Pete Dye had to use the best of his creative vision to produce the Karsten Course at ASU in Tempe, on flat, featureless acreage adjacent to a power plant. Phil Mickelson and Emilee Klein both groomed their games here in college before moving on to the professional ranks, and in 1992 the course hosted the NCAA Women's Championship. Many of the tournaments staged at Karsten have been decided on the brawny 471-yard 18th, one of the best finishing holes in Arizona. The par four shares a common lake with the ninth, and water runs the entire length of the hole on the left side. A well-hit tee shot will still demand a longish approach, which must be hit precisely if aimed at the flag.
Many golfers aim right of the green and count on their short games to prevail.
SunRidge Canyon Golf Club, a difficult Keith Foster design, lies in a pleasantly secluded canyon at the southeastern end of the McDowell Mountains, on the outskirts of Fountain Hills. The setting in this magical slice of desert is actually two smaller canyons lying within a larger one. The 6,823-yard layout plays more difficult than it first appears because of the elevation changes and the difficulty of finding the correct line on the slick greens. It's very resistant to scoring, as the USGA found out at last year's U.S. Men's State Team Championships, in which only 13 golfers out of 153 finished under par. The 15th is a superb dogleg-left of 457 yards, guarded on the left by five bunkers and a natural wash that travels the length of the hole.