Phoenix and Scottsdale are stacked with great public-access golf options. Which are best?
Arizona is home to a great selection of desert golf courses, and most of those are centered around Phoenix and Scottsdale. But which are the best?
Thanks to Golfweek’s Best annual rankings of top public-access courses in each state, we can break out the highest-ranked layouts in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. For the purpose of this exercise, we limited driving time to about an hour from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. (We used Google Maps for its drive times, keying in the courses on a mid-afternoon – take all drive times around the Valley of the Sun with a grain of salt, of course.)
There are other options not included here, courses that were beyond that hour limit. If you have a little more time for the drive, Wickenburg Ranch’s Big Wick course ranks No. 2 among all public-access courses in the state, but it’s about 90 minutes northwest of the airport. Similar story for several strong options in Tucson about two hours to the southeast.
A little background on how we do this: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.
Keep scrolling to see how they stack up, and check out the accompanying map to get a handle on roughly where everything is located.
The Valley of the Sun offers plenty of great public-access golf courses.
Headed to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area for the annual giant party that is the WM Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour? Maybe you scored a ticket to watch the Eagles square off against the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium in nearby Glendale? Perhaps you’re one of the truly lucky ones planning to attend both?
Then pack your golf clubs because the Valley of the Sun offers plenty of great public-access golf courses. For most of the year, we recommend you start with these top 10 in the area. Of course, only nine are really options for the week of the Super Bowl and WM Phoenix Open, as TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course is booked to host the pros, but you get the idea.
Golfweek’s Best ranks courses around the world, utilizing a pool of more than 800 course raters. The most popular rankings list in the program is the Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access layouts in each state. To analyze the top 10 public-access courses around the Phoenix and Scottsdale area, we started with those rankings for all of Arizona. Then we included only those courses within a 90-minute drive of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which sits about halfway between TPC Scottsdale and State Farm Stadium.
But don’t consider these your only options. Check out even more great courses in Arizona on the state-by-state public-access list. But be ready to pay a premium for a tee time the week of the Super Bowl and PGA Tour event, as many courses in the valley utilize fluctuating on-demand pricing all year, and all the courses will see a spike in demand on what will be the busiest week of the year.
Take a look at the hole-by-hole maps for Grayhawk’s Raptor course, site of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Division I Championship in Arizona.
The eyes of the college golf world remain on Scottsdale, Arizona, as the NCAA Men’s Division I Championship begins this week at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor course.
Built across rolling desert, the Raptor features raised greens with frequently steep runoffs into deep bunkers or what will be heavy rough for the championship. Elite college players can handle the lengths the course will be set up for each championship, but they better pay attention to hitting the fairways at Grayhawk. The men will play Grayhawk at 7,289 yards with a par of 70.
Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players will face this week. Check out each hole below, with the yardages and hole lengths indicating the setup for the men specifically. Golfweek posted a separate yardage book for the women’s championship.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – After Stanford won its regional by 30 shots, head coach Anne Walker did everything she could to help her team hit the reset button. Dominant victories can take an emotional toll. She encouraged her players to put their clubs away for several days. Take time to decompress.
Stanford currently holds a 20-stroke lead over Duke at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk heading into the final round of stroke play. Just like regionals, Rachel Heck and Angelina Ye sit 1-2 in the individual race. Brooke Seay added a 69 and is tied for fifth.
Ye bogeyed her first five holes this week but is now 5 under for the championship, five back from Heck. She carded a career-best 7-under 65 on Sunday, tying Andrea Lee for lowest round in NCAA Championship history for the program.
Angelina Ye’s 65 tied Andrea Lee’s school record for lowest round at NCAAs. (Stanford/Darren Reese)
The top eight teams advance to match play after Monday’s final round. Stanford won the 2015 NCAA Championship at The Concession, the first year the women switched formats to match play. They’ve advanced to the final eight every year since.
Heck is the top-ranked player in the country having won five tournaments this semester, including the Pac-12 Championship and regionals. What will it be like having a teammate chase her tomorrow?
“I’ll be playing behind her,” said Heck. “I’m hoping I get to watch her make putts and wave back at her, because that’s what we do. We’re teammates.”
A similar situation played out at regionals on Stanford’s home course. There was a backup on the 18th tee in the final round and Ye and Heck were tied.
“We were tied at regionals and I ended up coming out on top,” said Heck. (Angelina) gave me a huge hug and was super pumped for me. If she goes and fires another 7 under I’ll be stoked for her.”
Because Stanford didn’t get to compete in the fall due to COVID-19 and, for a while even the spring looked iffy, Heck says there’s a deep level of gratitude on the team. She’s better at staying patient in the moment now too. Heck credits ROTC with helping give her a greater perspective.
Walker said she’s most impressed with Heck’s demeanor on the course this week, her composure. She walked off the par-5 18th with a smile on Sunday despite a watery bogey.
“Getting mad isn’t going to help anything,” Heck said matter-of-factly.
