Spotlight: Las Sendas

by Vic Williams

LET'S MESA AROUND

If Scottsdale is the be-all and end-all of Sonoran golf — and many snowbirds will swear that’s true ’til the day they fly home for eternity — then Mesa is that surprising sibling just down the road to the east, a quiet and capable alternative to the slick resorts and high-priced golf courses. Mesa is on the way to the Fountain Hills-Fort McDowell ’burbs and their own golf riches (especially the truly exquisite courses at We-Ko-Pa), but anyone who just drives right through without a second glance is shorting themselves some damn fine stay-and-play options that make all the right moves on one’s sun-seeking psyche without burning a hole through the ol’ pocket plastic.

A great place to start is Las Sendas Golf Club, which began life as a private track called Falcon Ridge, and before that was a ranch owned by movie cowboy Tom Mix. By 1995, architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. had reworked his magic into a rarefied desert experience — 1,500 feet above the Valley of the Sun floor — that soon matured into a daily-fee favorite. A dozen years later, it’s settled nicely into its own skin, with acute-but-not-impossible forced carries over saguaro and cholla and rabbitbrush; multi-level-and-lie approaches that keep even the best iron players on their toes; and bentgrass greens that snuggle up against rocky hillsides, lounge in little valleys or sneak behind water features with equal come-get-me spirit.

First-time players, as Team FG was last February, will call it tough as nails. But there’s a soft side to Las Sendas — namely in its valley and mountain views and its overall high-season atmosphere, with those lovely 80-degree temperatures and still, sun-sweetened afternoons that keep planes packed with wintertime golfers from Seattle to Portland, Denver to Chicago. It’s a 40-minute drive from Sky Harbor Airport to the gates of this club, which is ensconced at the edge of a housing development and carries somewhat of a private air in look, feel and service though it’s public.

Stand on the first tee (which used to be No. 10), and several thoughts will fleet through your skull.

First, this ain’t gonna be no creampuff tour. There’s water all up the opener’s right side and doglegging around to the green, two pretty yet deadly fairway bunkers framing the landing area and more trouble near the putting surface.
Trent Jones Jr. isn’t one to go easy on anyone until you’ve completed his jigsaw-puzzle designs a couple of time, and Las Sendas fits right into that mold, right from the start. In fact, No. 1 may be the toughest hole overall, though 18, which can also bathe your ball in an eye-blink, is right there as well.

Collectively, the 3-pars are as good as we’ve encountered in the Southwest. The 11th hole, for instance, seems a mere trifle at well under 150 yards, but it’s uphill to a green set hard against a rounded knoll around which the entire course revolves.

Second, thank God everyone with the bucks (maxing out at $170 in high season) can tee it up, because in a town overflowing with famous courses on both sides of the public-private fence, it’s cool to find one that still operates somewhat under the radar though it’s attracted some national notice over the years.

One magazine ranked it among the state’s 15 most challenging layouts. Thinking back to some of the angular, narrow shots we felt obliged to attempt and the ugly results we got when we failed — and recognizing the fact that Trent Jones Jr. hadn’t yet succumbed to the longer-is-better creed that rules 21st century design, leaving things plenty gnarly at a few ticks under 7,000 yards — we’ve got to agree.

And when we sit back, close our eyes and remember the big gulps of solitude we gladly swallowed along with our lizard-scattering golf shots (even though low-slung adobe-style homes line most fairways), we can’t help but put Las Sendas in the Sonoran spotlight.

Next on stage: Where to stay. For us it’s a no-brainer if you’re looking for less travel time and more Mesa-style golf. Just head down Power Road a piece and check in at the Arizona Golf Resort, a place that’s as straightforward in its old-school accommodations and perfectly adequate classic desert parkland golf as it is in its name.

Situated at a busy intersection across the street from a strip mall, this sprawling getaway falls somewhere between upscale motor lodge and family-style vacation station. Want that secluded home-on-the-road feeling? Just pull up in the SUV, open the door to your fairway-side cottage (with recently upgraded kitchen), locate the nearest barbecue grill and toss on some steaks, just like they did back in the ’50s and still do today.

Oh, yeah, the place has a couple of restaurants and all the right amenities — pool, spa and, of course, 18 holes of tree-lined, mostly-flat fun — but it’s most amenable to folks who just want to pack as much Mesa anti-madness into their days as possible and chill out at night at a friendly price, with or without the kids in tow.

Low-key and harking back to the days when Phoenix-Scottsdale fell considerably short of metropolis status, Arizona Golf Resort doesn’t put on foo-foo airs.

And, thankfully, doesn’t need to. FG

Las Sendas

Mesa, Ariz. | www.lassendas.com

Green Fees
$89-$109 thru Jan. 15
$140-$170 thru March
$99-$119 thru May 15
$59-$79 thru September

Where to Stay
Also located in Mesa, the cottages at Arizona Golf Resort are comfortable with a laid-back atmosphere. www. azgolfresort.com

Getting There
For custom driving directions, use the FG CourseFinder