Best of Tucson Golf Course Reviews
Review & Rating of the Best Arizona Golf Courses
Arizona National Golf Club
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated 9.4
Nestled in the foothills of the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona National Golf Club is desert golf at it’s finest. The golf course follows the rugged natural flow of the land across shady mesquite-lined arroyos and skirts craggy rock outcroppings. Along the way, this layout will test the limits of your ability but do it fairly!
To compensate for the challenge, you will enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery of any golf course in Southern Arizona, including panoramic mountain vistas, forests of giant saguaros and the rare beauty of nine natural springs. And the finishing hole is one of the best ever!
The Golf Club at Dove Mountain – Tortolita Nine
Marana, AZ
Review of Tortolita Nine – Rated 9.2 
Dove Mountain has it all – three outstanding and very different Jack Nicklaus designed courses, excellent conditions, scenic vistas, upscale amenities, the Ritz Carlton resort, and some very fun holes. The Tortolita Nine was the back nine for the Accenture Match Play Championship and it’s the most scenic of the nines as it run up into the canyon. It’s home to lots of carries over the desert and washes, plenty of strategically placed bunkers, and challenging green complexes.
The Golf Club at Dove Mountain – Wild Burro Nine
Marana, AZ
Review of Wild Burro Nine – Rated 8.8 
Jack Nicklaus designed all three nines at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain and Wild Burro was the Golden Bear’s favorite nine – and that’s not surprising, it’s a beautiful and fun nine to play. You’ll find some wide fairways off the tee box, long nasty bunkers, carries over the desert on almost every hole, a beautiful lake to carry on one hole, dog legs, and some washes to carry to get to the green.
La Paloma Country Club – Hill Course
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated – 9.3
La Paloma Country Club is home to three fantastic nines – each of which has it’s own personality and charteristics, which is one of the reasons that La Paloma has won several awards including “Top 10 Courses in Arizona” by Golf Digest.
The Hill Course at La Paloma is one of those tracks that is very memorable and a joy to play. It’s fair yet demanding, has some very scenic vistas, plenty of forced carries, and some challening green complexes.
Jack Nicklaus designed all three nines in 1984 and the Golden Bear redesigned the Hill Course greens and bunkers in 2009 – modernizing them with plenty of slope, undulation, and tiers.
La Paloma Country Club – Canyon Course
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated – 9.3
Of the three nine hole courses at La Paloma Country Club, the Canyon course has the reputation of being the toughest. What makes this fantastic layout both fun and challenging are dramatic elevation changes, narrower fairways, forced carries from almost every tee box, very tough approach shots, tempting risk reward opportunities, and some challenging green complexes.
But don’t let all that discourage you from playing La Paloma Country Club’s Canyon Course – there are five sets of tee boxes, just don’t bite off more than you can chew and you’ll really enjoy this nine. In addition to all of the challenges, there are some very scenic vistas of the mountains, Tucson Valley, Westin La Paloma Resort, and some multi-million dollar homes that are stunning.
La Paloma Country Club – Ridge Course
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated – 9.3
The Ridge Nine at La Paloma Country Club is probably the most scenic of the nines and you’re likely to utter quite a few “wows” and take lots of pictures, but keep you head down and on the ball, because this nine is no walk in the park.
You need to handle the forced carries, avoid the treacherous bunkers or deep grassy mounds and hollows, read the breaks, and manage the dramatic elevation changes, or you’ll watch your ball fly into the natural areas, get embedded in one of the many arms of some Saguaro cactus, or sail into some of the deep ravines. A fun, scenic, and interesting layout. This nine is popular with the ladies because from the forward tees there are fewer forced carries than on the other two nines.
Starr Pass – Coyote Nine
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review
– Rated – 9.0
Enjoy a very serene and quiet area of the golf course where you are likely to see wildlife wandering about in their natural habitat. This stretch of holes just might afford you the delightful company of jackrabbits, quail or deer. Don’t worry, all these will animals have seen it all and they won’t heckle you as you try to negotiate through this outstanding nine.
