Grayhawk Talon

The verdict

Grayhawk built its name on two courses, and the Talon came first. Opened in 1994, it was designed by David Graham, the Australian who won the 1981 U.S. Open and the 1979 PGA Championship, working alongside the respected desert architect Gary Panks. Where the later Fazio Raptor is the club's tournament course, the Talon is the one most golfers remember for its drama, a layout that uses the natural washes, the elevation and the boulders of the upper Sonoran desert to keep you thinking from the first tee.

It is a par 72 of about 6,973 yards, and it rewards a player who can shape a tee shot and judge a downhill, downwind wedge. The desert is always in play but never unfair, the greens roll true and quick, and the routing serves up a run of memorable holes that have made the Talon a Scottsdale favorite for thirty years. As a polished, public course minutes from the resort corridor, it is exactly the kind of course a Phoenix golf trip is built around.

The holes worth the trip

The Talon plays bigger than its yardage because of the land it moves over. Graham and Panks routed it across the natural contours of the high desert, so you get uphill drives, downhill approaches and tee shots that ask you to carry a wash or hug a boulder strewn edge for the better angle in. The greens are full of subtle break and run firm and fast, so distance control on the approach is the whole game.

The signature stretch comes late, where the routing climbs and the holes use the desert and the elevation for maximum effect. A short par 4 tempts the bold to have a go, and a long one shotter over native ground tests the nerve, the kind of risk and reward sequence that makes the round stick in the memory. The closing holes bring you back toward the clubhouse with the mountains at your shoulder.

Conditioning is to the high standard the whole club is known for, the Bermuda fairways tight and the greens kept quick. The Talon is more about charm and variety than raw difficulty from the regular tees, which is why it suits a buddies group of mixed handicaps as well as the low marker chasing the back pins. It is the course at Grayhawk you play for fun, and play again.

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 Talon and its sister Raptor.

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