Back on Friday in the first round, Walker approached Ye after her fifth bogey, armed with a pep talk: ‘Here’s the deal, you’re going to make five birdies in the next 72 holes.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Saturday was indeed moving day for the Stanford women’s golf team.
Making the most of the calmer morning conditions at Grayhawk Golf Club, the Cardinal posted a 10-under round to zoom up the leaderboard and take over the top spot after two days of the 2021 Division I NCAA Championships.
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t look at leaderboards,” Stanford head coach Anne Walker said after her team shot 10 under to get to 7 under overall. “I believe in my team and I know that at every turn they’re giving it the best they’ve got and me looking at leaderboards isn’t going to change that.”
Freshman standout Rachel Heck, ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, remains the individual leader after shooting a 67 for her 12th straight round in the 60s.
“They played great today. No surprise that Rachel is at 5 under [today] leading the way,” Walker said. Heck is at 8 under overall, five shots ahead of Duke’s Gina Kim and Louisville’s Lauren Hartlage.
Duke, who won the team title in 2019 and is the defending champion, is next at 3 under. Everyone else is over par. Texas is in third at 1 over. Florida State shot 3 under and moved into fourth at 7 over. Wake Forest is 9 over and in fifth place.
Oklahoma State (+10), Ole Miss (+11), LSU (+12) and Oregon and Arizona (+14) round out the top 10.
Coming together
Of the 24 teams in the field, Stanford had to deal with some of the more restrictive local health regulations due to COVID.
“We didn’t actually get our team to campus until, our first practice was Feb. 25 and we actually didn’t have a practice,” Walker said. “We just went straight into a 36-hole match with San Jose State and Cal, which was hilarious because our two freshman have never played the golf course. Rachel shot 78 and hasn’t looked back since that moment.”
In April, three players participated in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and a fourth Cardinal played in the ANA Inspiration. All four had to quarantine for seven days upon returning to Palo Alto and couldn’t practice during those seven days.
Dealing with adversity appears to have brought this Stanford team together.
“The message we kept hammering home with them was the journey is going to be different this year, but we have to believe the path will take us somewhere good and if we stay the course we’ll wind up in a good spot.”
Moving on up
South Carolina, the top-ranked team in the Golfweek/Sagarins, was in last place after the first day and despite shooting 24 shots better on Saturday, the Gamecocks were still in last for a good part of the morning at even par. As the wind picked up and more teams started their second rounds, they started climbing the leaderboard, ending the day 14th out of 24 teams.
South Carolina Gamecocks golfer Ana Pelaez hits on the 11th fairway during the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. (Photo by Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
“Yesterday was really rough, the wind kind of took a toll on us and got the best of us. Not the best day mentally,” South Carolina head coach Kalen Anderson said. “Today was good, we had a good strong start, unfortunately just finished poorly coming in.
“We’re going to need a little help from the field. We just gotta hang in there and hopefully we get two more days to fight after the top eight.”
Playing a desert course in this championship adds another challenge for South Carolina.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to get our here because of COVID,” Anderson said. “We were pretty much locked down in the Southeast this year but it is a new experience. But it’s golf. It’s not an excuse by any means. It’s a good track and difficult and challenging.
Mixed reaction on substitution rule
In 2019, coaches were permitted to make substitutions at the NCAA Women’s Championship for the first time, but only in the match-play portion. Interestingly, none of the eight coaches who got a team in the bracket chose to use the rule.
Beginning this championship season, substitutions became permissible at any point during regionals and the national championship (provided the coach made the substitution between rounds). On Saturday, three teams – South Carolina, Michigan State and Ole Miss – made use of the modified rule.
South Carolina’s Anderson was one of those coaches who made a switch, subbing out Lois Kaye Go (87) for Pimnipa Panthong (90).
“In general, I’d probably leave my normal five in,” she said. “But right now, we got a little bit of movement in the fifth spot, got a couple people struggling in the 5th and 6th spot so I am doing some movement. It’s kind of nice to have that.
“I think as long as a championship as this is, it makes it interesting to have that sub. I wasn’t a big fan of it at the beginning but now I think it’s a pretty good idea.”
Arizona head coach Laura Ianello doesn’t plan to deploy the maneuver.
“I have the mindset that if I have to sub, it’s because one of my girls is either deathly ill or injured and cannot play. I’m not subbing out for poor performance,” she said. “But that’s my philosophy. I don’t want to change the chemistry. … You have to know your team chemistry, you have to know your culture, you have to know your team dynamics. I want these ladies to know that I trust them and I believe in them.
“I don’t want to cause more stress. Golf is stressful enough, golf is really freakin’ hard so, I want the least stressful environment as possible.”
“I’m not a fan of the substitute rule,” ASU coach Missy Farr-Kaye said. “I never have been. I think it’s a little dodgy. I know three teams subbed in today, I don’t know how it all went. I think some teams it might work really well. I think it’s really difficult. We have a sixth player that if someone got hurt or injured and had to go, we could put her in. She’s a very good player but if anybody feels that if they played poorly or if I’m not happy about something, I’m going to pull ’em, then it’s hard to give them that confidence and worry about what they’re going to do and who’s going to get pulled.
