Scottsdale National Golf Club

The land that became Scottsdale National has roots as a cattle ranch under the Brown family, who ran a 44,000-acre operation through the mid-20th century. In 1995, lightning ignited the Rio Fire on Fraesfield Mountain, scarring the landscape. GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons acquired the property in 2013 for $600,000 when it was called "The Golf Club of Scottsdale." Parsons has since invested approximately $250 million in redevelopment.

The Mine Shaft Course (original 18 holes) was designed by Jay Morrish and Dick Bailey and opened in 2003. After Parsons acquired the property, he commissioned Jackson Kahn Golf Course Design (Tim Jackson, David Kahn, Scott Hoffman) to build 27 additional holes. The Other Course and the all-par-3 Bad Little Nine opened in October 2016 after a 15-month construction timeline. Golf Club Atlas described the commission as a career-defining opportunity for an emerging firm — analogous to Mike Keiser commissioning an unknown David McLay Kidd for Bandon Dunes.

The 700-acre property is surrounded by public wilderness preserve on three sides, guaranteeing unobstructed Sonoran Desert and mountain views in perpetuity.

Scottsdale National offers three distinct courses: the Mine Shaft (18 holes, target-style desert, 7,579 yards, slope 148), the Other Course (18 holes, links-inspired with dormant Bermuda fairways, 7,165 yards), and the Bad Little Nine (all-par-3, 972 yards total). No tee times are ever required — the intentionally capped membership means the courses are almost always uncrowded.

The Other Course rewards patience and course management. Wide fairways invite aggression, but the massive contoured greens punish approach shots to the wrong quadrant. Study pin positions before each round — they fundamentally change the strategic play.

The Bad Little Nine is not a warm-up. The $1,000 "Challenge Day" prize (Fridays, most diabolical pins) has never been claimed since 2016. Walking with a caddie is the standard experience.

The Mine Shaft demands accuracy from the tips (slope 148, rating 75.1). The 13-foot-deep Pabst Brewery bunker on hole 15 is effectively unplayable — stay out of it at all costs.

The Other Course: use your caddie. The green complexes are massive and highly variable. Caddie reads are essential, especially on holes 4 (punchbowl), 5 (21,287 sq ft), and 8 (gull-wing).

The Bad Little Nine: treat it as a serious test. Club selection on holes under 100 yards is a trap — the contoured greens and trench bunkers are unforgiving regardless of distance. On Challenge Fridays, the pin positions are specifically engineered to prevent par.

Play the Other Course in the morning — the dormant Bermuda fairways catch early light dramatically, and the ground game is most effective in cooler morning conditions.