Arizona's new Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club drawing a crowd

WICKENBURG, Ariz. -- Shortly after Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club opened in early February 2015, its tee sheet was already full 30 days out.

Perhaps the $95 green fees ($85 for Arizona residents) had something to do with it. Maybe it was the 12-minute tee-time intervals or possibly the free logoed golf shirt and pullover played a role in drawing customers willing to drive an hour or more to check out the course. All are effective ways to draw in golfers.

But the biggest reason people are making the trip to Wickenburg is the quality of the golf course.

Originally completed in 2008, it didn't open then because of the economic downturn. In essence, the 7,059-yard layout has spent seven years growing in, which means conditions are perfect.

More than that, however, Bill Brownlee and Wendell Pickett have crafted a thoughtful unique design that features five par 3s and five par 5s. With plenty of elevated tees, imaginative greens, terrific desert/mountain scenery, a great variety of holes, incredible practice facilities and absolutely perfect bentgrass greens, those who make the trip are doing the advertising for the facility when they return home.

As one company official said, the phone lines aren't equipped for the demand. "It's like trying to get tickets to a Justin Bieber concert," he said of people trying to get tee times.

The 12-minute tee times combined with starting times that begin at 9 a.m. limit the number of players to 72 each day, at least early on, which also helps keep the golf course in top-notch condition.

The golf course, which is flanked by the Prescott National Forest and Vulture Peak to the south, features plenty of elevation change, bunkers and a few water hazards. The large greens are well bunkered and usually feature more than one tier, making putting difficult if you land on the wrong part of the green.

Wickenburg Ranch also has exceptional practice facilities, including multiple ranges, short-game areas, practice bunkers and putting greens. One of the ranges will eventually converted to a short course.

The plan is for the course to turn private in 2018, but in the meantime, it's open to the public as a master-planned community develops around it. Phoenix-based Shea Homes has partnered with M3 Companies, the master developer of Wickenburg Ranch, to launch Trilogy at Wickenburg Ranch. The homes will be set above and far enough away from the course not to be in play.