Desert Forest Golf Club
Desert Forest Golf Club
37207 N Mule Train Rd
Carefree, AZ 85377
United States
Overview
Widely considered to be the first desert course ever built, Desert Forest was designed by Robert “Red” Lawrence—a founding member and president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects—and opened in 1962. Revered for its minimalist design and effective use of the natural contours of the land, the course has been previously ranked on our 100 Greatest and Second 100 Greatest lists. In 2013, the course underwent a $3 million renovation led by David Zinkand—a longtime associate of the Coore and Crenshaw design firm—which improved sightlines from tee boxes, added strategic bunkering and refined the greens. Referred to by our own Mike Stachura as “an American golf course design landmark,” Desert Forest is deceptively simple, with few fairway bunkers or doglegs, but requires thoughtful strategy to manage the undulating layout.
About
Awards
Ranking history:
100 Greatest: Ranked for 36 years, from 1969-2004.
Highest ranking: No. 57, 1997-'98.
Second 100 Greatest: Ranked 191st, 2013-'14. Ranked 197th, 2017-'18.
Best in State: Ranked first, 1985, 2001. Ranked inside the top 5, 1977-2005. Ranked seventh, 2021-'22. Ranked eighth, 2023-'26. Ranked ninth, 2011-'12, 2017-'18, 2019-'20. Ranked inside the top 10, 2007-'10. Ranked 12th, 2013-'14, 2015-'16.
Previous ranking: 8th.
2025-'26 ranking: 8th.
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Desert forest is a good course in terms of shot options, but less so in terms of risk/reward. A couple of approaches offer really good shot options (7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16 & 18). #9 and 14 offer great risk/reward on the approach shots. #7 and 11 have these really cool washes and drainage features - 7 in the fairway and 11 in front of the green. 16 has a cool tree in the fairway that forces you to play down the right hand side. While the greens are good, there is nothing standout about them and I think that's what makes a golf club super fun. If you give me a course with really great greens, the rest of the course doesn't matter as much and I'll think it’s a ton of fun and want to play it over and over again. Definitely fits the bill of "I could play this course every day". Desert golf isn't for everyone, and I really don't like being penalized for wayward drives. Desert Forest is a hard course from the back tees. There is plenty of width but the desert is very unforgiving and penalizing. Several difficult driving holes (1, 2, 5, 7, 11, 13, 18). There are some really well bunkered greens that make accessing hole locations difficult and getting up and down really tough. Lots of run-offs on the greens you have to be mindful of. No overseed so chipping on grainy Bermuda is tough. Back tees play very long and the targets off the tee and into the green play very small because of it. Basically and island green on #9 because of bunkering. If you're accurate, you'll succeed here. There are zero fairway bunkers on the course but a variety of pinches in the fairway or washes across the fairways. There aren't a lot of types of hazards - bunkers and the desert are about what you'll get out here. The par 4s kind of blen into one another. Good variety in par 3s - #8 is the standout par 3 and a rare very good long par 3. There are a lot of holes that are laid out in the east to west and west to east directions. Pretty flat piece of land but great use of mounding, drainage features. Not a single fairway bunker but a drainage swale (11), desert wash (7), and tree (16) make the par 5s stand out at Desert Forest. Desert golf isn't everyone's cup of tea but there are pretty parts of it. Desert Forest isn't the best looking desert golf course but it is void of houses which I think is a massive plus. They don't oversee in the winter so the course was slightly browner than others that do the oversee and have the white bunker sand and dormant Bermuda. They do a nice job of keeping the focus on the course though with captivating bunkers and keeping the focus on the course by growing up the surround vegetation between holes. The greens roll really nice - not perfect but really good. There are a couple of soft spots near drainage features which has to be from overwatering or frost. Generally, the fairways run out okay, but it never feels like the ball will get away from you. Greens are receptive and the ball won't get away from you, even on long iron shots. I would like to see the greens bounce a bit more and rolls out. General upkeep of the course is really well done. Into the wind, ball will spin back slightly with wedges and doesn't roll enough with the driver. The course is definitely presented in a manner that you could host a competition here at any point in time, but I would like to see everything firmer and faster. Golf is the main character at Desert Forest. There are no houses and the course wasn't built with a housing development in mind. In this part of the world, most courses are surrounded by housing developments or a planned community and Desert Forest isn't part of that norm. The membership is lovely and they take a ton of pride in Desert Forest being only a golf club. They view the quality of the club and the quality of the golf course as the same thing so they put all their attention into the course."
Read More2025
Review
“Many of the views form the tee boxes are partially obscured by desert plants and landscaping making for demanding and intimidating tee shots. One of its most unique characteristics is the undisturbed desert surroundings that blend with the entire course. There are no paved cart paths, out of bounds markers or direction signs to hole locations. Even though there are very few fairway bunkers, the tight fairways and surrounding desert scape make for a very challenging test."
Read More2025
Review
“challenging course, with great bunkers and greens. Desert a bit too tight to the fairway in some cases."
Read More2024
Review
“One of the original desert golf courses. Challenging because off of the fairway is frequently lost. Well laid out (a great course to walk) and well conditioned."
Read More2024
Review
“Played this course in very strong wind conditions, and the first several holes on each 9 (especially the par 4s) were bears. Very interesting course model. The main difficulty here is the width of the fairways. Stray hitters will really struggle here, but if you play the right tees, it is a very fair test and challenge. I also appreciated that the par 5s are for the most part reachable holes that invite player to take aggressive tee line. Short par 4 14th is a truly drivable par 4 (always like rewarding courses that include short par 4s where hitting green is a possibility rather than steep aspiration). The setup of the course makes player think backward from green to tee because missing a green can be quite manageable if player misses in correct spot. But i also really appreciated how there are varying degrees of penalty for missing greens. Great example of this is par 4 13th. there are two different bunkers right of the green. far right bunker is almost impossible up and down while closer bunker (less errant of a miss) is not awful."
Read More2023
Review
“Amazing course. Amazing layout. Friendly staff. Reasonably priced. Fantastic gem in the desert. Worth a visit."
Read More2022
Review
“straightforward test with outstanding greens and surrounding bunker complexes."
Read More2022
Review
“Desert Forest was recently renovated by Dave Zinkand, and while I did not see the "before" version, the current enhanced golf course is spectacular. Modern-shaped designs in AZ tend to funnel shots to the middle while the 60s lack of shaping at DF means you have to take great care not to run off into the desert, as there is nothing to stop your ball. The course is wide, however, but still provides great challenge for low markers. Zinkand may have found the formula, at least in a desert sense, of keeping a course fun for ground-hugging members while ball-busting better players."
Read More2022
Review
“This course is overwhelmingly subtle and understated. High marks for conditioning and the brown fairways. No over seeding in 2009...but was lush and green in december, 2010. Wonderful choices to make on many holes. Hurrah."
Read More2022
Review
“Challenging, old style desert course with no fairway bunkers and tricky greens."
Read More2022
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