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“I feel like strategy has become somewhat of a lost concept,” says Tom Lehman, whose Encanterra design is one of his premiere solo design efforts. “And strategy was always a really important part from the beginning. So our designs, I consider to be very strategic. We want people to have to think about where they have to hit it, why they’ve hit it there and the angle that is best to approach the pin,” Lehman says. “All that should come into play as you stand on the tee, planning to play into the hole.”

As players prepare to tee off, views of the Superstition and San Tan Mountain-framed fairways are almost as satisfying as putting out on one of the course’s Bermuda greens equipped with tricky undulations that rival the best in the Southwest.

“One of my philosophies is that golf is played as much on the ground as it is in the air,” Lehman says. “The ball should be able to roll, and where it rolls is very important to me. I want to see a ball end up where it is supposed to go and not be interrupted by something artificial. [Encanterra] has a lot of fairways—it’s firm; the ball has the ability to roll, and there is no rough around the bunkers.”

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