Best golf courses near Tempe, AZ

A mainstay on Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Public, the Saguaro course is ranked among the best public options in the state. This Coore and Crenshaw design incorporates all the typical traits of a desert course while maintaining a traditional, walkable feel—the Saguaro features wide, forgiving fairways and greens situated close to the following tees. Like Bandon Trails, Sand Hills, and Friar’s Head, three of Coore and Crenshaw’s other acclaimed projects, We-Ko-Pa traces the natural movement of the land and provides 360 degree views of four surrounding mountains: Superstition, McDowell, Mazatzal and the Four Peaks.

Though our panelists rank the Cholla course as the second best at We-Ko-Pa, it's in the top-10 among public courses in golf-rich Arizona—making it a must-play. The Scott Miller design—located at the We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort, a 2022 Golf Digest Editors' Choice winner for resorts—winds through the arroyos and ridges of the Sonoran Desert. Split fairways, stacked stone riverbeds and 30-foot tall cacti in play give this hidden gem its character.

Tucked in a canyon 30 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor, Sunridge Canyon features an intriguing mix of doglegs and carries over ravines. The course is best known for its closing "Wicked 6," which consists of two par 3s, two par 4s, and two par 5s, and plays generally uphill and into the prevailing wind. The course hosted the 1997 USGA Men's State Team Championship.

Phil Smith redesigned an existing 27-hole facility at The Phoenician into a new, ultra-playable 18-hole course that winds through the Sonoran Desert. The par-71 Phoenician can play as short as 4,594 yards or as long as more than 6,518 yards. The back nine winds through the mountainside, providing some dramatic views.

The O'odham course (formerly the North Course) is one of two courses at Talking Stick designed by the acclaimed designed team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The layout places a premium on accuracy, with fairways and greens strategically surrounded by brush and waste areas and features a refreshing mix of long and shorter holes.

Just about 30 minutes south of Scottsdale, Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass boasts a world-class practice facility and two very good public courses. For five years, the then-Nationwide Tour hosted an event here, the Gila River Golf Classic, an ode to the heritage of the surrounding Gila River Indian Reservation. The layouts—the Cattail and the Devil's Claw—are routed over 500 acres, with half of that being native vegetation. The courses boast large greens and wide fairways for the most part, but golfers are rewarded for taking on hazards with shorter lines into the greens, which boast subtle but tumbling undulations.

Having recently completed a multi-million-dollar renovation, Western Skies now boasts improved irrigation and a lighted practice facility. The affordable public layout is flat and forgiving, with wide fairways and minimal rough, making it a great option for beginners. The drivable par-4 18th is a captivating finisher with water up the entire right side, making longer players debate whether to go for the green off the tee.

Designed by William P. Bell—who worked closely with George C. Thomas on designs such as Riviera Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club—the Adobe course was built in 1928 under the direction of chewing gum icon William Wrigley Jr. Over the years, U.S. presidents, foreign heads of state and Hollywood celebrities have visited the club and played the Adobe layout, which sits adjacent to the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort. The course is a traditional parkland layout with very little elevation change and generous landing areas. Though the conditioning might not be up to the standard of a private club, the Adobe layout is worth playing for its history and subtle strategic elements, including uniquely shaped sharp-edged bunkering.

Playing at nearly 1,800 feet elevation, Las Sendas offers tremendous vistas of the greater Phoenix area. The Robert Trent Jones Jr. design is demanding from tee to green, with desert lining each fairway and water in play on many holes.