Ventana Canyon Golf Course

Tom Fazio designed the two courses at Ventana Canyon, and the Mountain Course opened in 1984 on land tucked into the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains northeast of Tucson. It is best known for the short par-3 third, a shot of roughly 100 yards played across a desert ravine to a green ringed by massive granite boulders, one of the most photographed holes in the Southwest. Beyond that postcard hole, Fazio used the natural canyon terrain to route holes among saguaros, rock outcrops and sharp elevation changes, framed by mountain and city views. The course is tied to the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort and the adjacent Lodge at Ventana Canyon. It is regularly ranked among Arizona's finest desert layouts and a benchmark of Fazio's desert work.