“Maybe some coaches use it brilliantly this week and more power to them but I haven’t gotten to where I really like it just yet.”
Even in the switch from stroke play to match play?
“Same thing. I’m not there yet.”
Up next
The third round starts Saturday at 6:30 a.m. local time with the top six teams on split tees, then the next six teams start at 7:30 a.m. on split tees. The afternoon wave starts at 11:30 a.m. with six teams on split tees. The final groups will go off split tees at 12:30 p.m.
At the end of the third round, the field will be cut to the top 15 teams.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A tough desert course was made tougher for the NCAAs. Add in a healthy dose of afternoon wind and Grayhawk Golf Club played like a beast on Friday in the opening round of the women’s national championship.
Most of the teams near the top of the leaderboard after Day 1 were those who played in the calmer morning conditions. Texas, which leads at 1 over, was among those who teed off at 6:30 a.m. local time. Oregon also started at 6:30 a.m. and posted a +2 round.
On the individual leaderboard, Rachel Heck, ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and fresh off medalist honors at the Pac-12 championships, shot the round of the day with a 3-under 69, the only player to break 70 and one of only four golfers to break par. She did that in the tough afternoon wind and with a thick, black brace on her right ankle.
“It was really dumb. I hurt my ankle playing basketball,” Heck said after her round. “But it’s fine. It was actually over Christmas, but yea, it’s fine. Just a bad sprain.”
It’s Heck’s 11th straight round in the 60s.
Thunderbird alums dot field
Kaitlyn Papp is second after shooting a 2-under 70. Oregon’s Briana Chacon sits in a tie for third at 1 under. Like Heck, Papp and Chacon and many others in the field are familiar with Grayhawk having played it a few times as juniors. The Raptor Course is home to the AJGA Thunderbird, one of the elite junior golf events every year which often attracts an international field.
“I think it plays very similar to the AJGA Thunderbird as far as the firm greens and it has a tendency to get windy out here,” said Papp, “It’s always hot, it’s desert golf. Brings back memories.”
“I know a lot of girls here played it,” said Heck. “It’s really cool to be back, we’re all in college now. It’s kind of nostalgic being back.”
Deep hole
South Carolina, the top-ranked team in women’s golf by Golfweek/Sagarin, seems to like to flirt with trouble.
The Gamecocks only escaped regionals by outlasting Arkansas in a playoff. Now, they find themselves dead last in the field of 24 after shooting 24 over. Paula Kirner had a 72 to lead South Carolina but Ana Pelaez shot a 76, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard shot an 81 while Mathilde Claisse had an 83.
Campus inspiration
The Arizona Wildcats shot 4 over to open their week and head coach Laura Ianello has her squad in a good spot after 18 holes, tied with Duke, Kent State and Wake Forest.
The Wildcats, whose campus is about 130 miles to the south, aren’t that familiar with Grayhawk.
“The first time we played it was April 29th, the day before the last day we could play. In the three weeks since we were here, it has changed tremendously,” she said, noting the thicker rough and slicker greens.
Ianello also said her Wildcats have been inspired by the recent run of the Arizona women’s basketball team, led by head coach Adia Barnes, which lost by one point to Stanford in the national title game, while energizing sports fans in Tucson along the way.
“Oh yea. Adia, her women’s team coming through COVID, with what they’ve gone through, the adversity this year and making it to the finals and of course, sadly, losing to Stanford,” Ianello said. “It was just so motivational for my team and my ladies. They’re good friends with a lot of the basketball players and they’re all so happy that they’re competing and so why not just compete for the championship.”
Home-team jitters
“I think my team felt that a little bit today,” ASU head coach Missy Farr-Kaye said when asked if her players felt any extra pressure being the host. “We had a lot of people on the first tee. We’re not used to that, and we had a lot of fans out, which is awesome. I think there’s a little bit of adjusting to that and being in the limelight with that.
“I keep telling them embrace it. Embrace that energy and that vibe of being home and seeing what we can do with it.”
The Sun Devils are going to have to do something with it starting Friday, as they are in 13th place at 12 over, four shots out of one of the coveted top eight spots.
“You have to grind,” said ASU fifth-year senior Olivia Mehaffey. “You have to fight for every single shot. You have to get through into the top 8 and then re-set and start again. It doesn’t matter where you’re seeded. I just told the girls, ‘We’re going to fight for every shot.'”
She added that the pressure of being the home team is nice.
“I think our girls quite like it. It’s nice having a lot of support out there.”
The top 10 teams
After the first round
Texas, 1 over
Oregon, 2 over
Stanford, 3 over
Arizona, 4 over
Kent State, 4 over
Duke, 4 over
Wake Forest, 4 over
LSU, 8 over
Ole Miss, 8 over
Oklahoma State, 9 over
Up next
The second round starts Saturday at 6:30 a.m. local time. Teams that played early on Friday will have later tee times Saturday; those who played late in the first round will get those early tee times in Round 2. On Sunday, tee times will be determined based on scoring.
