WHERE YOU CAN RIP IT - 2012
Public Golf Course Rankings of the Western Golf Alliance

Copyright 2002-2012, Western Golf Alliance, LLC. All rights reserved
"Where You Can Rip It" Rankings for Region I - Arizona Unlimited

At a glance it's easy to tell that our Arizona members - concentrated in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area - love We-Ko-Pa. The two courses there don't just stand out as a good tandem, but each one stands on its own as a great golf course ... the best examples of southwest desert golf you'll ever find. As a result, we have ranked them #1 (Cholla) and #2 (Saguaro).

Now, it is only to a slightly lesser degree that our members love Troon North. It has taken a while for everyone to come around on the re-routing they performed on their courses 3-ish years ago, but now Pinnacle has settled in as the #3 course in the region, and Monument at #9. And our members generally remain infatuated with resort courses in the local area ... while they may not love the others, they certainly have a serious crush on The Boulders (South, #4), Grayhawk (Talon, #6), Talking Stick (North, #10), and Sedona Resort (#11). However, when our Phoenix members don't want to pay resort rates for their golf, they have settled on Vista Verde Golf Club as a local favorite. New to the rankings at #8, Vista Verde is certainly not a recognized "name" like the big resort brands previously mentioned, but it's an awesome desert course that will provide both a challenging and beautiful golf experience.

We also have a fairly vocal collection of members in Tucson who certainly prefer public-access courses over resort courses. For years now, they have championed their local favorite course, Arizona National - one of the great college courses, and home of the University of Arizona golf teams. Arizona National incorporates great desert golf, but has framed the fairways with lush roughs and shrubbery, plus has leveraged elevation changes on the property that aren't always available in this region. In the immediate area, Arizona National is supported very will by the Vistoso Golf Club. At #7, Vistoso is a new entry into the 2012 rankings, and its inclusion really reflects well on their recent improvements and what appears to be a renewed commitment to the care and condition of that course.

Note: Golf magazine ranks the We-Ko-Pa courses as the #34 and #43 courses in the U.S., the Troon North courses #21 and #44, and ranks a total of seven Arizona courses in the top 100 public courses; Golf Digest has only one Arizona course in its entire top 100 public courses - The Rim at #52, a private club that was offering outside play as "a very limited time offer" earlier in the year. Why do we point that out? To show you that the trade magazine rankings can a) wildly disagree, b) be influenced by regional bias, and/or c) not be aware of the short-term reality at local courses.

Our rankings? Completely done by amateur, local golfers, who care about having real fun with real friends on real public golf course. Given that, which rankings are you going to believe?