Overview: The Canyon Course is one of the 36 holes of golf at Ventana Canyon, while the other 18 holes of golf is the Mountain Course. I was invited to play at Ventana Canyon this past Tuesday with N... Continue »

Overview: The Canyon Course is one of the 36 holes of golf at Ventana Canyon, while the other 18 holes of golf is the Mountain Course. I was invited to play at Ventana Canyon this past Tuesday with Nickesquire, and we played the Canyon back nine and the Mountain back nine. Nick, thank you so much for the invitation!! Both courses at Ventana Canyon are designed by Tom Fazio and opened for play in the mid to late 80's. The courses are both true desert courses with forced carries, tight fairways and golf course terrain that works up and down the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Clubhouse: The clubhouse is a combination of the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, the pro shop, a restaurant, Men's and Ladies guest and member locker rooms and a fitness center. Nick and I ate dinner at the restaurant on Monday night and lunch on Tuesday afternoon. The prices and the food were good.

Practice Area: The practice area is located by the 1st hole of the Canyon Course and the 10th hole of the Mountain Course. It was a little bit of a drive from the clubhouse, but it looked like a good place to warm up before a round.

Course: Both of the Fazio designs are tight off the tee, but I think the Mountain Course was a little more difficult because of the forced carries off the tee. I really enjoyed both nines that we played, but my favorite hole on the Canyon Course was the par 5 12th hole. This hole was a dogleg right that worked its way back up the mountain. The tee shot is extremely difficult and once you get to the fairway the view looking up the mountain is beautiful. My favorite hole on the Mountain Course is the short par 4 13th hole. The hole is true risk/reward par 4 with 2 bunkers in the middle of the fairway and with the 2nd shot going into a three tier green.
Both course were in good summer shape. The tee boxes were in good shape and, the fairways were better on the Canyon Course then the Montain Course. The quality of the sand was excellent on both courses. The greens on the Canyon Course were very good even with a little bit of sand that was used to top dress the greens. The Mountain Course greens had probably been punched 2-3 weeks prior, and were quite firm relative to the Canyon Course.

Final Thoughts: Both courses were the first courses designed by Tom Fazio west of the Mississippi River. They are both true desert style layouts that force you to focus on accuracy rather than power. As stated earlier, The Lodge at Ventana Canyon is on sight for accommodations and right up the road from the courses is the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. I have stayed at both locations in the past and would recommend staying at either one.