Las Sendas Golf Club

Grab your clubs for this dream tour of 18 challenging holes
from 18 of the Grand Canyon State's best courses.

By Dale Leatherman

You'll find around 5,400 golf holes on the more than 300 courses that dot the Grand Canyon State – many featuring gorgeous desert backdrops, rolling green hills, breathtaking red rocks or even towering pine trees.

Feeling overwhelmed by all that choice? Don't be – after all, pretty much anywhere you play, you'll be greeted by sunny skies, picturesque views and challenging courses. In fact, we've rounded up 18 memorable holes from 18 of Arizona's most noteworthy courses to help you decide where to begin – along with inside tips on how to conquer them all. All distances are from the back tees.

1. The Golf Club at Eagle Mountain #18, par 4, 420 yards - A lofty tee box gives players a view of Scottsdale's serene McDowell Mountains as well as the challenge at hand. The downhill fairway is bordered on the right by a lake and a bunker looms in front of the green.

2. Sedona Golf Resort #10, par 3, 200 yards - With Sedona's signature red-hued Cathedral Rock as your backdrop, this course offers the quintessential Arizona golf experience. This hole's bowl-shaped, contoured green is a long iron shot for most players. A bunker lies to the right of the putting surface.

3. Troon North Golf Club (Monument Course) #3, par 5, 564 yards - A giant boulder hulks in the middle of the fairway of this signature hole, about 262 yards from the back tees. Players must place their shots carefully to avoid making a "monumental" mistake on this Scottsdale course.

4. Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale (Stadium Course) #18, par 4, 438 yards - One of the most highly regarded finishing holes on the PGA Tour, the hole opens with a tee shot across a lake that borders the left side of the fairway. Sand lurks to the right. Complicating the approach is a slope on the front and left and a deep bunker on the right.

5. Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club (Mountain Course) #3, Par 3, 107 yards - Touted as one of the most photographed holes west of the Mississippi, this beauty has a view of a saguaro-speckled Tucson in the distance. It's also one of the most expensive holes in the West, with a million-dollar green carved into a rock wall and protected from frost and heat by biotherm tubing. The crowned green repels balls.

6. Troon North Golf Club (Pinnacle Course) #18, par 4, 407 yards - A view of North Scottsdale's Pinnacle Peak in the distance draws the eye throughout this hole, despite the challenges to be met. A deep, cactus-studded ravine lies between the tee and the fairway, which leads to a green with rocks on the right and a steep arroyo (a generally dry creek bed or gully) on the left.

7. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Cholla Course) #8, Par 5, 605 yards - The number one handicap hole at this magnificent Fountain Hills golf course is a downhill dogleg running along a box canyon. An arroyo waste area guards the left front of the green, leaving a stingy strip of fairway on the right. Slopes and angles make it difficult to get on in two.

8. Grayhawk Golf Club (Talon Course) #13, par 4, 277 yards - The choices on this short par 4 in Scottsdale are a 240-yard drive over a manmade canyon or a lay-up before the gorge, leaving a short iron shot. The green is guarded by plank-lined pot bunkers that are difficult to escape.

9. McCormick Ranch Golf Club (Palm Course) #9, par 4, 408 yards - The tee shot at this hole, located in the heart of Scottsdale, is to an island fairway about 40-50 yards wide. The second shot is to a large peninsula green where three putts are common. The putting surface slopes from back to front with a bowl in the middle and a ridge cutting across.

10. Las Sendas Golf Club #18, par 5, 536 yards (pictured above) - This double dogleg enjoys a view from Mesa all the way to the White Tank Mountains. Players line up with Cadillac Mountain if they're going for it in two, but a lake to the right presents a risk to errant shots. A large lake fronts the green, which is further guarded by bunkers on both sides.

11. Gold Canyon Golf Resort (Dinosaur Mountain) #14, par 3, 226 yards - The elevated tee provides a valley view, with Phoenix visible in the distance. This isolated and memorable hole drops 200 feet to a rather small, multi-level green. Adding to the difficulty are pot bunkers on the left, right and behind the green, as well as a wash protecting the front.

12. Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa (Catalina Course) #18, par 4, 443 yards - Considered one of the most difficult holes on the PGA tour, it opens with a partially blind tee shot to a small landing area with water both right and left. It takes a mid- to long iron to reach the large, elevated green, which has a severe slope. Vast bunkers are positioned on the left front, right and rear of the green.

13. The Raven Golf Club at Verrado #18, par 4, 494 yards - Though the downhill fairway makes the length less punishing, players must thread the needle off the tee, avoiding one bunker right-center of the fairway and three along the left side of the landing area. That leaves a long shot to a large, undulating green with water on the right and rear, and bunkers on both sides in front.

14. La Paloma Country Club (Canyon Course) #7, par 4, 445 yards - Handicapped number one, this hole drops 100 feet from tee to fairway, with a wash on the left and a slope on the right that feeds balls back into the short grass. The second shot is uphill over a ditch and a large bunker to an elevated green cut into a hill. The wind is usually head-on at this north Tucson course.

15. Sunridge Canyon Golf Club #17, par 3, 209 yards - Moving the pin from side to side on this 7,000-square-foot, horseshoe-shaped green in Fountain Hills creates entirely different tests. If the pin is on the left, it's 209 yards from the back tees over a deep, 100-yard-wide canyon. If the pin is on the right, it's 152 yards, dropping from the elevated tee. A crescent-shaped bunker guards the green.

16. Talking Stick #15, par 4, 461 yards - The Scottsdale desert crowds both sides of this double dogleg. Overshooting the drive or straying from the straight and narrow on the approach will likely land your ball among the cactus. A lone bunker on a mound guards the right front of a tabletop green.

17. The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa (South Course) #5, par 5, 545 yards - There are many picturesque holes at this Carefree course, but this one is strategic as well as scenic. The tee shot is over desert scrub to a slight dogleg. Bunkers line both sides of the green, which backs up to a stunning rock formation known as the "Boulder Pile."

18. The Raven Golf Club at South Mountain #8, par 4, 437 yards - Unlike the desert courses that abound in this region of Phoenix, the Raven is shaded by tall Georgia pines throughout, including this dogleg par 4 that wraps sharply right around a lake. The second shot will cross some portion of water to a well-protected green tucked against a hillside.

While playing all these holes in one day might be just a dream, an Arizona golf vacation doesn't need to be. Because wherever you play in the Grand Canyon State, it's easy to leave ordinary golf behind. Learn more about Arizona golf vacations.

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