I’m not going to joke about dry heat. You already know the cliches. But for several holes at least, the only thing hotter than the June weather in this region known as the Valley of the Sun was my putter – and that’s as unlikely a statement as I have ever written.
Somehow it all seemed easy on the front nine of the Cattail Course at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona, a short drive south of Phoenix. Thermometers blasted into the triple digits for the week in June, but the greens were rolling perfectly and even my normally tepid stroke somehow absorbed a bit of the ambient heat. Maybe I was too exhausted after four full days of golf, three of which included 36 holes, to keep wasting time with my standard misses. I can’t say they all went in, but it was fun to finally see a few putts drop as the morning temperatures rose.
After the golf, I sipped my eighth bottle of water that day as I cruised two miles to the Gila River Hotels and Casino at Wild Horse Pass to soak in something else heating up in the Arizona desert: the battle for supremacy among tribal gaming operators, many of whom are investing lavishly to upgrade their offerings.
Arizona’s gaming scene is expanding at a breakneck clip, luring in new customers with enhanced amenities across the full spectrum of hospitality. It’s especially true as new table games are introduced this year, with legal sports books scheduled to open around the state in September.
We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort in Arizona (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa)
Golf is just one measuring stick for the various tribes, giving the resorts a chance to show off their land while attracting those visitors who prefer a kind of risk and reward not found in a casino.
And based on Golfweek’s Best rankings of casino courses, the layouts around Phoenix measure up quite well. Seven courses within half an hour’s drive of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport rank inside the top 50 casino layouts in the United States. Two courses at We-Ko-Pa, one at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, two at Whirlwind and two at Talking Stick make the top 50.
Each of those is supported by tribal casinos that have either recently upgraded amenities or are in the process, adding hotel rooms and improving gaming floors to welcome a swarm of travelers as the COVID-19 pandemic eases in the U.S. and players of all kinds hit the road.
Recent changes to Arizona’s tribal gaming regulations certainly don’t hurt. The tribes and Gov. Doug Ducey signed a compact in April that allowed casino expansion: thousands more slot machines; new table games such as craps, roulette and baccarat; and starting Sept. 9, legalized sports gambling with 20 sanctioned sports books. That includes a sports book at TPC Scottsdale, home each year to the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Construction has continued even as casinos were closed temporarily during the pandemic in 2020 and many guests stayed away. Since then, most casino operations have resumed at full capacity. And with the new tribal gaming compact, investments will continue to grow as the Valley of the Sun woos more gamblers and golfers who arrive with heightened expectations.
“It’s the scope of the work, and attention to detail as well,” said Deliah Rose, director of brand and hospitality at Gila River Hotels and Casinos, which owns Whirlwind Golf Club and the Wild Horse Pass casino as well as several other properties. “When gaming began in Arizona 25 years ago, it was kind of like, just build some kind of casino and people would come, and they did. But as things evolved and expectations rose, there were more opportunities to give people a real experience and to compete with Las Vegas. Our tribal communities have really stepped it up and invested in much more than just having a few slot machines.
“It’s accommodations. It’s dining. It’s new games. It’s golf. It’s meeting space. It’s having a showroom to attract a great entertainer. It’s everything.”
We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro course is beautiful. No surprise there, as it’s the No. 1 public-access course in Arizona on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list and No. 6 on the casino list for the whole United States. Course designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were given a stunning piece of property, and they didn’t disappoint.
We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro Course in Arizona (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa/Lonna Tucker)
What did surprise me was the sumptuous tuna poke at dinner. I live in Florida and have spent a big chunk of my life on boats, and I worked at a seafood market in college. Basically, I know fresh fish, and I normally avoid seafood at restaurants that aren’t within short range of salt water. But seeing as how I was seated in Ember, the We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort’s newest fine-dining experience right off the gaming floor, I figured I would give the tuna a try.
It didn’t disappoint, as fresh as the best appetizer found in just about any top-tier seaside restaurant. After the tuna and a bite of soy mirin glazed pork belly, my dining host and I declined the gigantic seafood tower and dug into Wagyu striploins. Ember is a far cry from the days of $10 tribal casino buffets, offering an eclectic menu of delights that should satisfy any foodie.
Ember is not the only recent upgrade to the We-Ko-Pa experience. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation invested about $120 million to build a new 166,341-square-foot casino that opened in 2020 despite the pandemic, replacing the old Fort McDowell Casino that began as a bingo hall. It’s all connected to a 246-room, AAA Four Diamond hotel that opened in 2006. The property also includes a sports book that comes online in September.
We-Ko-Pa’s Ember restaurant in Arizona (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa)
“We may be the smallest tribe in the Valley, but we built the first high-stakes bingo hall in the Phoenix area three decades ago,” said Bernadine Burnette, president of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, as reported by azcentral.com. “This exciting project will set a new standard for quality entertainment in the Northeast Valley while providing economic security to our tribal government.”
We-Ko-Pa’s golf has changed over the years, as well. The Saguaro underwent a bunker renovation in 2018. Its sister course, the Cholla – ranked No. 7 among Arizona’s public-access courses and No. 20 among all U.S. casino courses – saw a major renovation with re-grassed greens, new irrigation and design tweaks to the Scott Miller-designed layout in 2016.
