A new luxury-home enclave and a seventh golf course designed with a big dose of fun are reenergizing this exclusive community high in the Sonoran Desert
When you are the only private community in the world with six Jack Nicklaus Signature golf courses and set on 8,200 acres of picturesque Sonoran Desert, offering a new golf experience might seem a formidable task. Not so for the folks at the exclusive residential golf club Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz. They broke ground in December on a new luxury residential enclave, named Seven, that will
include a par-54, 18-hole, short-game golf course that places the emphasis on fun.
“This place will be a reflection of how we like to have fun with our own families. It will be social, playable, and visual, while honoring the quality of the other six courses at Desert Mountain,” says Wendell Pickett, a member. Pickett, along with fellow member Bill Brownlee, designed the course. The two are no strangers to fun par-3 courses, having designed the wildly successful Li’l Wick course at Wickenburg Ranch.
Measuring more than 3,000 yards from the tips, Seven’s unique design will have three tees per hole. The yardage allows Seven to get a course rating and handicap from the Arizona Golf Association and make it one of only two private, par-54, rated courses in the U.S. In keeping with the high standards set by the club’s other Nicklaus courses, Seven will feature bentgrass tees, fairways, and greens. As part of a national movement to build golf courses that are more user-friendly, inclusive, and fun, the course will feature a lighted putting green, seating areas, and music emanating from the clubhouse. Adding to the excitement, Seven is scheduled to open in February 2019 on Super Bowl Weekend.
The new luxury mountain enclave and course are part of a reimagining of the 30-year-old community. Member-owned since 2011, the club hired a new CEO last year, and in the last two years completed a $12 million remodel of its Sonoran Spa and Fitness Center and developed a comprehensive program around outdoor pursuits, including luxury camping (“glamping”). A major renovation of the member-favorite Renegade course (the property’s first) will be completed by Nicklaus in March.
If you are looking to add a heaping dose of fun to your golf game, you might not want to dally. There will be only up to 190 homes built at Seven, all but three of them on the golf course.
