Desert Highlands Golf Club

Desert Highlands opened in 1983 as Jack Nicklaus's first desert golf design, carved into the boulders and Sonoran foothills of north Scottsdale near Pinnacle Peak. Its lasting fame comes from hosting the very first Skins Game over Thanksgiving week that year, when Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, and Gary Player drew enormous television audiences and helped put desert golf, and the Scottsdale/Phoenix corridor, on the national map. The course returned in 1984 for the second Skins Game as well. A private, member-owned club, Desert Highlands pairs its championship layout with dramatic elevation and desert landscaping. In 2025 the club reopened following an extensive restoration overseen by Nicklaus Design, refreshing the trailblazing course while preserving the character that made it a landmark of target-style desert architecture.