Best Public Golf Courses in Phoenix

Cave Creek is run by the City of Phoenix, opened in 1983 to a Jack Snyder routing, and plays 6,876 yards to a par of 72, rated 71.1 with a slope of 122. Bermuda tee to green, walkable, with a range and a putting green. Recent rates have run from about $24 to $50, which is the whole argument for it.

Golfers call it fun and a lot of golf for the money, rate the greens as the best-kept part of the property, and several say it has got better year on year. The criticisms are the ones any heavily played municipal earns: worn tee boxes, thin patches through the fairways and rough, cart paths that are bumpy or not paved at all, and a back nine that slows down. There is no short set of tees, so a beginner is playing it at full length. About a quarter of posted times get taken before the day, so book Cave Creek ahead for a weekend morning.

Encanto opened in 1935 to a William P. Bell design inside Encanto Park near downtown, and the city calls it the third oldest golf course in Arizona. It is 6,386 yards to a par of 70, rated 69.0 with a slope of 111, TifDwarf greens over bermuda fairways, with the wide level fairways and sparse hazards of a pre-war parkland course. Walkable, and cheap: recent rates have run from about $22 to $50.

It plays like what it is. Golfers rate the greens for consistency, say the firm surfaces make a bump and run the right shot, and come back for the price and the staff. They also say the round is slow, that weekend parking is a problem, that joggers and dog walkers cross the ground while you play, and that no single hole stays with you afterwards. It is a piece of the city's history you can play for the price of lunch. Hardly any of its posted times get taken, so Encanto is the reliable weekend round when everything else is full.

Paradise Valley Park is a Jeff Hardin course from 1986, 4,082 yards to a par of 61, rated 59.2 with a slope of 88. It is walkable, and there is a range and a putting green on site. Nobody is calling it a test: what it offers is 18 holes in a short afternoon and a lot of iron shots into greens.

Golfers rate it for exactly that, a cheap, unhurried round with no fuss over tee times, in decent enough shape to practise on. The complaints are consistent: greens that run hard, fast and bumpy, tee boxes and fairways that vary hole to hole, a cart path in poor repair with ruts and potholes, on-course restrooms in bad shape, and staff who several reviewers found unhelpful or worse. Take it for what it is and check what is open before you go.

Grand Canyon University's course opened in 1961 to a William F. Bell design and was later rebuilt by John Fought and Mike Gogel. It now measures 7,239 yards to a par of 71, rated 74.3 with a slope of 135, which makes it the longest and the hardest of the ten here on paper. Bermuda greens and fairways, walkable, with a range and a putting green.

The sand is the story. Golfers describe wide fairways and fast greens with bunkering as the primary defence, most holes carrying fairway bunkers, and enough of them that rounds stretch out. Several call the traps unfair or too deep, and the same reviewers note there is no marshal to move things along, with rounds running past five hours at the worst of it. On the other side, the staff and the pro shop get consistent praise and the facility is described as clean and well kept. Bring a good sand game and see what GCU has open.

Papago is a municipal course in Papago Park, opened in 1963 to a William F. Bell design, and it is the home course of the Arizona State men's and women's golf teams. In April 2008 it closed for a renovation led by Billy Fuller and reopened that December more than 400 yards longer with the bunkers rebuilt. It now plays 7,068 yards to a par of 72, rated 73.3 with a slope of 132, bermuda through the green, and you can walk it.

Golfers rate the setting first: views of the buttes and downtown, a range pointed at the mountains, a bar and grill worth staying at, and the rare pleasure in this city of a course with no houses on it. Tee boxes are flat and the bunkers hold sand. The complaints are pace and communication. Nine-minute intervals and a lot of walkers push rounds past five hours with no marshal to break it up, greens get punched without much warning, some cart paths are dirt, and parking is short during events. Book Papago early in the day if you want to be off it in four hours.

Raven at South Mountain opened in 1995 to a David Graham and Gary Panks design and is run by Arcis Golf. It plays 7,078 yards to a par of 72, rated 73.3 with a slope of 130, TifDwarf greens over bermuda fairways, and it is walkable. Collared shirt and bermuda shorts, no denim.

What sets it apart is that it does not look like Phoenix. Thousands of mature trees line the corridors, and golfers reach for comparisons with Flagstaff or the Pacific Northwest rather than the desert twenty minutes away. Conditioning is the other constant: reviewers single out the fairways and greens as excellent given how many rounds the place takes, and rate the staff highly for professionalism. The criticisms are mild by comparison. It is priced above the municipals, the greens take a beating from players who do not repair marks, and anyone who came to Arizona specifically for desert golf will not find it here. Raven tee times are worth planning around.

Foothills opened in 1988 to a Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish routing at the southern edge of Phoenix, 6,968 yards to a par of 72, rated 73.2 with a slope of 132, on Bermuda 328 greens over bermuda fairways. There is a teaching pro and a practice green on site. Recent rates have run from about $33 to $59, which is a lot of architecture for the money.

Golfers talk about the course in terms of potential. The routing and the views get real praise, the fairways can be excellent, recent upgrades have gone down well, and the staff is rated friendly. The greens are where it falls down: reviewers describe them as slow and inconsistent, with rough patches, bare dirt and weeds elsewhere on the property. Pace suffers with no rangers out, and some golfers who played it under new management were unhappy about cart access and the welcome. Almost none of its posted times get taken, so Foothills is close to a walk-up.

Piipaash is the former South course at Talking Stick, a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design from 1998 on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land, which owns and runs it. It is a half-hour east of downtown Phoenix and worth the drive: 6,833 yards to a par of 71, rated 72.7 with a slope of 129, MiniVerde bermuda greens over bermuda and rye fairways, and walkable, which almost nothing else at this level in the Valley is.

It is the one course on this list that can cost real money. Recent rates have run from about $23 in the heat to $152 in the season, a spread wider than anything else here, so the same round is either the best value on the page or the most expensive thing on it depending on the month you pick. Check the Piipaash tee sheet for your dates before you plan around a number.

Paradise Valley dates to 1969 and a Jim Cochran design, 6,097 yards to a par of 70, rated 68.6 with a slope of 116. There is a range, a putting green and a teaching pro. Recent rates have run from about $23 to $50, which puts it alongside the city municipals on price while being an easier walk round than most of them.

Golfers write about the people first. Staff who tell you what they expect and then leave you alone, greens that hold up well, and a layout that is fun without being long. The other half of the picture is upkeep: cart paths in need of real repair, tee boxes wanting reseeding, poor marking and signage, and no water out on the course, which in this city is worth knowing before you tee off. Pace is the usual complaint and the marshals do not push. Nearly a third of its posted times go, so book ahead for a weekend.

Eagle Mountain is a Scott Miller course from 1996 in Fountain Hills, northeast of the city, and its slope of 139 off a rating of 71.7 at 6,800 yards makes it the stiffest test on this page. TifDwarf greens, bermuda fairways, collared shirt and no denim, and no walking: you ride. Recent rates have run from about $44 to $92.

Golfers rate the conditioning and the desert setting highly, and describe it as forgiving off the tee and demanding around the greens, which is what most visitors are hoping for. Against that they report patchy and overwatered fairways, beaten-up tee boxes, a practice area in poor shape, and rounds past four hours when it is busy. About a third of posted times are gone before the day, the highest share on this list, so book Eagle Mountain well ahead in the winter.