Desert Springs GC, Surprise. Greg Nash with Billy Casper, 1997.

I’ve talked with quite a few people who count this as the lesser of the four courses in Sun City Grand, but to me it’s second only to Cimarron on account of actually having a handful of memorable holes (I don’t mean they have waterfalls).

The ninth here almost sets up as a bite-off-as-much-as-you-dare tee shot, with water down the left and wrapping around the back of the green. Almost anyway, because from all but the very back tee there’s no reason to actually carry any water on your tee shot at all. But almost is about as close as you get to strategic interest on any of these Grand courses.

Arizona 9th Decile [2012]