Talking Stick Golf Club — O'odham Course

The O'odham Course at Talking Stick is one of the first Coore and Crenshaw designs to open in Arizona, predating their Saguaro Course at We-Ko-Pa by nearly a decade. The name reflects a 2020s rebranding from the original North Course designation, honouring the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community that owns the property. The golf is the same as it has always been: a flat, links-style layout with views of the McDowell Mountains and Pinnacle Peak that Golfweek has consistently ranked among the top five courses you can play in Arizona.

The design is minimalist in the way that the best Coore and Crenshaw work always is. Terrain is flat, vegetation is sparse, and the interest comes from ground contours, the bunkering, and wind that moves unobstructed across open landscape. Fairways are wide, rough is not particularly punishing, and greens are large enough to hit in regulation often. The slope of 124 reflects that accessibility, but the difficulty hides in scoring rather than survival; the gap between a good round and a mediocre one comes down to approach play and reading the putting surfaces in shifting wind.

The quieter of the two Talking Stick courses publicly, but the more respected design among serious students of architecture.