Desert Forest
So I had never been to Phoenix before I was 30 but have had to be there around 50 times or so since. I have some pretty good friends out there now and have had ample good times. I was always very curious about desert golf. Some courses in Vegas tease but for true desert courses, Arizona is the real deal. While we have a great variety of golf courses in the Philly area, the one thing we do not have is desert golf. Since we always want what we can’t have, I wanted desert golf.
It’s funny some of my friends and friends of friends in AZ don’t like desert golf. Too targety. No real strategy except hit it straight and avoid the desert. Again we always want what we can’t have and I’m sure for true Phoenicians, desert golf is as blah to them as a Wawa Italian hoagie is to us. It satisfies a need and is a nice quick lunch stop, but there are much more appetizing places to go.
So of the many desert courses I’ve now played, Desert Forest is my favorite. It’s heavy on the desert and light on the forest. It was actually one of the first stand-alone desert clubs and it is tough. You have to hit it straight or you will be in the desert. Now we have a rule, if you’re in the desert and have a shot (and aren’t afraid of rattlesnakes) you can move your ball off of a rock or clear rocks around it. This way you don’t ruin a club. This makes desert golf a little more fun – usually target golf is not enjoyable for bogey golfers so while this is as target as it gets, having a little relief makes it more enjoyable.
This was a company golf round and I played with borrowed clubs and not well at all, though still the beauty of the course more than made up for it. Loved the back porch on the very Arizonan clubhouse. Course-wise, one starts out with a sharp dog leg right. Seven requires you to carry a huge desert area or hit around the corner. Then your approach is over a wash. Otherwise, bear down and avoid the desert. Desert Forest used to be a staple on the golf magazines’ top 100 lists but has been off Golf Digest since 2003 and Golf since 2011. You’ll still find it in Golfweek’s modern rankings, though. I think it still belongs up there as it truly represents the quintessential desert layout. I also read in this year’s Golf magazine rankings issue, how one of the rankers agree that it should be in the Top 100.
Scottsdale is a great golf buddies trip or couples trip. Most of my times here were work related but with Phoenix you should always try and get a round in, there are a million options both public and private here. There are great bar and restaurant options but since I have several AZ courses in my top 150, I’ll hit those on a later review and update here with a link. Updated. For now, I’ll tell you a pretty interesting tidbit. This goes back to 2008 and I played Desert Forest in 2017 so has nothing to do with DF – just so you know.
So I have won several bets with this one. Is it possible to fly 2500 miles and back between the fifth and sixth inning of a baseball game and not miss a pitch? I know two guys who have done that. Well I am one and my buddy Mark is the other. Game five of the Phillies 2008 World Series got rained out after five innings. Mark and I had a meeting in Phoenix the next day so after the game early the next morning, we jumped on a flight to Phoenix. By the time we landed we heard they snowed out the game for that night. We looked at each other, changed our plans for the next day, booked an early flight back. Had our meeting and flew back to Philly the next morning and went right to the bar at the park and never missed a pitch and celebrated a World Series victory that night. So yes it is very possible.
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