• Tee Box
• Archive

This month, Scottsdale’s newest track opens to the public; and though it is, in part, built over the Tournament Players Club Scottsdale’s former Desert Course, the new Champions Course is unmistakably a layout all its own.

That original design and its sister, the Stadium Course, were the result of the collective efforts of then Scottsdale Mayor Herb Drinkwater, Tournament Players Clubs and the Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the property both courses now occupy alongside the Arizona Canal. And it didn’t take long for the Stadium Course, designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf, to become the permanent home of the tournament now known as the FBR Open. However, the Desert Course—which at just $41 per round was consistently the best deal in town—was 6,500 yards long and sometimes referred to as the short course.