What are the best public golf courses in Scottsdale, Arizona?

An introduction to Scottsdale

In this blog post, we head off to the state of Arizona, to take a look at the best public golf courses in Scottsdale.

Scottsdale, including its surrounding neighborhoods, is a hugely popular golf destination. Yet unfortunately, for many visiting golfers, a high percentage of those tend to be private. 

One way to by-pass this is to consider staying at the golf resort onsite. I’ve outlined which I think are the best golf resorts in Scottsdale here – what are the best golf resorts in Scottsdale?

But for those of you visiting Scottsdale, who don’t know a member of a private course, this list is for you. And fear not, many of these are awesome tracks.

See also: What are the best golf courses in Scottsdale?

The best public golf courses in Scottsdale, Arizona

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1. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Saguaro & Cholla Courses)

This is without doubt one of the finest examples of desert golf. It is also one of the best options for public golf courses near Scottsdale. 

Firstly the location, a good half hour drive north east out of Scottsdale towards Fountain Hills. This place is really out in the sticks.

There is a stark feeling of complete isolation when you arrive here. For example, there is not one inch of residential land surrounding the club. Not only is this surprising in this day and age, but also refreshing.

We-Ko-Pa has two outstanding and award-winning golf courses. The Cholla Course was the first to open in 2001 and was designed by Scott Miller. The second 18 hole layout, the Saguaro, opened in 2007. It was designed by the design duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. 

Both courses are awesome and stretch out across the wide expanse of gently rising hillside. There are very few fairways which run alongside one another with ample space to play with.

One of the design principles underpinning each course was to use the natural topography with as little ground movement as possible. This has resulted in the courses seamlessly fitting into the landscape and makes you question their relative young age. 

From a playability perspective, both courses play fair. There are generous fairways although with many carries to reach them. The green complexes are large but if you’re too far off target, you’ll be fishing your ball out of the uncompromising desert shrubs like cacti, saguaros, agaves or ocotillos!

If you’re coming out here, whilst not a long drive, it’s well worth making a day of it. Both courses are open to the public and the clubhouse is fantastic.

2. TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course)

Home to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the TPC Scottsdale is an iconic course recognised by nearly every golf viewer.

Or let’s be a bit more precise. Yes the course is great, but everyone will recognise the ‘The Coliseum’. This is the 16th hole, a par-3 surrounded by huge stands of seating. Can you believe this seats up to 20,000 spectators and is the only fully-enclosed golf hole on the PGA Tour!

Well follow in the steps of the pros and get a tee time here.

The course is a good 20 minute drive from downtown Scottsdale up towards the Promenade neighborhood. There is also a sister course called the Champions, again open to the public.

The Stadium course was designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish and after a 2014 renovation, is in top condition. Needless to say, the track is challenging. With water coming into play on more than half the holes and an island green on the 15th. There are many bunkers, rapid greens and plenty of waste run-offs. 

But boy is this fun to play! Just be prepared to fork out close to $500 for the privilege. 

See also: What are the best public golf courses in Phoenix, Arizona?

3. Quintero Golf Club

Quintero Golf Club is an hour away from downtown Scottsdale. For this reason, some people may question its inclusion in this list. But we’re talking about a track ranked by Golf Digest and Golf Weekly as the ‘Best Public Golf Course’ in 2017.

Trust me, this is worth the drive.

For those who do decide to take the journey, you’ll be heading northwest out of Phoenix heading up to Lake Pleasant Regional Park. To use the word secluded would be a bit of an understatement! There is literally nothing else here. This is pure desert golf.

The exemplary Rees Jones designed the layout and made Quintero a formidable challenge.

The driving corridors are narrow, especially when compared to other desert courses. The greens are also mighty challenging, tiered and fast. But this is a golfing experience like no other.

If Quintero was closer to central Scottsdale, you’d expect to pay double the price for this desert gem.

4. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club

It might be a bit of a stretch including Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in this list. It’s a good 45 minute drive south from Scottsdale. But it is too good not to include.

Taking the Arizona State Freeway south out of town, followed by the N John Wayne Parkway, you’ll soon be close to Ak-Chin Southern Dunes. The club is just to the west of Maricopa with very little housing surrounding it. In some respects, it isn’t too dissimilar to We-Ko-Pa Golf Club.

Located in 320 acres of the Ak-Chin Indian Community’s land, it is primarily a desert expanse. This inevitably forms much of the character of the course.

Former PGA Tour player Fred Couples has his name against the design. But he wasn’t alone. He worked alongside Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley, and together they’ve created a wonderful layout.

The fairways are beautifully sculpted featuring gentle undulations native to the site. They are also relatively generous although there is ample bunkering to collect up stray shots. The greens are rapid and definitely where you’ll need to be on top of your game to score well.

Well worth the visit and this would likely be far more popular if just a little closer to Scottsdale.

See also: What are the best public golf courses in Surprise, Arizona?

5. Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club

I just want to put out a special mention for the Big Wick course at Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club. 

I’m not ‘officially’ putting this course on the list (even though it’s clearly on the list), as it is a good hour and a half away from Scottsdale. But for any intrepid travelers, please consider visiting this club. 

