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Designed in 1989 by Bill Johnston, (also designer of one of Meridian's favorite hidden gems, Rancho Mañana) The Pointe at Lookout Mountain will take you on a fun ride from beginning to end. It starts off with a few more traditional holes and then the elevation changes and desert style really kicks in, and the results are a wild and enjoyable round of golf.
A new definition of "green" bursts into your vocabulary when you visit The Point at Lookout Mountain. Thick Bermuda carpets work their way towards immaculate greens. And the color throughout the fairways is stunning, bright, lush, rich green. If you seek a fabulously conditioned golf course, stop here and be treated to some particularly verdant play. In the summer of 2007, the course had a minor face lift as some of the grass was replaced by desert landscape creating a more challenging target style to some of the holes.
This beautiful resort layout weaves its way through rugged terrain that borders the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and offers spectacular views of both Lookout Mountain and Squaw Peak. This is an exciting golf course for players of all skill levels as it presents the finest characteristics from both desert golf and traditional golf layouts. Desert golf and wide-open fairways may not belong in the same sentence, let alone on the same golf course. However, this contradiction of terms is not only true of The Pointe at Lookout Mountain, it's indicative of what you'll find when you visit this gem - a little bit of everything.
Most holes on this dynamic course play fairly straight from tee to green, and those that do provide doglegs are more in the variety of bananas, not boomerangs. Small alleys through which to carve your shot are non-existent; instead carries over predominantly unplayable desert brush are the norm. The second hole fits this mold, a par-5 that is a dogleg right, a hole that like most of the others is easily navigable, providing danger down only one side - in this case the left, with two bunkers and a bevy of trees and scrub.
"The greens are as close to perfect as you can get," according to Leo Simonetta, Director of Golf at The Pointe at Lookout Mountain, "and they have been consistently voted the best in the city and the state." That's the good news. "They are also tiny, quick and fast with lots of breaks. The trick is to look at the hillside surrounding the green. The shape of those hills will indicate the predominant break of the putt. Just follow the contour," says Simonetta. Believe me, it is wise to take his advice.
Although the course is lightly bunkered, there are many desert carries from the tee boxes. Water comes into play on only the 15th, 16th, and 18th. Trees – palms, pine, mesquite, palo verde, and Saguaro cacti – adorn the course and mountains rim and silhouette it. Elevations are dramatic and provide some real thrills on several holes. Amazingly the trek from almost every green to the next tee involves a climb, and therefore almost every hole plays downhill. The only hole that really plays noticeably uphill is 13.
The first six holes on this course are relatively wide-open and allow some margin for error. Regrettably, the same can't be said for the greens. The first green is 11 yards deep and 17 yards wide. The par 5, 2nd hole is a 562 yard dogleg right with a carry over desert. It features a green barely 20 yards across. The 504 yard, par 5, 5th, again has a huge landing area just before the angle. Then aim for another 17 yard wide green protected by a large front bunker.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that No. 7 plays sharply downhill, as it often may signify the place where scores start heading in the same direction. This par 5 is the first of two signature holes and is the hardest hole on the course and one of the most spectacular. The stepped-up tee boxes provides jaw dropping, magnificent views that look over the desert to another lush fairway sloping downhill. Lookout Mountain hovers on your right and the North Mountains frame the horizon. Your drive must avoid a mesquite tree lurking on the right side of the fairway. Your second shot must carry an intersecting desert to another carpeted landing area about 100 yards from the elevated green, which is protected by bunkers on the front left and rear right and rolls and dips along its meager 19 by 27 yard surface. This hole will make you think on every shot: go for it in two, or play into a generous lay-up area right? Don't be short, or your ball may actually trickle all the way to your feet, below the elevated green.
Water, and any existing wind, comes into play on the exciting 15th and 16th holes, a par-5 and par-3, respectively. Don't miss left on 15 and don't miss at all on the narrow 16th green, or you bring bogey or worse into play. All you need are flip-flops, a big umbrella, and maybe some SPF 45 here, because all this sand and water are akin to a beach.
The 17th hole provides a return to the over-expansive landing areas of the early front nine, with a few more bunkers spread throughout. And the 18th hole is a par-5 that can make a hero out of the deft middle-iron player and a goat out of pretty much anyone, at least anyone capable of misfiring an iron shot into the water that guards the front and back of this narrow green. If you avoid the water then you will go home with a big grin on your face. Even if you go in the water you will probably leave pretty happy.
Signature Hole : The most spectacular hole on the course earns a perfect 10. Not only is it shapely, contoured and gorgeous, but the 10th hole's tee box is well over 10 stories high and provides a spectacular view from any one of the four tee boxes perched on the desert hillside. While standing on the tee box you are treated to one of the most dramatic drops you will ever see on a golf course. When you hit the ball it seems to stay in the air for an eternity, as it hovers and falls 175 feet below, to a left to right sloping fairway. Your approach must avoid three bunkers surrounding the triangle green which slopes quickly from back to front. It is a truly magnificent and memorable golf hole.
