The Golf Club at Dove Mountain (Saguaro/Tortolita)

Overview: The Saguaro/Tortolita routing at Dove Mountain is a public Jack Nicklaus design in the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains near Marana, Arizona. The course uses arroyos, desert vegetation, steep elevation changes and mountain views to create a long desert test. The ranked routing is the original 18-hole combination within a larger 27-hole facility.

History: Dove Mountain opened in the late 2000s and hosted the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship from 2009 through 2014. Nicklaus Design’s original work was built to accommodate championship golf in the Sonoran Desert, with the Saguaro and Tortolita nines forming the tournament routing.

Did You Know? Professional players found some of the original green complexes severe, and Nicklaus later returned to soften parts of the design. The course’s history therefore includes an unusual feedback loop between a tournament venue, the architect and the demands of elite match play.