Arizona Grand Golf Course

Arizona Grand Golf Course sits at the base of South Mountain in Phoenix, co-designed by Forrest Richardson and Arthur Jack Snyder and opened in 1987. The par-71 layout contrasts a lush, semitropical front nine highlighted by water features with a back nine of true desert target golf through the rocky terrain of South Mountain Park, one of the largest municipal parks in the United States.

Arizona Grand Golf Course in Phoenix occupies a site at the edge of South Mountain Park and Preserve, which at more than 16,000 acres is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. The course's origins trace to 1984, when developer Bob Gosnell purchased an assemblage of acreage near South Mountain in Phoenix—a process that took more than five years of construction and legal delays before the 18-hole course was ready for play. The course opened in 1987 as part of a resort development originally called The Pointe at South Mountain, designed by Forrest Richardson in what was his first course design project, working alongside his mentor Arthur Jack Snyder. Richardson was a protege of Arthur Jack Snyder, the prolific Arizona golf course architect born in 1917 who designed or substantially redesigned dozens of courses across the Phoenix metro during the formative decades of Arizona golf development.

The collaboration at what became Arizona Grand represented a passing of knowledge between generations of Arizona course designers, with Richardson going on to become president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The course layout divides into two contrasting halves that give the round its distinctive character. The front nine features lush semitropical landscaping with an abundance of water hazards, creating a green, manicured playing environment that belies the surrounding desert. The back nine shifts dramatically to desert target golf, routing through the rocky slopes and natural washes at the base of South Mountain where saguaro cacti and native Sonoran Desert vegetation define the visual experience.

That contrast—from the irrigated front nine to the desert back nine—gives the course a variety unusual among Phoenix resort layouts. The facility's name has changed several times through its history. After opening as The Pointe at South Mountain, it operated as Phantom Horse Golf Club before taking its current name as part of the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa. The resort grew into a major family destination with extensive waterpark and pool facilities, positioning the golf course as one component of a broader recreational campus.

South Mountain's volcanic rock formations, rising to elevations above 2,600 feet, provide a visual backdrop on multiple holes that gives the course a sense of remove from the urban grid despite its location just off Interstate 10. The Arizona Grand Resort draws both resort guests and Phoenix-area daily-fee players to a course that blends Richardson's debut design sensibility with the drama of one of Phoenix's most distinctive natural landmarks.