Gainey Ranch

The desert target golf here demands precision over power, with elevated tees launching balls toward island greens carved from the Sonoran floor. Water hazards appear on seven holes, creating strategic tension that separates this daily-fee gem from Scottsdale's cookie-cutter resort tracks. The par-3 7th showcases everything right about desert golf—a 140-yard carry over a crystalline lake to a peninsula green guarded by towering saguaros.