The terrain on Coyote is completely different and this nine seems more natural as it traverses up and down the Tucson Mountains and it has fewer homes dotting the hillside and some very interesting holes that will test your golfing skills with forced carries, dog legs, elevation changes, and lots more.
Starr Pass – Rattler Nine
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated – 9.3
The longest of the three nines begins with a stunning view of Tucson and the surrounding mountain ranges. And most of the holes are even more stunning than the views.
The Rattler nine is the most challenging and is a true test of your game with the smallest pocketed greens and this nine requires a lot of target golf – we thought it was the most scenic and seemed to be in the best condition from the tee box to the pin.
Like the name implies, Rattler slithers up and down the foothills, shocks you with some surprising elevation changes and majestic vistas, and give you a nasty bit it you’re not careful.
Starr Pass – Roadrunner Nine
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review –Rated – 9.1
Beginning just steps outside of the first class JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa, Roadrunner offers unsurpassed views. With dramatic elevation changes and the swirling winds created by the Tucson Mountains, these nine holes will truly test players of all levels.
Chiseled out of the side of the Tucson Mountains, Roadrunner has some very fun and challenging holes – it is also the shortest of the nines at 3217 and carries a par of 35 with three great par 3s. One of them seems like a mile down the mountain and requires a very accurate shot to nail the green – you’ll want to hit a couple balls on this beauty.
The Gallery – South Course
Marana, AZ
Texas Outside Review
Texas Outside Ranking – Rated 9.3
The Gallery is a very upscale and well done private golf club that allows public play at certain times each day – and don’t miss the opportunity to play this beauty. Nominated one of Golf Digest’s 100 Best, John Fought’s Gallery South Course is a links style course reminiscent of Donald Ross’ Pinehurst #2.
The fairways are wide and sweeping and the green complexes are equally large and challenging. You’ll encounter something of everything that makes golf fun – excellent conditions, fantastic layout, scenic vistas, and lots more. One of the best 18 holes in Tucson.
Sewailo Golf Club
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside Reviewn – Rated 9.8
Wow, wow, wow – this is one spectacular 18 holes of golf that we rated a near perfect 10. They just don’t get much better and it’s not surprising that Sewailo was named by Golf Adviser as one of the top ten in Arizona and in the top 25 by Golf Week. A fun and interesting layout that will test your game by throwing a lot at you – dog legs both left and right, lots of huge treacherous bunkers, ponds and creeks, forced carries, minor elevation changes, and demanding green complexes. But
Sewailo
is fair and has 7 yardage options to choose from.
Tucson National Sonoran Course
Tucson, AZ
Review of Tucson National Sonoran Course – Rated 9
Tucson National is home to two spectacular 18 hole championship courses – the Sonoran Course and the Catalina 18. The Sonoran Course is the newest of the courses and it is very different than the traditional layout at the Catalina course. The Sonoran Course is a high desert layout with significant elevation changes, forced carries, severly undulating terrain, and some really fun and challenging holes.
Ventana Canyon – Canyon Course
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated 9.1
Ventana Canyon is home to two outstanding golf courses and a fantastic stay and play package at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon. Both courses are Tom Fazo masterpieces
and each has it’s own unique personality and characteristics. The Canyon 18 winds up and down the inspiring beauty of Esperrero Canyon and ends at a spectacular water fountain.
The Canyon 18 has some outstanding holes that will test all portions of your game. The fairways are generous off the tee box and then it gets a little testy with tough approaches and huge treacherous bunkers. A very picturesque 18 as it twists and turns through tall stately saguaro cactus.
Ventana Canyon – Mountain Course
Tucson, AZ
Texas Outside’s Review – Rated 9.4
The Canyon Course at Ventana Canyon plays through the Esperrero Canyon and the Mountain Course plays up an down the Santa Catalina Mountains. At the highest point on the golf course sits Ventana Canyon’s signature third hole which is on of the most photographed holes west of the Mississippi – a short par three is tucked into the rugged rocks of the Santa Catalina mountains that plays across a canyon of cacti. And the views from the top of the tee box are breathtaking.
The Mountain Course is more difficult than the Canyon course and you’ll encounter lots of forced carries, uneven lies, and distract acting beautiful panoramic vistas.