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Desert Forest Golf Club
Rating Snapshot
About
Desert Forest Golf Club boasts a championship course that claims to be the first desert-style golf course ever built. During its construction in 1962, very little soil was moved or shaped in order to preserve the natural desert landscape. On this golf course there is grass all the way from the tees to the fast, sloped greens. Although there are no fairway bunkers, there is natural vegetation bordering the fairways to watch out for. No water hazards come into play but there are six dogleg fairways, four to the right and two to the left. Desert Forest Golf Club also has a chipping area and putting green for golfers to use.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 72 | 7203 yards | 75.2 | 146 |
| Blue | 72 | 6933 yards | 74.2 | 141 |
| Black | 72 | 6522 yards | 71.9 | 134 |
| Combo | 72 | 6275 yards | 71.0 | 130 |
| Silver | 72 | 6064 yards | 70.2 | 127 |
| Silver (W) | 72 | 6064 yards | 75.2 | 135 |
| Green | 72 | 5606 yards | 68.0 | 123 |
| Green (W) | 72 | 5606 yards | 73.0 | 130 |
| White (W) | 72 | 5151 yards | 70.9 | 127 |
| Copper (W) | 72 | 4765 yards | 68.9 | 122 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold M: 75.2/146 W: 81.1/147 | 404 | 456 | 171 | 441 | 464 | 371 | 551 | 231 | 533 | 3622 | 392 | 594 | 194 | 466 | 329 | 435 | 535 | 169 | 467 | 3581 | 7203 |
| Blue M: 74.2/141 W: 79.3/142 | 397 | 428 | 160 | 441 | 440 | 361 | 530 | 203 | 533 | 3493 | 382 | 573 | 185 | 449 | 309 | 435 | 523 | 169 | 415 | 3440 | 6933 |
| Red M: 73.0/137 | 377 | 428 | 156 | 392 | 401 | 360 | 530 | 194 | 494 | 3332 | 381 | 570 | 175 | 440 | 300 | 432 | 515 | 166 | 415 | 3394 | 6726 |
| Black M: 71.9/134 W: 77.5/138 | 377 | 408 | 144 | 391 | 397 | 346 | 518 | 194 | 494 | 3269 | 371 | 553 | 169 | 416 | 297 | 372 | 514 | 159 | 402 | 3253 | 6522 |
| Black/Silver M: 71.0/130 W: 76.1/136 | 351 | 398 | 127 | 391 | 351 | 346 | 518 | 194 | 474 | 3150 | 360 | 553 | 169 | 393 | 253 | 349 | 496 | 150 | 402 | 3125 | 6275 |
| Silver M: 70.2/127 W: 75.2/135 | 351 | 398 | 127 | 376 | 351 | 295 | 518 | 173 | 474 | 3063 | 360 | 494 | 153 | 393 | 253 | 349 | 496 | 150 | 353 | 3001 | 6064 |
| Green M: 68.0/123 W: 73.0/130 | 276 | 346 | 127 | 366 | 351 | 295 | 464 | 147 | 431 | 2803 | 330 | 494 | 143 | 312 | 253 | 349 | 457 | 112 | 353 | 2803 | 5606 |
| White M: 65.8/117 W: 70.9/127 | 276 | 346 | 118 | 312 | 311 | 284 | 404 | 119 | 431 | 2601 | 330 | 442 | 143 | 312 | 236 | 269 | 413 | 102 | 303 | 2550 | 5151 |
| Copper M: 64.2/115 W: 68.9/122 | 276 | 328 | 106 | 312 | 311 | 252 | 370 | 119 | 361 | 2435 | 252 | 396 | 109 | 280 | 236 | 269 | 383 | 102 | 303 | 2330 | 4765 |
| Handicap | 7 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 16 | 14 | 4 | |||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 7 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 6 |
Course Details
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Available Facilities
Clubhouse, Lockers, Locker Rooms
Reviews
Pleasant private club in Carefree, HIstorical significance
I've played Desert Forest a number of times over the years as a guest. It's a pleasant course. Tee to green, it is straight forward, with minimal elevation changes and very few awkward shots. Once you get to the greens, it gets tough. Depending on the time of year, they can be very fast, and are very sloped. The course layout always reminds me a bit of Terravita, where the greens are also the real challenge. The fairways and layout are a bit similar as well, though Terravita is usually in better condition and is more interesting tee to green.
As far as where the DF course stands among its neighbors, i would place it in the second tier, with the first tier containing Scottsdale National, Troon CC, Desert Highlands, Whisper Rock, and some of the Desert Mountain tracks. I'll leave it to others to rank those within that tier.
Any local golfer with the opportunity to play here should jump on it, mostly for the historical value of DF. When built in the 70s it was the first desert "target" course. Even though the layout is dated by modern standards, it's still very interesting to see this early monument in golf course design.
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