5 things I loved about the Boulders Club in Scottsdale

The headline-making scorching summer season temperatures of 2023 have been nothing new for Arizonans. Every summer season is a scorcher. Heck, even early September temperatures are anticipated to succeed in 110 levels in Phoenix.

This summer season was my sixth as a ‘Zonie transplant, and in that time I’ve realized a priceless lesson: Despite what the thermostat tells you, the summer season is a sneakily improbable time to play golf in Scottsdale.

It may sound loopy but it surely’s true! Course conditioning continues to be stable, and inexperienced charges at top-tier programs take a nosedive. For locals, it’s a good time to pattern programs the place you may really feel priced-out in the extra temperate excessive season, which begins in earnest in the late fall and lasts till May.

That’s why I was thrilled to courageous 100-plus-degree temps final week to tee it up at the Boulders’ South Course, certainly one of two out there tracks designed by Jay Morrish that comprise the Boulders Club at the attractive Boulders Resort in North Scottsdale. Here are the 5 things I loved the most about the expertise.

5 things I loved the most about the Boulders Club

1. The surroundings

The pure magnificence on show at the Boulders merely can’t be overstated. Not solely do you get a full dose of desert panorama and a view of Black Mountain, you even have an opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with the eponymous 12-million-year-old boulders. It’s an exhilarating setting to take in, and the drama begins on the very first tee, when your strategy to the inexperienced is masterfully framed by a wonderful formation.

2. The teeing choices and shot selection

I am an enormous fan of the Tee-It-Forward initiative, and attempt to adhere to the thought for all of my leisure rounds. So I completely loved the teebox selection out there at the Boulders, the place you may check your self from the very ideas at practically 7,000 yards, or play the ahead tees at lower than 4,700. Seeking one thing in between? There are 4 different shade monuments to play from, and composite tee choices as effectively. I additionally actually appreciated the shot selection on approaches and par 3s. I had the alternative to hit loads of completely different golf equipment, which isn’t at all times the case from ahead tees.

3. The course conditioning

Lush inexperienced grass in Scottsdale in late August? Yes, it’s attainable! At the Boulders, the Bermuda-grass fairways have been in nice form. While there wasn’t a lot roll due to the water wanted to take care of that conditioning, the lies have been at all times good — even in the first lower.

4. Back-to-back par 3s!

You know that feeling once you play a disappointing par 3 and need you had one other probability for a replay? At the Boulders South Course, you do! Nos. 15 and 16 play as back-to-back par 3s: one brief and one a bit longer. It’s a enjoyable format quirk that breaks up the remaining few holes in refreshing trend.

5. Green speeds

The excellent inexperienced pace is a subjective matter. Some gamers like them lightning-fast, whereas others would favor to have the ability to give the ball an excellent rap. I take into account myself someplace in the center, which is strictly the place the Boulders greens have been. Downhill putts have been surprisingly quick, whereas uphill lags required some heft. For a resort course I thought they have been simply excellent.

And talking of tempo, the pace-of-play was fairly good too! My twosome performed behind a couple of units of threesomes. Though we waited, our spherical clocked in beneath 4 hours — leaving us loads of time to get pleasure from a beverage with a view.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily liable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular tasks, equivalent to GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview collection, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each in the journal and in video type on GOLF.com.