BEHIND THE GATES
Arizona's Private Clubs have Re-Defined Private Club Living
It’s been a pretty cut-and-dried formula, really. You buy a nice spot of land. Hire a well-known golf course designer. Put a gate…or better yet…a guard at the entry. Build a clubhouse, and sell some home sites. Before you know it, you’ve got yourself a successful golf community.
While perhaps overly simplified, that’s been the general game-plan for this type of development in the Southwest for decades.
But in recent years, a handful of upstarts have responded to the changing lifestyles of their clientele by turning this formula on its head. No longer content to just offer great golf and the perception of exclusivity, the best new private clubs in Arizona have refined their offerings to add real value and enjoyment to their members’ lives. In doing so, they’ve made have redefined the concept of an Arizona private club. Here are the ones that stand out from the crowd:
Golf Club
Scottsdale
Scottsdale / 480-502-1800
Golf Club
Scottsdale is
particularly unique when you consider what it is not. It is not a community. It
is not a country club. It does not offer tennis courts or swimming pools or
fitness classes. Golf Club Scottsdale is a golf club. Pure and simple.
And, it is a damn fine one at that.
Every element of
this club is wholly dedicated to the simple pleasures that arise from playing
the game of golf. Key to that point, the golf course is fantastic. The course
that Jay Morrish and Dick Bailey designed is a true gem carved from the
dramatic, and at times, breathtaking landscape of north Scottsdale. It plays along
the base and through the foothills of a solitary desert mountain peak. This
unique topography makes for a spectacular thrill ride that is packed to the
gills with great shot-making opportunities, risk/reward scenarios and game
strategy. Yet despite all this, you’ll never encounter a single hole that could
be considered unfair or out of place. And, while most of the members are solid
sticks, the course is a joy for average players, as well.
All of this is
accented by a beautiful and luxuriously appointed new clubhouse designed in the
manner of a traditional Southwestern hacienda. And, the experience is made even
more sublime with the recent addition of celebrated chef Eddie Matney who heads
the club’s culinary department.
The Rim Club
Payson / 800-311-5370
While most think
of Arizona solely as a vast landscape of
towering
saguaros, craggy desert mountains and vibrant purple sunsets, there are
huge swaths of the state that more closely resemble the pine and alpine
studded
forests of the Rocky
Mountains. One such
location is the quaint former logging
town of Payson, Arizona, home of
The Rim Club, one of Arizona’s most celebrated
private
clubs.
Just 90 minutes
northeast of
Scottsdale, The
Rim Club sits at an elevation
of 5,000 feet and abuts the Mogollon Rim
– a huge jutting edifice that separates
the desert and chaparral
regions from the alpine high
country. 
At this elevation
and with
commanding views in all directions, The Rim Club offers a nearly
perfect year-round climate. Its 555 acres sit entirely within the
largest
continuous Ponderosa pine forest in the United
States and are virtually
surrounded by the Tonto National
Forest. Only 205 custom home
sites are
available to ensure The Rim Club residents of an intimate, exclusive
lifestyle punctuated by exceptional member service. In fact, the
available
services range from personal shopping and housekeeping to
in-home gourmet
cooking lessons, as well as secretarial and concierge
assistance.
However, the real
star of the
show at The Rim Club is its magnificent golf course, created by Tom
Weiskopf and Jay Morrish. Rated No. 1 residential golf course in the
Southwest
three years in a row in Golfweek magazine’s list of
“America’s Best Residential
Golf Courses,” and No.
1 in Arizona,
The Rim Golf Club’s par-71
championship course features massive boulder
outcroppings, scenic
mountain vistas, and tremendous elevation changes. The
course can be
played from 5,200 to 7,200 yards and presents players exceptional
variety and options.
