With its backdrop of scenic deserts, stunning rock formations, striking herbage and towering mountains, sunny Arizona is known around the world for its world-class golf courses. Although there are a multitude of greens to choose from, we narrow down the list to bring golf aficionados the five must stops, all situated at convenient distances from your Millennium Hotels and Resorts property, The McCormick Scottsdale.
Millennium property The McCormick Scottsdale, a resort-style hotel with 125 well-appointed rooms and suites, offers a great base to explore McCormick Ranch Golf Club, which is at a short three-minute drive from the hotel. This 36-hole golf club is home to two beautifully landscaped golf courses: the spread out Palm and the narrower Pine, which were designed by Desmond Muirhead to offer a challenging yet relaxing experience to all levels of golfers. The golf courses, which are set against Camelback Mountain, are open all days of the year.
An estimated 30-minute drive from The McCormick Scottsdale is the award-winning Las Sendas Golf Club, which is located in eastern Mesa 1,800ft (550m) above sea level. The club sprawls around the Usery Mountains and its altitude grants golfers superb views as well as a unique golf course featuring man-made lakes, gorgeous landscaping that highlights exotic desert plants and rolling pristine greens. Furthermore, you can improve your game with the help of the onsite golf instructors.
Designed by lauded golf course designers Brian Curley and Lee Schmidt is Canoa Ranch Golf Club, which is located in Green Valley, just over a two-hour drive from The McCormick Scottsdale. Curley and Schmidt's design beckons you to admire the land's stoic mountains and poetic tumbling fields. Offered here are 180-degree views of breathtaking landscapes punctuated by Elephant Head and Green Valley, as well as a course that offers “dramatic elevation changes and strategic bunkering”. Also available are tee boxes with distances of 4500-7013 yards, private lessons and more comprehensive classes from the John Jacobs' Golf Schools & Academies.
Also inhabiting sunny Scottsdale is Troon North Golf Club, which is a 30-minute drive north from The McCormick Scottsdale and includes two 18-hole golf courses, Monument and Pinnacle, as well as the nine-hole Monument Express. The club, which is known for its excellent service, uses its dramatic setting in the Sonoran Desert to good effect by contrasting its luscious golfing greens with the surrounding dry desert, which is spotted with cacti, granite boulders and arid orange sand. Polish your skills with private lessons, clinics especially for females, a five-day course at their Golf Academy or a yoga class tailored for golfers, which, among other things, helps to create body balance to correct swing flaws.
About a 20-minute drive north from The McCormick Scottsdale is TPC Scottsdale, a golf course that remains, as stated by Golfweek, “one of America's best courses”. You'll feel like a real pro putting on the PGA Tour-approved greens where some of the world's best golfers have taken a swing. The sixth club in the TPC Network, TPC Scottsdale is home to the annual Waste Management Phoenix Open that draws half a million visitors. Here, you'll have the opportunity to experience two championship courses including the Stadium course designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf.
With a plethora of luxurious yet rigorous golf courses to test your skills on, Arizona proves to be one of the best getaways for golfers. From PGA Tour-approved properties to smaller and more private clubs, there's surely something for every golfer in the Grand Canyon state.
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