Where to play golf around Phoenix and Scottsdale: Golfweek’s Best 2023 public-access courses

Arizona is home to a great selection of desert golf courses, and most of those are centered around Phoenix and Scottsdale. But which are the best?

Thanks to Golfweek’s Best annual rankings of top public-access courses in each state, we can break out the highest-ranked layouts in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. For the purpose of this exercise, we limited driving time to about an hour from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. (We used Google Maps for its drive times, keying in the courses on a mid-afternoon – take all drive times around the Valley of the Sun with a grain of salt, of course.)

• We rank the best public-access courses in each state

• Check put the top courses near Chicago and New York City

There are other options not included here, courses that were beyond that hour limit. If you have a little more time for the drive, Wickenburg Ranch’s Big Wick course ranks No. 2 among all public-access courses in the state, but it’s about 90 minutes northwest of the airport. Similar story for several strong options in Tucson about two hours to the southeast.

A little background on how we do this: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.

Keep scrolling to see how they stack up, and check out the accompanying map to get a handle on roughly where everything is located.

(Google Earth/Golfweek)

22. Wildfire Golf Club at Desert Ridge (Faldo Championship)

The Faldo Championship Course at Wildfire Golf Club at Desert Ridge in Arizona (Courtesy of Wildfire Golf Club)

Where: Phoenix
State Ranking 2023: T-29 public-access in Arizona
Designers: Nick Faldo, Brian Curley, Lee Schmidt
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

21. Camelback Golf Club (Ambiente)

Camelback’s Ambiente Course in Arizona (Courtesy of Camelback Golf Club)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: T-29 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Jason Straka
Distance: 25 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

20. Legacy Golf Club

Legacy Golf Club in Arizona (Courtesy of Legacy Golf Club)

Where: Phoenix (m)
State Ranking 2023: T-26 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Gary Panks
Distance: 12 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

19. SunRidge Canyon Golf Club

Where: Fountain Hills
State Ranking 2023: T-26 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Keith Foster
Distance: 30 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

18. Whirlwind Golf Club (Cattail)

Where: Chandler
State Ranking 2023: T-24 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Gary Panks
Distance: 20 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

17. Las Sendas Golf Club

Las Sendas Golf Club in Arizona (Courtesy of Las Sendas)

Where: Mesa
State Ranking 2023: T-24 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Distance: 20 minutes east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

16. Longbow Golf Club

Longbow Golf Club in Arizona (Courtesy of Troon Golf)

Where: Mesa
State Ranking 2023: No. 23 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Ken Kavanaugh
Distance: 20 minutes east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

15. TPC Scottsdale (Champions)

TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course in Arizona (Dennis Scully/ D Squared Productions Inc.)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: T-21 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Randy Keckenkemper
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

14. Verrado Golf Club (Founders)

Verrado Golf Club’s Founders Course in Arizona (Courtesy of Verrado)

Where: Buckeye
State Ranking 2023: T-21 public-access in Arizona
Designers: John Fought and Tom Lehman
Distance: 35 minutes west of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

13. Whirlwind Golf Club (Devil’s Claw)

Whirlwind Golf Club’s Devil Claw in Arizona (Courtesy of Whirlwind)

Where: Chandler
State Ranking 2023: No. 20 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Gary Panks
Distance: 20 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

12. Boulders Resort & Spa (North)

The North Course at Boulders Resort & Spa in Arizona (Courtesy of Boulders Resort & Spa)

Where: Carefree
State Ranking 2023: No. 19 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Jay Morrish
Distance: 40 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

11. Gold Canyon Golf Resort & Spa (Dinosaur Mountain)

Where: Gold Canyon
State Ranking 2023: T-16 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Ken Kavanaugh
Distance: 35 minutes east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

10. Boulders Resort & Spa (South)

The South Course at Boulders Resort & Spa in Arizona (Courtesy of Boulders Resort & Spa)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 15 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Jay Morrish
Distance: 40 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

9. Grayhawk Golf Club (Raptor)

The Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona (Courtesy of Communication Links)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 12 public-access in Arizona
Designer: Tom Fazio
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

8. Troon North Golf Club (Pinnacle)

Troon North’s Pinnacle Course in Arizona (Courtesy of Troon)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 11 public-access in Arizona; T-137 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designer: Tom Weiskopf
Distance: 35 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

7. Troon North Golf Club (Monument)

Troon North’s Monument Course in Arizona (Courtesy of Troon)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 10 public-access in Arizona; T-130 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designer: Tom Weiskopf
Distance: 35 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

6. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Cholla)

We-Ko-Pa’s Cholla Course in Arizona (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa/Lonna Tucker)

Where: Fort McDowell
State Ranking 2023: No. 9 public-access in Arizona; T-122 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designer: Scott Miller
Distance: 25 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

5. Grayhawk Golf Club (Talon)

The Talon Course at Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona (Courtesy of Communication Links)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 8 public-access in Arizona
Designers: Gary Panks and David Graham
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

4. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Arizona (Courtesy of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes/Allan Henry)

Where: Maricopa
State Ranking 2023: No. 6 public-access in Arizona; No. 100 among all resort course in the U.S.
Designers: Brian Curley and Fred Couples
Distance: 34 minutes south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

3. TPC Scottsdale (Stadium)

TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course in Arizona (Courtesy of TPC Scottsdale)

Where: Scottsdale
State Ranking 2023: No. 4 public-access in Arizona; T-75 among all resort courses in the U.S.
Designers: Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish
Distance: 25 minutes north of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

2. Quintero Golf Club

Quintero Golf Club in Arizona (Courtesy of Troon)

Where: Peoria
State Ranking 2023: No. 3 public-access in Arizona;  T-93 among all public-access courses in the U.S.
Designer: Rees Jones
Distance: 50 minutes northwest of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

1. We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Saguaro)

We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro Course in Arizona (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa/Lonna Tucker)

Where: Fort McDowell
State Ranking 2023: No. 1 public-access in Arizona; T-60 among all resorts in the U.S.; T-79 among all public-access courses in the U.S.
Designer: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw
Distance: 25 minutes northeast of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport