With winter temperatures in the 70s and an average of 300 sunny days per year, Phoenix, Ariz., is a natural golf mecca. And as the PGA Tour’s most raucous and highly attended golf tournament — the WM Phoenix Open, contested annually at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium course — ramps up for its 91st edition this week, the area is bursting with golf-crazed locals and seasonal visitors.
But the Phoenix/Scottsdale area has a lot more going for it than just great weather and sunshine. With more than 200 facilities to choose from, it’s one of the most densely-concentrated golf destinations in the world, and a desirable home base for anyone who loves the game — including a number of athletes and celebrities.
“We got the best golf courses in the world, especially, we got the best public golf courses in the world,” said NBA star and analyst Charles Barkley, who found his way to Phoenix in 1992 when he was traded from Philadelphia. Barkley has now spent nearly 34 years as an Arizona resident — a distinction he doesn’t anticipate ever changing.
“When I leave here, I’m gonna be cremated,” he said. “I’m never leaving Arizona.”
So what is it that makes Arizona’s public golf so great? We tackle that question in the latest episode of Destination GOLF: Phoenix, where four featured courses provide a revealing perspective of what the Phoenix/Scottsdale public golf experience is really like. Our team visited Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills, which is home to Arizona’s only full-lit 18 hole golf course; Papago, a beloved muni that serves as the home course and practice facility for the Arizona State men’s and women’s golf teams; Troon North, a high-end daily fee that has become a coveted tee time for buddy trips and bachelor parties; and We-Ko-Pa, a pristine property where you can enjoy stunning, panoramic views of the surrounding Sonoran desert.
NBC/Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has traveled the world throughout his decades-long professional career, but has long called Arizona home. During a round at We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro course alongside his wife, Bailey, Chamblee artfully described the desert’s allure.
“If you look at Scottsdale — or Phoenix broadly, but Scottsdale in particular — and you say, okay, it doesn’t have the best golf courses in the world — maybe Scotland does — but it’s close,” Chamblee said. “If you want to say it doesn’t have the best food in the world — maybe that’s Paris or Rome — but it’s close. You want to say it doesn’t have the best spas in the world, I don’t know where that is — but it’s close. If you want to say it doesn’t have the best hotels in the world — maybe that’s London — okay, but it’s close.
“When you add up all those, in totality, Scottsdale wins,” Chamblee concluded. “It’s not even close.”
To experience what Chamblee and Barkley are talking about, take a look at the first of two episodes from Destination GOLF: Phoenix, showcasing some of Arizona’s finest public golf.
