Orange Tree Golf Club

Overview: Orange Tree Golf Club is an 18-hole, par-72 parkland course in North Scottsdale, where mature trees and water hazards give the round a traditional shape. The current course information lists 6,740 yards from the blue tees. Its wide, tree-lined fairways invite a confident drive, but the smaller, well-bunkered greens reward approach shots that are controlled and properly positioned. Four lakes come into play on several holes, adding strategy without turning the course into a purely penal layout.

History: The course opened in 1957 as Century Country Club and was designed by Johnny Bulla and Lawrence M. Hughes. Jack Snyder completed a full redesign in 1977, the work that established the tree-lined parkland character associated with Orange Tree today. The course's long history also explains why it feels different from newer desert developments: it was laid out as a mature, irrigated landscape, with trees, water and existing terrain shaping the playing corridors.

Did You Know? Orange Tree's official course page calls out the opening par-5 first hole, the par-4 eleventh and the closing three-hole sequence as signature areas. The eighteenth is especially notable for bringing water into the finish, while the course's small greens and front-to-back tilt make the approach game more important than the scorecard length alone suggests. The combination of four lakes, extensive bunkering and mature trees gives this Scottsdale course its own parkland identity.