12 miles east of Central Scottsdale and just east of Fountain Hills, with its recognizable shooting geyser, sits the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation reservation. The reservation is home to the Fort McDowell Casino and to two of Scottsdale's best golf courses, Saguaro and Cholla at WeKoPa.
Introduction
Saguaro was designed and built by the "it" duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (think Streamsong, Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley, Cabot Cliffs, etc.) in 2006.
Saguaro's sister course is Cholla, which was opened first in 2001 and designed by Scott Miller. While Saguaro typically is better regarded of the two courses (it is often among the top 20 of all courses in Arizona, both public and private) they both are a blast to play.
Cholla is more of a typical target style desert course, while Saguaro is a little more of a traditional course design.
We Ko Pa often offers a 36 hole discounted rate when you play the courses within a given time period. While not cheap, the conditions of this course meet or exceed any of the other ultra-premium daily fee courses in the area like Troon North, TPC, etc. This is apparently in large part because of the fact the courses are on the Yavapai Nation reservation. This offers different water usage allotments than other courses and the results are the course offers some of the most perfectly manicured greens and fairways I have ever been on.
Seriously. Some of the very best.
When you pull up to the course the first thing you will see is the large brown stucco clubhouse. With its soaring overhangs it offers all kinds of great shady areas to enjoy a little time off the course.
A wrap around drive surrounds the clubhouse with cart storage tucked underneath the building.
The back covered deck features a huge gas fire pit and overlooks the Cholla course and the 18th green along with the beautiful desert landscape beyond.
Practice Facilities
The layout of the property puts the Cholla course to the west of the clubhouse and the Saguaro course to the north. In between the 2 courses sits the We Ko Pa practice facilities, featuring a large range containing target bunkers but strangely no greens. There are pins placed around to aim at however.
Right behind the range is a large putting green and adjacent to that is a chipping are that offers a large green ringed on one side by a steeply faced bunker for sand practice.
Cholla
Before we get to the Saguaro course, as I mentioned previously, right below the shared clubhouse at We Ko Pa sits the 18th hole on the Cholla course.
I had to show a picture of the grass here. This is the kind of conditions you will find at the course. I mean look at this, it looks like carpet or artificial turf, not real grass.
The Scott Miller designed course is no slouch. While the Saguaro course often appears higher in published best-of lists, the Cholla course is not far behind.
Cholla also recently underwent a nearly 2 million dollar renovation in 2016. That renovation focused on reducing turf as well as tweaking some designs, notably the long par 5 8th hole. The renovations also replaced the grass on all the greens and added new drainage and sand to all bunkers on the course.
From behind the 18th green you can see just one of many great hole designs offered on this 18.
When I visited, in February, the rough had been overseeded and it made for some brilliant contrast between the pristine emerald fairways and greens and the rough.
It did make for a little more difficult playing conditions as well because balls hit into the rough were less likely to get held up by the rough before tumbling into the surrounding desert scrub.
Lets get on to a overview of Saguaro!
First, the course offers 5 sets of tees, one of which is a composite set.
| Tee | Yardage | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saguaro | 6,966 | 72.0 | 137 |
| Purple | 6,603 | 70.2 | 132 |
| White | 6,252 | 68.8 | 125 |
| Composite (Ladies) | 5,786 | 72.0 | 128 |
| Saguaro | 5,061 | 67.0 | 109 |
The course is not the longest test, topping out at a wedge under 7,000 yards but I would say that you can still find plenty of demanding shots (and trouble) during your round.
Hole 1
Par 4
469 | 443 | 426 | 330 | 330 yards
Stepping up the to the first tee you will pass a sign quoting designer Ben Crenshaw "This old boney ground still has some sting to it.". I am not clear on the origins of this quote but don't let that sign scare you. Unless you have trouble with forced carries off the tee your round at Saguaro will be filled with great holes, and some stunning pristine desert scenery.
That is unless your ball finds that desert scenery. Then by all means, watch out for the "sting" you might find from the myriad of less than soft local vegetation.
The first hole of the day does not offer any kind of gentle warm up to your round. From the tips it requires a carry of 200 yards to reach the fairway. This will be a common theme to the round. Make sure to play the tees that suit your game. If you don't you will have a rough time throughout the day.
Provided you reach the fairway, you are offered a generous landing area. The fairway is over 60 yards across at its widest.
A string of three bunkers run up the right side of the hole. Of course, being in the desert anything that misses the fairway can find trouble pretty quick once the ball leaves the grass. There is a marginal first cut of rough lining the fairway but on this hole it is generally no more than 10 yards wide.
The fairway is transected on the hole by a gash of desert dividing the fairway from the green complex. The fairway runs out about 70 yards from the front of the green.
The green is protected by a single large bunker, short right. You will find throughout the round that while most greens do have bunkering around them, they also offer plenty of areas to miss. This offers a lot of pitching, or even putting opportunities to test your short game skills.
Hole 2
Par 4
336 | 299 | 288 | 288 | 213 yards
The second hole is a short par 4 that offers that classic risk/reward scenario. An aggressive play can get you up or near the green for a scoring opportunity. The other option is to pick a comfortable yardage to play your second shot from and then hit an iron to that spot.
The biggest hazard with laying up is a pair of bunkers that sit on either side of the fairway, just under 100 yards from the green.
Keeping on the fairway is also, always a good play. You can see how dense the vegetation can be if you miss. Also, take note of the great vistas around this course!
Again this green features bunkers down the right side, but like the last hole there is plenty of room to miss left on this large oval green. If is pretty flat but stretches 40 yards from front to back.
Hole 3
Par 4
416 | 383 | 362 | 362 | 320 yards
This hole is a dogleg left that requires you to take on the dogleg or face either hitting through the fairway or into the single large bunker that sits on the far side of the turn.
From the main teeing ground it is only about 220 yards into that bunker, so a shot played down the left side needed.
The fairway is actually pretty generous if you can cut the corner a bit.
For your second shot you have to avoid traps on either side short of the green. There is room to run it up onto this again relatively flat approach.
Provided you miss the bunkers there is also generous room to miss around the green again. This shot from the right side of the green shows the room around the green.
Part 2: Holes 4-9
Part 3: Holes 10-15
Part 4: Holes 16-18
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