Are there any courses that I must check out in Tucson? Also will be attending the Waste Management. Any tips on where to best watch and/or should I follow groups?
Any must play courses in Tucson?
I wouldnāt call anything in Tucson a āmust play.ā
Depending on your budget and/or familiary with desert golf, the better options are ā¦
Ventana Canyon (Mountain). The Canyon course here is OK, but you really want to play the Mountain. Just a much more solid 18 holes and you get the postcard 3rd hole which is a tiny 100-yard par 3 that is essentially an island in the desert mountains.
Dove Mountain. This is the course where they had the match play the last few years before they went to Austin. Itās a beast for non-pros, but beautiful and kinda fun if you donāt get too worried about your score. Nicklaus came in and softened the greens after the first year of the tournament and they are still absolutely wild. Not many flat lies in the fairways, either. Itās a 27-hole facility and while itās most fun to play Saguaro-Tortolita, since that was the tournament rota and you may recognize some holes, the Wild Burro nine is also pretty good, goes up more on the mountain than the other nines.
The universityās home course (not near the school) is the newest course in town and is a fun place to play, if you donāt mind manufactured lakes and waterfalls in the desert. Thereās an interesting mix of holes you can go after and holes that make you work, and sometimes which are which vary depending on the wind or just how youāre hitting itālots of āhow much carry do you want to take on?ā out there. Not really a desert course.
My first desert golf course was Starr Pass but I donāt love it nowāthey added a new nine and changed the other holes and itās not what it was. Still a pretty spot, but itās not a course I can heartily recommend anymore.
On the budget side, the Randolph munis are both good solid golf courses. Randolph North is more of the āchampionshipā course while Dell Urich is a little shorter and has a bit more of a modern feel (I think at various times the LPGA played at both courses).
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Gallery, end of list.
The only thing you need to do in Tucson is get out of Tucson.
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Harder than it seems, the traffic is a nightmare
I wasnāt impressed with either course at the Gallery. I mean, theyāre fine, but not must plays. And Iād rather play Dove Mountain, which is public.
If you have the connections to get on a private in that neighborhood, get out to Stone Canyon.
I could fill you in on some sweet courses at my parentsā retirement community just north of the city. They also have a sweet pickleball setup.
I will be in Tucson end of June and I want to play some golf on the weekend. Looks like Ventana Canyon and Dove Mountain are the top choices. As I will stay at the Westin La Paloma I will have access to La Paloma Country Club. Has anyone played the course and can recommend it?
Also, is it possible to play 36 holes a day end of June or will I risk a heat stroke?
Ventana is good. Played there a couple of years ago.
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La Paloma is worth playing if youāre staying at the resort.
I havenāt played there in almost 20 years, so Iām not as familiar with it as the other Tucson courses. Itās close to the level of Ventana and Dove Mountain, but Iād say itās a half step below them just because itās a little too aggressively difficult. Just classic 80s Nicklaus tough golf. Tiered greens, deep bunkers, long, tight, really hard. But itās pretty. They have 3 nines and I donāt recall any of them being substantially different from the other. The resort area there is all built on a long slope so thereās a good bit of up and down.
Dove Mountain is also Nicklaus but it was built 25 years later and even though it can be very hard in places (some of the greens are wild and there are a lot of uneven lies) overall itās much wider and more playable.
Ventana has that Fazio resort ālook hard, play niceā thing going. All three are nice desert courses, though.
As to playing 36, sure, you can. It depends on how used you are to heat, and how hot it is. End of June can be around 100 or can be 115. Iāve played 36 hole days when itās 117, but Iāve lived out here a long time and Iām very used to playing in the heat. If youāre not, you want to be cautious.
The thing is, if you play early when itās not too hot, the first round is usually not too bad. Then take a little break, eat, get good and hydrated. Your later round will often be on an empty course and this is kind of the key. Playing a second 18 when itās really hot is awful if itās 4 and a half hours and youāre waiting. But if itās a typical desert afternoon and the course is pretty dead then you should be able to play quick with a cart and itāll probably only be 2 hours or so and you drink a lot and you can be OK. But it helps to ask the shop how many people are on the course, because you can get heat sick real quick and just sitting in a golf cart on a hot day is a good way to have that happen.
