Golf Digest Four Star Award for nine consecutive years. A hillside design at Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs with elevation changes that earn the name.
Lookout Mountain Golf Club earned Golf Digest's Four Star Award for nine consecutive years, a sustained recognition that reflects consistent quality rather than a single season of peak conditioning. The course sits at the Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs resort, set into a hillside that provides the elevation changes the name promises. Bill Johnston and Forrest Richardson designed the layout in 1989, and Troon manages the facility, which brings a maintenance and service standard consistent with their portfolio.
At 6,515 yards, Lookout Mountain is shorter than most courses in this guide, and the par-72 rating reflects a design that uses elevation and terrain rather than length to create difficulty. The hillside routing means uphill and downhill shots are constant, and accurate distance control matters more than raw power. Approaches that would land softly on a flat green take on different characteristics when the green tilts forward or sits above the fairway. The adjustment is subtle but constant, and golfers who make it will score well.
The course rewards the mid-handicap golfer more than most Scottsdale layouts. The fairways are accessible, the forced carries are manageable from the appropriate tees, and the greens accept well-struck approaches without requiring perfect trajectory. The difficulty is honest rather than punishing, which makes Lookout Mountain a course that most players leave having enjoyed rather than endured.
Green fees of $87 to $168 in peak season place this among the strongest values in the corridor for a Troon-managed, resort-quality course. Off-peak rates of $50 to $87 bring it into municipal pricing territory. The Hilton resort provides pool, dining, and spa amenities that serve as a convenient complement to the round, and the location in the North Mountain area of Phoenix is roughly 20 minutes from central Scottsdale.
Lookout Mountain is not the course that appears on Scottsdale bucket lists, and it does not try to be. It is the course that delivers a consistently good round at a fair price on an interesting piece of terrain, and for most golf trips, having one round like that in the rotation makes the more expensive rounds easier to justify.
Links-style golf on 320 acres of Ak-Chin Indian Reservation in Maricopa. An annual U.S. Open qualifying site that plays nothing like the desert courses nearby.
A short, scenic par-71 at Arizona Grand Resort with lush semitropical landscaping and South Mountain Park as a backdrop.
Jay Morrish's desert design among iconic granite boulder formations. No other course in the area looks anything like it.
Tom Fazio's Arizona contribution and former NCAA Division I Championship host. Consistently ranked among the top daily-fee courses in the state.
Golf Magazine ranked it among the Top 10 You Can Play in the U.S. Bent grass greens and a slope of 149 provide a test that does not suffer by comparison with the Raptor.
Twenty-seven holes of Ted Robinson design in Chandler with water features on most holes, a Golf Digest 4.5-star rating, and complimentary replay and range balls.
A City of Phoenix municipal course that plays 7,380 yards with Papago Buttes as a backdrop. Renovated in 2008 at a cost of $5.8 million.
Dramatic elevation changes on 7,249 yards of Rees Jones desert design, 45 minutes northwest of Scottsdale in Peoria.
A Carolina-style layout with 6,000+ imported Georgia pines, five miles from Sky Harbor Airport. Scottsdale desert golf, this is not.
Flat, links-style Coore-Crenshaw design with views of the McDowell Mountains and Pinnacle Peak. Consistently top-5 in Arizona by Golfweek.
The more traditional counterpart to the O'odham. Tree-lined fairways, raised greens, and a Coore-Crenshaw design that rewards accuracy.
The quieter sibling at TPC Scottsdale. Same facility standards, less than half the green fee, and a par-71 layout that measures 7,235 yards.
Home of the loudest tournament in professional golf and a par-3 16th that seats 20,000. The rest of the course rewards strategy over power.
British links principles transplanted to the Sonoran Desert. Firm greens, bump-and-run approaches, and four par 5s exceeding 500 yards.
Desert target golf through steep arroyos and saguaro forests. The signature par-5 16th measures 609 yards through a natural wash.
Named one of the ten best new public courses in the world upon opening. Scott Miller's bolder, longer counterpart to the Saguaro.
Ranked number one in Arizona by Golfweek for 15 of the past 16 years. Coore-Crenshaw minimalism on Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation land.