PHOENIX
Papago Golf Club, 5595 E Karsten Way, Phoenix, AZ 85008
- Recommended on Geoff's site as a Ryder Cup site
TUCSON
Okay, there’s nothing particularly undiscovered about Tucson. Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, the Pretenders, Paul Simon, and many others have all mentioned it in song. But it sits comparatively unnoticed in the Sonoran Desert with the undeniably better-known golf town of Scottsdale just 115 miles north up I-10. The “Old Pueblo” gets a fraction of the golf visitors its neighbor does, but knowing how good some of the golf is in Tucson is a very potent weapon to have when coming up with new destination ideas for your buddies’/couples’ trip. Its list of golf resorts might not be as long as that of Scottsdale, but Dove Mountain, Oro Valley, Ventana Canyon, Sewailo, and Starr Pass can all hold their own against Scottsdale’s best. And don’t forget its surprisingly good municipals at Randolph North and Dell Urich, nor the three charming but admittedly remote nines at the Tubac Golf Resort 45 miles south of the city and just 25 miles north of the Mexico border.
- https://linksmagazine.com/6-mostly-undiscovered-u-s-golf-destinations
Omni Tucson National Resort & Spa (Catalina), 2727 W Club Dr, Tucson, AZ 85742
April 2025 Green Fee: $235
If you’re seeking a break from all the spiny shrubbery of the Sonoran Desert, or just want to walk in famous footsteps, the Omni Tucson National is where to touch down. Bob Charles won the first Tucson Open played here in 1965. Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Phil Mickelson are among others who captured PGA Tour titles at the Catalina course. And nobody tamed it quite like Johnny Miller, who three-peated from 1974–76, a streak that included his otherworldly 66–69–67–61 for a 25-under-par 263 and a nine-shot victory in 1975. Measuring 7,262 yards and playing to an unusual par 73, this graceful 1963 parkland-desert hybrid features wall-to-wall grass, tree-lined fairways, and mountain vistas, among them the Catalinas which give the course its name. Robert Bruce Harris of Illinois crafted the original version of the Catalina course, though it was substantially renovated in 1979 by the team of Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge. A PGA Tour Champions venue from 2015–22, Catalina rolled out one of the circuit’s toughest holes, the 443-yard par-four 18th, with lakes flanking either side of the fairway driving zone and an elevated green. (Top 10 Former PGA Tour Courses You Can Play by Joe Passov, LINKS Magazine)
