
McDowell Mountain Golf Club (formerly known as Sanctuary Golf Course) provides an eco-friendly option in Scottsdale – a pretty setting, too, on the McDowell Mountains’ western slope. The golf course was designed by the architect Randy Heckenkemper, who turned what had been the Bureau of Reclamation’s storm-water-retention area into a top Scottsdale golf course, with 6,624-yards of par-71 golf laid out over what truly tries to be a sanctuary for the indigenous flora and fauna.
McDowell Mountain Golf Club’s signature hole is the 18th, a 516-yard par 5 that allows you finish your round of golf in risk-reward style, with an eagle or birdie practically begging to be attempted – though it might be just as easy to double-bogey. A bunker on the right guards a skinny landing area, while a wicked wash awaits on the left, but, hit that drive right, and you might just make the green in two.
After your round of golf on the golf course, head back to the restaurant, where you can take your breakfast or lunch daily in the dining room or on the patio – and take in vistas of the golf course and Camelback Mountain.