Golfing Getaways
The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain
15000 N. Secret Springs Drive, Marana
520-572-3000, ritzcarlton.com

Put Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods together, and what do you get? Yet another “wow” factor to this stunning resort north of Tucson. Opened in December 2009, this posh but relaxed Ritz boasts a 27-hole Nicklaus-designed course, and every February hosts the Accenture Match Play Championship, a who’s who of the world’s top 64 players, such as Mickelson and Woods. For us mere mortals, that means challenging shot-making in a star-quality setting, backdropped by the saguaro-studded Tortolita Mountains.

The 250-room resort sits on an 850-acre site that used to be a cattle ranch, and before that, a Hohokam community. The inside is as lovely as the links, saluting Arizona geology with natural flagstone, quartzite floors, raw steel fixtures and copper amid glittering geode and quartz crystal accents.

Rates: “The Fairways & Greens” package, valid through December 31, starts at $419 per night and includes a two-day, one-night stay in a deluxe guest room or executive suite, breakfast for two at the resort’s Core Kitchen, and two 18-hole rounds of golf daily with golf cart.




Tubac Golf Resort & Spa
1 Avenue de Otero, Tubac
520-398-2211, tubacgolfresort.com

If you’ve seen the movie Tin Cup, which stars this historic southern Arizona property, you know the resort caters to a laidback crowd. Perhaps they’re seduced by the sleepy sensuality of what was once the 500-acre Otero family hacienda, a lovely ranch-territorial style structure with mission-tile roofs, wood-hewn ceilings, archways and beehive fireplaces, surrounded by lush riparian landscape.

But things get serious when players take on the championship 27-hole golf course, designed by Red Lawrence and sporting a Spanish hacienda-style clubhouse, bent-grass greens, and old-growth cottonwoods and mesquites. With its with fade-friendly fairways and cows grazing behind No. 9 green, this isn’t punishing, target desert golf. Still, if you’d like to lower your handicap, learn from the pros at the annual Tubac Golf School (call for details).

Rates: The Unlimited Golf Package starts at $149 per night, including guest room, unlimited golf for one, and lunch for one.


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