But every time you plop another ball out of bounds, look over your shoulder toward Pinnacle Peak and remember where you are and be thankful that courses like this one are still open to the public. The accolades for the Monument are too numerous to list. Golf Digest rated it No. 91 in the country, public or private, and as the 10th-best public course in the nation in 1997. The Pinnacle isn't far behind. The most memorable sights, the large piles of gigantic granite boulders, are strewn throughout the course, sometimes in the middle of play.
Wildlife is abundant as well, including tons of bunnies, lizards and an occasional coyote.
I played both courses in mid-August when the courses are supposed to be out of shape, but Troon showed virtually no signs of wear and tear from the summer heat. Everything, except the desert, of course, was green, something I couldn't say for several of the other area courses I visited during the same time period. It doglegs left to a wide fairway between fantastic granite formations. A desert wash 70 yards before the green gives long hitters a tough decision to make. A giant rock, the monument the course is named after, sits smack dab in the middle of the third fairway, right where you want to hit your drive.