Where We're Playing: The Cholla and Saguaro Courses at Arizona’s We-Ko-Pa

In the latest edition of an occasional series of where SI Golf team is playing, a midwesterner escapes to We-Ko-Pa's abundant green grass and desert views.

When the vaunted golf course design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw came to Fort McDowell, Arizona, they weren’t given the first choice of land on the extensive We-Ko-Pa property in the Sonoran desert.

That’s not to say they were about to play second fiddle, just that there was already an 18-hole golf course at We-Ko-Pa, the Scott Miller-designed Cholla course. The Cholla, residing on some of the highest ground in the area, delivers breathtaking views of the Superstition mountains with a test of target-style desert golf.

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Coore and Crenshaw couldn’t compete with that, nor did they want to. Instead in their Saguaro layout they envisioned a different kind of experience, one that would look like it could have been there first–opening one year or 100 years before the Cholla.

“We tried to find ground that we felt was indicative of golf and golf design; in other words naturally suited to golf without doing many alterations to it,” Coore says. “I remember when I first came out to walk around, there was some discussion, ‘do we go into the hills even higher?’ That presentation already existed here, we gravitated more toward the gently rolling ground, with the idea it would be a contrast to the existing course.

“If a project has two or more courses, they should be different.”

The par-5 4th hole at the Saguaro course offers plenty of room as it moves gently downhill to the green :: John Schwarb/SI

In an area with a number of terrific two-course properties such as Talking Stick, Troon North and TPC Scottsdale, there may not be a different one-two punch than We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation resort is a half-hour from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport but feels far more remote, with a five-story hotel/spa and casino but without residential development and retail.

The Saguaro is the walkable throwback course, with greens close to tees and walking paths marked from tees to fairways. The namesake cactuses dot the layout along with many other species of desert plants, it’s also not surprising to see roadrunners and coyotes making themselves at home.

The razor-sharp cacti and wildlife, which can include rattlesnakes in the summer, is best enjoyed from a distance and the Coore-Crenshaw course has deliberately wide fairways to help in that.

Finishing up on the 18th at the Saguaro course.  :: John Schwarb/SI

“The desert landscape can be pretty hostile,” Coore says. “If you start missing fairways, things can happen that are not necessarily the most pleasant.”

Golfers of all abilities can navigate the Saguaro course with one sleeve of balls, which is always welcome when the greens fees approach $300 in-season. The Cholla has more forced carries and demands more pinpoint approach shots, provided you can concentrate while taking in the breathtaking landscape.

Which experience is better? That’s a hard question to answer but the easy decision is to play both, especially if you ran away from a gray Midwestern winter for a desert golf vacation.