Travel 90-minutes south of Phoenix and you will cool down about 20 degrees! There are 81 holes in and around the Dove Mountain area. We played The Golf Club at Dove Mountain and it reminded us how much we love “mountain golf” – which is where we started 17 years ago in Vail Colorado.
There are 3 9-hole Jack Nicklaus courses, Saguaro, Tortolita and Wild Burro. We played Tortolita and Wild Burro and was joined by James from San Francisco, accompanied by his wife Christina.
While there was quite the array of cacti and you knew you were in a desert atmosphere, there was still plenty of luscious green grass. Natural beauty surrounds you the entire round. Plenty of elevated Tee-boxes provided the viewing platform to watch your ball in flight against the mountain backdrop.
From the forward tees it’s a very playable course - if you keep it straight enough you’ll stay out of trouble. From the rest of the tee boxes there are “fun” and challenging carries. Many of the approaches also had some challenging carries over waste bunkers for all to enjoy. The greens had a lot of character and undulations, but were also soft and slow – and the hole placements were very creative. Ball washers were missing from the course and the carts – so bring along an extra towel.
In most of our travels and pairings with other golfers, Jeff’s long ball is usually very impressive. However, James certainly has a great game and bombed it passed Jeff on several holes!
The Ritz-Carlton hotel is a beautiful lodge-like setting with about 250 rooms. The grounds are very relaxing with several pools and a Spa. There are resort activities and it is very kid-welcoming. The restaurant food was delicious as well. Our time at this Marriott hotel was definitely too short – so we hope to return to enjoy the accommodations and get another shot at golfing – perhaps in a cooler time of year!