Grayhawk Raptor

The verdict

Scottsdale is wall to wall with desert resort golf, and Grayhawk has long been one of the names that rises above the crowd. Its two courses, the Talon by David Graham and Gary Panks and the Raptor by Tom Fazio, made the club a fixture on every Phoenix golf trip, and the Raptor is the one that hosts the big events. Opened in 1995, it has staged the NCAA Championships for years, the showpiece of American college golf, which tells you it stands up to the best amateurs in the country.

Fazio gave the Raptor more room off the tee than its tournament reputation suggests, but the defense lies in the approach, with bunkering and bold, fast green complexes that punish the lazy second. It is a par 72 of 7,135 yards of high desert golf, immaculately kept, with the mountains and the cacti framing nearly every hole. As a polished, public, big event course a short drive from the Scottsdale hotels, it is exactly the kind of course a golf trip is built around.

The holes worth the trip

The Raptor opens up in front of you off the tee, Fazio framing the fairways with desert and bunkering rather than choking them, so the player who drives it well is rewarded with a clear run at the green. The trouble starts on the approach, where the green complexes are quick and contoured and a ball above the hole leaves a slippery, defensive putt that can quietly turn a good round.

The mid round stretch through the desert is where the Raptor shows its tournament teeth, a sequence of long par 4s and exacting par 3s where the wind and the firm greens demand precise distance control. The finish is built for drama, the kind of closing holes where the NCAA title has changed hands, with bunkering and green contours that ask one more committed swing under pressure.

Conditioning is the constant. The Bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens are kept to a tournament standard, the bunkering crisp and the whole course presented to the level the big events demand. It rewards good golf and offers up plenty of birdie chances to the player who attacks the right pins, which is exactly why it remains a Scottsdale favorite.

Where to stay nearby

Grayhawk has no hotel of its own, but it sits in the heart of north Scottsdale's resort country, so the choice of bases is huge. The big spa resorts along the Scottsdale corridor put you within fifteen to twenty minutes of the first tee and within reach of a dozen other top courses, which is the whole point of a Scottsdale golf trip.

For a buddies week, a resort or a rental home in north Scottsdale keeps the golf, the restaurants and the nightlife close together, with Phoenix Sky Harbor airport around thirty five minutes south. The valley's cluster of desert courses makes it easy to build a multi day itinerary around the Raptor.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts in Scottsdale and the Phoenix valley.