Superstition Springs GC, Mesa. Greg Nash and Jeff Hardin, 1986.

One of those courses that’s trying to be an oasis from the desert—lots of water and sand and palm trees. Crossing under the freeway on the front nine and then crossing a major road to play the back nine goes a long way toward ruining any oasis-like feeling, though.

There aren’t many homes on the front nine, which sounds good, but then again a hook off the eighth tee could find a car dealership.

The par-5 sixth has a deep green, the last third of which is a peninsula in a palm-dotted bunker, but that part of the green is barely 15 feet wide and I can’t imagine they ever actually put the hole back there. On the other hand, that makes more sense than the path the man-made stream takes on 18, which is both aesthetically unpleasant and cruel. Or to put it another way: I played this course on one of my first trips to Phoenix when I was 15, and even then I wasn’t impressed.

Arizona 7th Decile [2008?]