Estrella Mountain Ranch
Golfers, get away from the Scottsdale grind. Leave behind the
crowded roads and the crowded courses and take a long, relaxing drive. Then do some driving that should prove even more relaxing at Estrella Mountain Ranch Golf Club.
Estrella Mountain Ranch is actually only about 50 minutes from Scottsdale (35 minutes west of downtown
Phoenix), but it might as well be a world away. Situated in the foothills of, what else, the Sierra Estrella Mountains, the Jack Nicklaus II designed course is still in its infancy.
It opened in February, and it maintains all the innocence of youth. No over-trodden or burned-out fairways.
No beat-up tee boxes. No greens that look like battlefields. At first glance, Estrella looks like a desert course
with an Eastern touch. But really it's more of an Eastern course molded into vast expanses of colorful desert.
The plush Bermuda grass will soon give way to winter rye, but the signs of transition are subtler than on other courses around the Valley.
Young Jack apparently has learned more from the Golden Bear than how to handle a sand wedge. The design
shows imagination in its twisting and turning fairways and desert washes. The desert and rough on most holes merge in an almost seamless wave, making it difficult to tell which is intruding on the other.
That, combined with the multitude of sand traps laid out on the course, brings an element of luck to the
average drive. But Nicklaus also added wide landing areas and large, rolling greens to his creation to make
the course playable for golfers of all levels. The low-cut rough makes Estrella even friendlier to cart golfers like myself. I
There is no drinking water to be found on the course at Estrella Mountain Ranch, but fear not. Each cart
comes equipped with a cooler of ice water and Styrofoam cups. Look for the roving snack cart if you're interested in a more alcoholic refreshment.
Lunch at the turn was pricey ($13.50 for hot dogs, sides and drinks) but freshly cooked and filling. The
Player's Grill, like the clubhouse and the rest of Estrella Mountain Ranch, provides simple elegance and a cozy, comfortable atmosphere.
The planned community at Estrella Mountain Ranch is in the 10th year of a 30-year growth plan. That means
the only life forms you may see once you set off on the first tee are the rattlesnakes whose homes are designated by a plethora of signs throughout the valley. I didn't spy any rattlers myself, but retrieve your
duck-hooked drive at your own risk.
When I try to think of a downside to the Estrella golf experience, I'm completely at a loss. The closest I can
come is to mention that I found the par-4 ninth hole, The Island, to be a much better finishing hole than 18 (Evening Star). The latter was a fun hole, playing from an elevated tee over a row of menacing fairway
bunkers, but the former is more unique, picturesque and challenging - just what you look for on your way into the clubhouse.
It's named for a patch of desert that sits like an island in the middle of the fairway, too far to reach from the
tee by all but the longest hitters. The drive must carry about 100 yards of desert, then it's uphill, over a desert "stream" to the green. The island is mostly for looks, but watch out for the stream.
A daily-fee golf course, Estrella can count itself among the Valley's bargains. The greens fee jumps to $95
for weekends in peak season, while the playability and beauty of the course are on par with Scottsdale courses in the $150-plus range.
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