Scottsdale Golf

It’s a veritable fairway fantasy: views of the McDowell Mountains & Pinnacle Peak, top-ranked courses, luxurious clubhouses and even occasional celebrity sightings…it’s all par for the course at Scottsdale’s several elite golf courses. Anyone who’s so much as picked up a driver knows that Scottsdale is considered one of the country’s top golfing destinations, where playing even your average-joe public course resembles your wildest golfing daydreams. Many of the luxury resorts offer irresistible golf packages, and days on end full of magazine-perfect golf, poolside bliss, massages, fine food and bedding so good it’s probably illegal. What’s not to love?

Just a few of the fantastic Scottsdale golf experiences to be had:

The acclaimed Grayhawk Golf Club boasts two fabulous courses: the Talon, designed by David Graham and Gary Panks made Golf Magazine’s “Top 10 You Can Play” list; the equally-dreamy Raptor was designed by the award-winning Tom Fazio. After a day of golf that’ll turn your friends back home green with envy, rub elbows with the sport’s elite at Phil’s Grill, the sports bar and restaurant named for…come on, you can guess…that’s right, Mr. Mickelson himself, who reportedly hangs out in the Grill from time to time. www.grayhawk.com

Talking Stick Golf Club

Talking Stick Golf Club is another Scottsdale golf gem and part of the illustrious Troon Golf empire, with two very different courses, both of which made Golfweek’s list of top Arizona public courses, at #1 and #8, as well as Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 You Can Play.” The golf shop’s made the list too! Talking Stick is also home to the Tim Mahoney Golf Academy, a program that lets you benefit from the considerable wisdom of a player and teacher who’s made more Top of… lists than we have room to count here. If you’re considering taking your game to the next level, this might be the place to start. www.talkingstickgolfclub.com

Grayhawk Golf Club

Want to feel like a movie star for an afternoon? Then lug your clubs over to The Phoenecian, a grown-up fantasy oasis with no less than three championship 9-hole courses. Lounge by or in one of their nine pools, get a body wrap at their day spa and dine in one of their fantastic and varied restaurants, and it’s a full-on vacation extravaganza.

The FBR Open Golf Tournament In 2006, Rookie J.B. Holmes wins FBR Open by seven. He gained five shots on his nearest competitor on the 15th hole and walked away with a seven-stroke victory.

No overview of the golfing life in Scottsdale would be complete without mention of the FBR Open
(formerly the Phoenix Open), without a doubt the event of the year in Arizona golf, and what’s more, the best-attended tournament on the PGA tour with over half a million spectators in attendance. Held in January at the TPC Scottsdale, with ancillary events all over the Valley, golf luminaries galore and millions of dollars raised each year for charity, the FBR Open has more than earned its designation as the “Greatest Show on Grass.”