This beautiful Resort course layout, on the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, weaves its way through rugged terrain that borders the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and offers spectacular views of both Lookout Mountain and Piestewa Peak.
The golf club has received the Golf Digest Four Star Award for nine consecutive years and has also been voted as one of the top 450 courses in the country by the same publication.
Lookout Mountain has received recognition as one of Americas Top Courses from 2005 through 2009 by participants in the Zagat Survey as well as being voted one of the Top Ten Public/Resort Courses in Arizona by the readers of Arizona Business Magazine for 2008 and 2009.
Featuring lush greens entwined by carefully preserved Sonoran Desert Terrain, this championship 18-hole course combines spectacular scenery with challenging play. In fact, you may see quail or even a coyote out on the course (please let them play through!)
The Verdict: Lookout Mountain Golf Club doesn't receive the publicity of many Scottsdale golf courses, but it's a solid choice.
As the round builds, the golf course turns more and more impressive. Once you get to the halfway house before the 10th tee, you know you're in for a memorable round of golf, having just played the seventh, eighth and ninth holes.
Lookout Mountain represents a nice change of pace from other golf courses in the area. And if you can, try to play it twice. The first time around, the greens can be a bear. Downhill putts often roll surprisingly far beyond the hole.
Package Notes:
Prices are per golfer based on 2 persons sharing a 2 room suite - includes all taxes. Prices are subject to change without notice. Accommodations and golf are subject to availability.
| Package Rates 2011-12: | |
| Nov 4 – Dec 25, 2011 | $370 |
| Dec 26 – 31, 2011 | $395 |
| Jan 1 – 19, 2012 | $435 |
| Jan 20 – Mar 8, 2012 | $455 |
| Mar 9 – 31, 2012 | $480 |
| Apr 1 – 7, 2012 | $465 |
| Apr 8 – 14, 2012 | $445 |
Course Opened:
1989
Course Type/Style:
Resort/Mountain
Number of Tee Boxes:
3 sets
Total Number of Sand Bunkers:
50-60
Number of Water Hazards:
3 of 18 holes
Most Challenging Hole:
No. 5
Most Memorable Hole:
No. 10
Sinature Hole:
No. 10
Acreage of Course:
acres
Average Size of Greens:
6,400 sq. ft.
Primary Grasses
Fairways:
Bermuda
Rough:
Bermuda
Greens:
Bermuda
Months Open:
January – December
High Season:
January – April
Aerification:
Overseeding: Sept. 27 – Oct 14
Rounds per year:
Green Fees:
Low: $49 High: $149
Walking Options:
Mandatory Cart
Director of Golf:
Jeff Raymond, PGA
Superintendent:
Paul Smith, GCSAA
Golf Digest 
rating
By Chris King on May 4, 2010
The TPC-Myrtle Beach is one of the Grand Strand's bluebloods.
It enjoys the benefit of a premium brand, superior design (the team of Lanny Wadkins and Tom Fazio is tough to beat), and it's the home course of Dustin Johnson, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour. Throw in a bevy of national honors, and it's not hard to see why the facility is so highly regarded.
Identifying the three best holes on a course that has hosted what was then the Senior PGA Tour Championship and gets a regular workout from Johnson is a challenging task, because the candidates are plentiful. We asked course owner Chip Smith to identify the best of the best at TPC-Myrtle Beach and he complied, with an assist from Johnson.
The three best holes at TPC are:
No. 5, 158-yard, Par 3: Despite being TPC's shortest hole, the fifth is one of its most challenging, particularly from the tips where the tee shot requires a long forced carry over water. The green is wider than it is deep, so your margin for error is limited. A bunker in the right front looms for players not playing from the tips, as does a bunker in back of the green.
"There is almost a false front on the front of the green," Smith said. "It's a tough little shot because the green is narrow. The right side of the green is always better than short because of the lake."
No. 17, 193-yard, par 3: The words island green and TPC have almost become synonymous because of the famed 17th at Sawgrass, and No. 17 at TPC-Myrtle Beach is a reasonable approximation. The primary differences? The 17th in Myrtle Beach is a peninsula green surrounded by water on "only" three sides and it's approximately 50 yards longer. The 17th is TPC-Myrtle Beach's signature hole and with an almost constant wind, it represents a significant challenge. "Because of the distance, I think it's a little tougher than 17 at Sawgrass," Smith says. "Now I've never stood on 17 at Sawgrass on Sunday with $1.4 million on the line either (laugh)."
No. 18, 538-yard, par 5: The 18th, with a creek running along the right side of the fairway and a large lake on the left, is Johnson's choice as the course's best. It's a classic risk-reward hole. Players that can snuggle up to the creek before it runs out to the lake can get home in two, but there is considerable risk. Half of the green is exposed to water and with the rough surrounding it shaved, it's not an easy green to hold. One person who doesn't have to worry about length is Johnson. What does one of the PGA Tour's longest hitters use to reach the green on his second shot? "Depending on which way the wind is blowing, anywhere from a 5 or 6 iron to a 3-wood," he said. For the mere mortals among us, an iron on the second shot when attempting to reach the 18th green is out of the question!