Since opening in 2015, the course has received a litany of awards and accolades from all the major golf publications. Golf Digest ranked it as one of the Top 25 golf courses in Arizona. Golf Week one of the Top 5 Courses to play in Arizona. And finally Golf Advisor rated it one of the Top 25 US Courses Rated by Conditions.

The conditioning is genuinely second to none and the course itself is unique in as much as it has seven par 4s, six par 3s and five par 5s.

There is an awesome fun par 3 layout and the clubhouse and surrounding facilities are fantastic. You’ll eat well, drink well, play well, and have a great fun day.

Only a quick mention, but a worthy one. 

6. Grayhawk Golf Club (Raptor & Talon Courses)

Grayhawk Golf Club is located in north Scottsdale yet still within easy reach of downtown. This is another club with 36 holes of championship golf and is immensely popular with the locals.

There are two courses onsite with the Tom Fazio designed Raptor hands down the better of the two. It has also hosted PGA Tour golf with the Frys.com Open being played here for three years from 2007 to 2009. 

The views are phenomenal, with a backdrop of the McDowell Mountains and surrounding desert omnipresent. Grayhawk is also widely considered to have some of the best conditioning in the Scottsdale area, impressive for a public course with so many private clubs nearby. 

The course won’t punish you off the tees, even despite a number of carries over wild desert scrub and large Saguaro cacti. The fairways are wide and despite the presence of numerous bunkers, not overly penal. 

It is at the greens things get interesting, with many of them slightly elevated from the fairway. Many include natural undulations and tiering, so your approach play has to be spot on. This really is one of the best public golf courses in Scottsdale.

See also: What are the best golf courses in Tucson, Arizona?

7. Troon North (Monument & Pinnacle Courses)

Up towards Pinnacle Peak, next to the uber-exclusive Estancia golf club, is the large resort of Troon North. Onsite is the wonderful Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale, but it is the Troon North golf club we’re interested in.

There are two 18-hole championship courses, the Monument and Pinnacle courses. Both were designed by the design duo of Tom Weiskopf and his design partner Jay Morrish. 

The landscape is typical Arizona Sonoran desert, with giant boulders, natural ravines and rugged desert vistas. It is amongst this you’ll find the immaculate fairways and bentgrass greens which are to be expected here. 

Granted, there is a lot of housing which surrounds the course. But it isn’t overbearing and on most holes there is enough of a perimeter between the fairways and the housing. 

If you’re looking to experience pure and classic desert golf, you won’t go far wrong coming to Troon North to play.

8. The Boulders (North and South Courses)

Like many on this list, Boulders Golf Club has two 18-hole championship courses, the North and the South. Both were designed by the award-winning Jay Morrish and are spectacularly beautiful.

The club is right up in the northern outskirts of Scottsdale towards the Carefree neighborhood, approximately a 45 minute drive from downtown. 

One option instead of driving there and back in a day is to stay overnight. The onsite Boulders Resort & Spa is arguably one of the best golf resorts in Arizona and has been littered with praise since opening. 

Both courses are top class, with neither necessarily out-ranking the other. The North Course is the oldest and longest at just over 6,800 yards and has stunning views across to the Black Mountains. 

The South course is a par 71 and stretches to just over 6,700 yards. Like the North Course, it also benefits from stunning views and is a great example of desert golf. The routing takes it right up to the boulder formations, photos which are iconic for the resort.

See also: What are the best golf courses in Prescott, Arizona?

9. Golf Club of Estrella

If I’ve included Ak-Chin and Quintero, why the heck don’t I also include Golf Club Estrella! Although I’ll admit I’m now really stretching the geographical limits of this ‘public golf courses in Scottsdale’ post.

But when there are such great public golf courses on offer, it seems a shame not to include them. And Golf Club of Estrella is another which manages to squeeze in based on the quality on offer.

Like Quintero, Estrella is an hour’s drive from central Scottsdale, but this time driving due west. The club is located in the Estrella Mountain Regional Park. It is surrounded by the jaw-dropping Sonoran Desert and the master-planned community of Estrella Mountain Ranch. 

To build this dramatic course, the owners turned to the Nicklaus Design Group with Jack Nicklaus II leading the design. The course is really wonderful, flowing through the natural topography of the land.

Course management and decision making are central to scoring well here as there are large greens and split-fairways. At the time of writing the course is Troon managed so you can be sure of top class conditioning a service within the club. 

10. Westin Kierland Golf Club

This resort course has the hotel of the same name onsite, the iconic and luxury Westin Kierland Resort & Spa. It is without doubt one of the best golf resorts in Scottsdale. 

But the Westin Kierland golf course holds its own and has rightly been recognised as one of the Top 10 public golf courses in Phoenix/Scottsdale by none other than Golf Digest. Other accolades have come its way including being awarded as one of the ‘best golf courses you can play in 2019’. This is a great track. 

This is a wonderful resort course and despite being in the Sonoran Desert, has far more of a parkland feel to it than many of the other courses on this list with large lakes and ample native flora and fauna present throughout.

The Scott Miller designed layout is easily accessible being just a minute’s drive from Scottsdale Airport and twenty or so minutes from central Scottsdale.

What is the best public golf course in Scottsdale?

The best public golf course in Scottsdale is the Saguaro course at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. Located around 45 minutes drive east of downtown, it was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. It opened for play in 2007.