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Thanks a lot for your insights, Matthew. That helps a lot. 
Timely bump. Iām going to be in Oro Valley in a couple of weeks, and Iām looking for recommendations out on that end of town. Dove Mountain is the only course that Iām coming up with, but I donāt really want to pony up almost $200 to play it. I donāt have the connections to get on Stone Canyon. Any recommendations?
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Try checking GolfNow a week out from when you want to play. You can get a HotDeal for Dove Mountain for under $100, or even just a regular time (where you donāt have to pre-pay) for like $140.
The other stuff on the north side is definitely sketchier.
Iāve heard decent things about one of the Robson (retirement community) courses called The Preserve, but I donāt know how much public play they allow in high season (and Iāve never played the course myself).
Tucson National isnāt far, but it may not be much cheaper than Dove Mountain. They have two courses. Catalina is the older course, where they used to play the Tucson Open (and just played the Champions Tour event last week). Itās a parkland course, pretty forgettable, except for the tough 18th. The newer course is the Sonoran, which starts and ends with some mediocre holes between homes, but has a nice stretch of desert-style holes in the middle of the round. Iād only play either of those if you had a good deal.
Avoid The Highlands like the plague.
The Gallery used to offer some limited public play, which alternated between the two courses on a daily basis, but I donāt know if thatās still available. If it is, those courses are worthwhile. The South hosted the WGC for a few years and the North has some fun mountainous holes.
Otherwise ā¦ if you have a car from Oro Valley, youāve at least got reasonable access to the westside, so courses like Starr Pass and Sewailo, even though they are further south, are options, as well.
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Thanks! Iāll look into these.
Already been mentioned, but the best track is Ventana Canyon. I have family that belonged out there so have played it 20-30 times. They have two 18 hole courses (Mountain and Canyon) in which they alternate between public play and private play. Mountain is the better course, however Canyon is solid as well. I think you can book on GolfNow for +/- $100 if you have some time flexibility. Courses are always in great shape and is best value in my opinion.
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Headed to Tucson for vacation this Wednesday. Staying at the Omni Resort. Have a tee time booked at the resort course (Tucson National). Reading that they just finished about a 3 week period of overseeding, just opened back up today. Worst part is it will be cart path only. Iāll be happy to be out playing though!
Never been to Tucson. Any must-doās? Meals are pretty much already planned. Would love to go on a long hike.
I wonder if theyād let you walkā¦Iāve gotten in to too many arguments to count with shop guys / rangers about trying to walk during CPOā¦they just donāt understand how much more efficient it is
On the Tucson note ā get a Sonoran Dog (El Guero Canelo), even if meals are already planned out. If you can make it out to Gates Pass for a sunset, do it.
I see @matthew823 replying now, so Iāll stop here
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If you are playing the Catalina Course, ask if they will allow you to walk instead of talking carts that are cart path only. Catalina, which is the course that used to host the PGA Tour event and (currently?) hosts a senior event, is very walkable.
The Sonoran course would not be walkable, though it has some nice holes, especially the newer ones away from the homes (IIRC 7-14 maybe?).
If they just reopened you can expect greens to be pretty shaggy as well.
Tucson is very beautiful. Lots of great hikes to be had all around as the city is essentially surrounded by beautiful mountains. I really like Sabino Canyon but also canāt go wrong with anything in either half of the Saguaro National Park (itās divided into East and West halves, on either side of the city - the west half of the park would be much closer to where youāre staying).
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Hell yes
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Very helpful, thanks! We are definitely going to look into walking since we are playing the Catalina.
Since most/all courses will be in the same process, itās probably just easiest to suck it up and play the resort courses. First world problems I guess.
Thanks for the other suggestions. Iāll have to convince someone in our party to go out for a late night Sonoran Dog, they look incredible!
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