Where to play golf around Phoenix and Scottsdale: Golfweek’s Best 2023 public-access courses
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.)
Check put the top courses near Chicago and New York City
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.
(Google Earth/Golfweek)
22. Wildfire Golf Club at Desert Ridge (Faldo Championship)
Where: Phoenix
State Ranking 2023: T-29 public-access in Arizona
Designers: Nick Faldo, Brian Curley, Lee Schmidt
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
21. Camelback Golf Club (Ambiente)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: T-29 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Jason Straka
Distance: 25 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
20. Legacy Golf Club
Where: Phoenix (m)
State Ranking 2023: T-26 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Gary Panks
Distance: 12 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
19. SunRidge Canyon Golf Club
Where: Fountain Hills
State Ranking 2023: T-26 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Keith Foster
Distance: 30 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
18. Whirlwind Golf Club (Cattail)
Where: Chandler
State Ranking 2023: T-24 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Gary Panks
Distance: 20 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
17. Las Sendas Golf Club
Where: Mesa
State Ranking 2023: T-24 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Distance: 20 minutes east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
16. Longbow Golf Club
Where: Mesa
State Ranking 2023: No. 23 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Ken Kavanaugh
Distance: 20 minutes east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
15. TPC Scottsdale (Champions)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: T-21 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Randy Keckenkemper
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
14. Verrado Golf Club (Founders)
Where: Buckeye
State Ranking 2023: T-21 public-access in Arizona
Designers: John Fought and Tom Lehman
Distance: 35 minutes west of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
13. Whirlwind Golf Club (Devil’s Claw)
Where: Chandler
State Ranking 2023: No. 20 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Gary Panks
Distance: 20 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
12. Boulders Resort & Spa (North)
Where: Carefree
State Ranking 2023: No. 19 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Jay Morrish
Distance: 40 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
11. Gold Canyon Golf Resort & Spa (Dinosaur Mountain)
Where: Gold Canyon
State Ranking 2023: T-16 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Ken Kavanaugh
Distance: 35 minutes east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
10. Boulders Resort & Spa (South)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 15 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Jay Morrish
Distance: 40 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
9. Grayhawk Golf Club (Raptor)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 12 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Tom Fazio
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
8. Troon North Golf Club (Pinnacle)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 11 public-access in Arizona; T-137 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designer: Tom Weiskopf
Distance: 35 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
7. Troon North Golf Club (Monument)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 10 public-access in Arizona; T-130 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designer: Tom Weiskopf
Distance: 35 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
6. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Cholla)
Where: Fort McDowell
State Ranking 2023: No. 9 public-access in Arizona; T-122 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designer: Scott Miller
Distance: 25 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
5. Grayhawk Golf Club (Talon)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 8 public-access in Arizona
Designers: Gary Panks and David Graham
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
4. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club
Where: Maricopa
State Ranking 2023: No. 6 public-access in Arizona; No. 100 among all resort course in the U.S.
Designers: Brian Curley and Fred Couples
Distance: 34 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
3. TPC Scottsdale (Stadium)
Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 4 public-access in Arizona; T-75 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designers: Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
2. Quintero Golf Club
Where: Peoria
State Ranking 2023: No. 3 public-access in Arizona; T-93 among all public-access courses in the U.S.
Designer: Rees Jones
Distance: 50 minutes northwest of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
1. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Saguaro)
Where: Fort McDowell
State Ranking 2023: No. 1 public-access in Arizona; T-60 among all resorts in the U.S.; T-79 among all public-access courses in the U.S.
Designer: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw
Distance: 25 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
