Cholla course at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club burst on to the Scottsdale scene in December 2001 as an early Christmas gift wrapped in some of the most scenic Sonoran Desert on the planet. The Saguaro course followed in 2006. Since then, both have racked up an impressive list of accolades, positive player anecdotes and relentless attention from local and national golf publications.

Cholla is the handiwork of architect Scott Miller and features jaw-dropping views which almost overshadow the sound, strategic playing value of the course itself. The variety in the routing and pacing of the holes will keep all levels of golfers entertained from opening tee shot to final tap-in. Cholla has held a top-10 spot on Golfweek’s coveted “Best you Can Play State by State” rankings for the last decade and currently holds the No. 7 spot in all of Arizona.

Saguaro – designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw – incorporates desert golf with traditional golf course design. It’s built for walking, with greens situated near the next tee. It follows the natural movement of the land, and the playing corridors are wider – some much wider – compared to Cholla. When the particular patch of ground is flat and open, the hole is, too. Likewise, when the landscape pitches and rolls, so does the layout. Saguaro has been considered by Golfweek as the No. 1 “Best Course you Can Play” for 14 of the last 15 years and broke Golf Digest’s Top-100 Public Courses (No. 98) in 2018.

Cholla and Saguaro have much in common. Both are meticulously maintained, receive high praise from golf media and guests alike, and offer quality experiences punctuated by the sights and sounds of the desert and nothing else.

For more information, visit wekopa.com.

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Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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