Desert Forest Golf Club

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.