Ventana Canyon: Canyon

Tucson, AZ • Public

Panelists

Overview

One of two 18-hole layouts designed by Tom Fazio on property, the Canyon course incorporates the natural terrain, including the rock formation known as Whaleback Rock. Its signature hole is the 18th, which features a partial island green.

About

Holes 18

Length 6836

Slope 137

Price $199

Facility Type Public

Designer Thomas Fazio, ASGCA

Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

3.5

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options

6.5675

Character

6.3576

Challenge

6.4575

Layout Variety

6.6303

Fun

6.6327

Aesthetics

6.6014

Conditioning

6.9178

Reviews

1 / 5

Review

“Tom Fazio’s Ventana Canyon (Canyon) course in north Tucson is an enigmatic golf experience. The desert is lush, the nearby mountains dramatic, and the neighborhood is tony. Every golf hole, most of which are viewed from highly elevated tee boxes, is more dramatic and spectacular than the last. Many of the greens are beautifully sited between and behind trees, next to rock outcroppings, etc. The greens and surrounds are like a Tom Fazio master class in golf course architecture, so varied are the greens and bunkers in their size, shape, and design. You putt out, get on your cart, then you ride, and ride, and ride, over speed bumps, through neighborhoods, across a major six-lane highway, around switchbacks, through small drainage culverts just big enough to fit a golf cart, over more speed bumps, until you finally arrive at another spectacular hole. In some cases, these rides can exceed 10 minutes, at which point you almost forget why you are there in the first place."

2021

2 / 5

Review

“A fine venue for any golfer with deep pockets playing from appropriate tees. Good holes left plenty of room for imperfect shots without overtly penalizing, but then this is a resort. At times Fazio had me almost convinced that the desert did not exist. The routing ruins that. You need a GPS, not on the course but instead, for driving your cart to another long distance teeing ground. When a foursome needs to stop at a busy intersection with numerous red lights, the magic tends to dissolve. That routing is ridiculous. Hence the low aesthetics score. Conditioning was close to off-the-charts perfect."

2021

3 / 5

Review

“One of the weirdest routings you will ever play -- the two nines are located on opposite sides of the Mountain Course with a mile-long cart path between them. They even give you a map! Once you get to the back nine, some of the cart rides are long. The holes are ok, but not worth all the driving around. The resort is top notch and the Mountain Course is better!"

2021

4 / 5