Arizona Country Club

Arizona Country Club traces its roots to 1909, when William J. Murphy — the founder of Glendale, Arizona — established the Ingleside Golf Resort with oiled sand greens and a rudimentary six-hole layout. It was Phoenix\'s first winter golf resort. Murphy\'s son Ralph upgraded to a full 18-hole course with Bermuda grass in the 1920s but lost the property during the Great Depression in 1932.

The club was officially incorporated in 1946, and in 1949 purchased the original property. Jack Snyder — a Penn State-trained landscape architect who had served as superintendent at Oakmont Country Club — redesigned the course. Snyder\'s protege Forrest Richardson (who worked alongside Snyder for 33 years) has overseen restoration work honoring the original Golden Age character.

Arizona Country Club alternated with Phoenix Country Club as host of the Phoenix Open from 1955 to 1973. Arnold Palmer won the Phoenix Open here in 1961 and 1963 during his legendary three-peat (1961–63). Other champions who played the course include Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Gene Littler, and Lee Trevino.

Arizona Country Club stands apart from the desert-target style dominating Phoenix/Scottsdale. Instead, it offers a lush, tree-lined, Midwestern-style parkland experience with mature trees framing virtually every hole. Push-up greens of medium size demand precise iron play.

The unusual hole mix — five par 5s, five par 3s, and eight par 4s (rather than the standard 4-10-4) — creates a distinctive scoring rhythm that rewards versatility across every club in the bag.

Views of Camelback Mountain and Papago Buttes frame the course. The club holds 5-Star Platinum Club of America status and is consistently ranked the No. 1 family club in Arizona.

Accuracy over distance. The tree-lined fairways punish wayward drives far more than most Arizona courses. Finding the short grass off the tee is the top priority.

With five par 5s, your strategy on these holes defines your score. Smart layups to preferred yardages often beat forcing shots through narrow tree corridors.

Bermuda greens are grainy — afternoon sun causes the grass to lean west. Downhill, downgrain putts can be very fast. Factor grain into every read.

The push-up greens shed offline approaches. Landing on the correct tier and staying below the hole are essential.