"This isn't just another golf course. Dove Valley Ranch is unsurpassed in natural beauty and play, and will be rated among the top golf and residential communities in the Western United States." - Robert Trent Jones Jr., Dove Valley Ranch Golf Course Architect
Ingeniously designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., this championship course gently shifts between panoramic openness to the intimacy of lush foliage along Willow Wash. Mirroring the southwestern styling of the petroglyph-etched boulders that mark each hole, the adjoining Club House with Pro Shop and snack bar offer a casual but elegant retreat.
Unlike many of Arizona's "target" golf courses, Dove Valley Ranch Golf Club is player friendly, with manicured transition areas that allow its guests to recover without penalty. RTJ Jr. also put a premium on strategy and variety, which translates into a challenging yet refreshing round of golf. Factor in service that is second to none, and no wonder this lush layout on the outskirts of Phoenix is so popular with locals and visitors alike.
Following the lead of the ancient Hohokam people from a millennium ago, who opted for a peaceful existence below Black Mountain, Dove Valley Ranch Golf Club allows golfers a comparable opportunity to get away from it all...if only for a day.
Charged with preserving the prehistoric significance of the property and maintaining the natural character of the desert, the Jones Jr. team created the Dove Valley course amid specific landscape features and historic attributes incorporating them into the overall layout without dramatically altering the environment or the natural flow of the fairways.
Dove Valley Ranch Golf Club is essentially a desert style golf course with hints of tradition, such as ample fairways and subtly contoured greens with openings in front, featuring a low, rolling mix of holes of varying difficulty. The layout is very playable, but also strategic enough to test the course-management skills of every player. According to Jones, the key was to not "overcook" the gentle nature of this golf course, which makes Dove Valley a kinder, gentler creation from a designer usually known for his more heroic strategies.
