Rio Rico Resort & Country Club

The desert floor rises and falls in dramatic fashion across this Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, where elevated tees showcase sweeping views of the Santa Cruz Valley while demanding precise club selection on forced carries over arroyos. Water comes into play on half the holes—a rarity in southern Arizona—including the signature par-3 17th that plays across a pond to a peninsula green guarded by mature mesquite trees. The conditioning remains surprisingly lush year-round, a testament to smart irrigation management that keeps bentgrass greens rolling true despite the Sonoran heat.