Troon North Golf Club
January 17, 2008
Troon North Golf Club always was and still is my favorite daily-fee golf facility in Scottsdale. With apologies to all the other great courses in Scottsdale, one has to have a favorite, don't they? North Scottsdale’s crown jewel features the Monument and Pinnacle courses that dramatically wind through and around the northern slopes of North Scottsdale's signature landmark, Pinnacle Peak. Granite boulders as big as houses lie strewn across the rugged landscape of the High Sonoran Desert (some in the middle of the fairways!) where Troon North Golf Club manages to combine the visual sensation of desert terrain with challenging golf. (VERY challenging golf!) It is a special place with an atmosphere all it's own.
When I first visited Troon North in 1987, Monument, the first course, co-designed by Tom Weiskopf, had recently just opened for play and no one really knew anything about it. Those that had been fortunate enough to play it had started a buzz about how great it was. There was a trailer that served as a temporary clubhouse and this place felt so far out in the desert it was almost unreal. I remember thinking, boy, this had better be a good one if they expect people to come all the way out here! Well, from the moment I first played it I knew it was going to be a winner. There are some other great courses out that way that also sit in the shadow of Pinnacle Peak that have their own claim to fame, meandering around similar terrain, ravines, boulders, desert washes, arroyos and the like - Desert Highlands (home of the first Skins Game in 1983), Pinnacle Peak CC, The Boulders, Troon Country Club and the Estancia Club, all private, (except The Boulders). The landscape out there is just so dramatic and seen from the eyes of a mid-west guy like me, it might have well been golf on the moon.
I have to digress here for a moment for a little piece of Arizona history because while I was out on the Monument course wondering just how I was going to keep the ball in play and marveling at the views I kept seeing a plume of greasy looking black smoke coming from the north. When I finished playing I decided to investigate. Turns out that a movie company had just finished filming a scene for the movie Raising Arizona, starring Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter. The movie company was camped at Greasewood Flat, (a place you must visit while you are in Scottsdale) filming in Reata Pass just up the road. If you saw the movie you will remember the scene where Randall "Tex" Cobb's character was blown up on his motorcycle – that's where the smoke was coming from. I got to meet Mr. Cage and hang with the movie company for an hour or so and they couldn't have been nicer.
North Scottsdale has grown up since then and Troon North is just a 20 minute drive up Pima Rd now. Make a right on Dynamite Rd and 5 minutes later you are pulling up to the bag drop at what, for first-timers, might resemble a Loyal Chapman Fantasy Golf poster, it's that spectacular. When the Pinnacle course was added in 1993, again by Mr. Weiskopf (insert another piece of Arizona golf Trivia – both Troon North and Troon Country Club (also designed by Tom) were named in honor of his victory in the British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland). What sets these courses apart is not only the landscape but the immaculate grooming of the fairways, tee boxes and greens and the superior customer service that creates the renowned Troon Golf Experience.
I am always asked by golfers wanting to play Troon North during a golf vacation to Scottsdale which course should they play if they only get to play there one time. (It is just a tad expensive in the winter – weekend play can cost up to $345. per player!) Most pick Monument because it was the original course. As far as I'm concerned you can flip a coin as to which course to play, they are both outstanding. Personally I would give the Pinnacle course a one shot advantage because of the elevation changes and I think that course is just a smidge more interesting in terms of design. They both rank consistently at the top of every golfers "must play" list and I can't argue with that but as of October 2007 it's even gotten better.
For over 20 years Troon North has been considered "the" place to play in North Scottsdale. Owned and managed by golf course management company Troon Golf, golf just doesn't get much better than this. And now, thanks again to former British Open Champion and golf course designer, Tom Weiskopf, golfers have a new Troon North experience waiting for them. A two-year, multi-step renovation has created an entirely new playing experience. The two courses have been reconfigured by blending them and changing the sequence in which the holes are now played (leave it to Scottsdale, even the courses get face-lifts!) The Pinnacle course is now a walkable golf course due to shorter distances between greens and tees and the distances between front and back nines have also been shortened. To create a consistent overall design, new Pennlinks Creeping Bentgrass putting surfaces were added to every green and bunkers were reconfigured or removed on the Monument and Pinnacle courses. If you have played here before you will recognize and approve of the changes right away. If you haven't played here, well, all I can say is get out here!
Troon North Golf Club – 10320 E. Dynamite Rd, Scottsdale, Arizona 85262