We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro Course in Arizona (Courtesy of We-Ko-Pa)
What hasn’t changed is the rugged and rolling beauty of the courses. Both layouts are carved into incredible desert and native vegetation, devoid of housing and offering long views of the surrounding mountains, including across the Verde River to the Four Peaks range that towers above the entire Phoenix region.
This is real desert golf with challenging elevation changes, sand and gravelly expanses, and plenty of places to lose a ball among the cacti. The conditioning is top tier, as are the peak green fees that pass the $200 mark. But for players willing and able to survive a little heat, as I did with 36 holes in one day, green fees dip below $100 in the warm months even for out-of-state players.
Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, about a half hour’s drive south of Phoenix, was ahead of the curve in recent renovations. In 2019 the resort completed a years-long makeover that included a new 12-story hotel tower that pushed the room count past 500, greatly expanded gaming spaces, added a new parking garage and bingo hall, upgraded restaurants and a refreshed pool scene with swim-up bar.
The pool at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino in Arizona (Courtesy of Harrah’s)
Like all the casinos in the state, Ak-Chin was closed for several weeks at the start of the pandemic, but its pre-COVID investments put it in a great spot to rebound after restrictions were eased and as guests look to begin traveling again.
The nearby Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club also saw a slow-down as COVID precautions took hold in March and April of 2020, but that didn’t last. As people looked for entertainment options outdoors, the beautifully rugged desert layout and its great conditioning went on to attract a record number of players in 2020 despite the springtime dip in play, with more than 40,000 total rounds in a year for the first time. It serves as a perfect example of players flocking to golf during the pandemic, and in this case they were playing the No. 6 public-access course in Arizona and No. 16 among all U.S. casino courses.
“You can choose to look at challenges as opportunities for innovation,” Ak-Chin Southern Dunes general manager Brady Wilson said. “We worked really closely with our department of Indian Health Service, which is the entity that does our health inspections. People might think you get nervous when a health inspector shows up, but we really used our health inspector as a resource. We turned to them as a friend and said, ‘Hey, can we do this, or can we do that?’ They understood what we were trying to do, and they worked with us to help us make it work safely. …
“Looking back to when we first started early on in COVID, man, we found a way.”
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Arizona (Courtesy of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes/Allan Henry)
The course was designed by Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley with collaboration by Fred Couples. A previous iteration of the club was private, but the tribe purchased the layout in 2010.
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes sprawls across 320 acres of wide-open desert and is operated by course-management group Troon. The course was renovated in 2014, with many bunkers being removed as focus was shifted to playability. In all, more than 80,000 square feet of sand traps were grassed over as landing areas were expanded, and many forced carries were eliminated from forward tees. Several new tees were added, and the 17th hole was completely reworked.
But don’t consider this layout a pushover from the back tees – Ak-Chin Southern Dunes hosts a slew of high-level competitions, including U.S. Open qualifiers and several top collegiate events.
“It’s still all the golf course you would ever want off the back,” Wilson said as we grabbed a quick lunch after my round – I polished off what must have been a gallon of iced tea and lemonade to chase away the heat. “Before the renovation, there were bunkers everywhere, a lot of them not even in play for a good player. So a lot of those were removed to help regular players get around.”
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes also installed what it calls golf’s version of a bunny slope on the driving range. The practice area was rebuilt to include six greens and tees across the range, allowing it to be converted into a par-3 course – named #miniDunes – that’s inviting to beginners or accomplished players wanting to work on their wedge games.
Add Gila River Hotels & Casinos’ operation at Wild Horse Pass to the list of casino properties that have continued to invest heavily during the pandemic. The resort in Chandler, just south of Phoenix, is in the midst of a huge expansion, adding 205 guest rooms and suites in a new hotel tower that lifts its total room count to 446, counting the previous AAA 4-Diamond accommodations.
The lobby at Wild Horse Pass (Courtesy of Wild Horse Pass)
Atop that tower will be Prime, A Shula’s Steakhouse, a new concept for the high-end chain that promises a fresh twist on classic steakhouses with what it calls a touch of French culinary undertones. Down below will be two new pools with full service and cabanas, including one adults-only pool with direct access to six ground-floor suites. It’s all in addition to a remodeled gaming floor, with the planned completion for the whole project scheduled to kick off a month-long party in November.
On the gaming side and in keeping with the new tribal compact, Wild Horse Pass will expand its table games to include craps, baccarat and roulette. The casino will open a sports book this fall, as well.
“I’m very fortunate to work for a community that is committed to making that investment,” Rose, the aforementioned director of brand and hospitality at Gila River Hotels and Casinos, said. “And instead of the tribes competing with each other, it’s really about finding a way to serve our guests. We’ve heard for so long, guests have the desire for this type of experience that we will be able to provide. They wanted a specific feel with the accommodations and the resort pools. …
“We’re going to eliminate any reason to head to Vegas here shortly, especially with the addition of craps, baccarat and roulette in August and then the sports betting come football season.”
The golf hasn’t been left behind. Whirlwind Golf Club, owned by Gila River Tribe and operated by Troon, did a complete bunker renovation on its Devil’s Claw 18-hole course in 2019, adding capillary concrete liners to improve drainage and playability after each trap was reshaped. The tee boxes also were stripped and leveled to improve conditioning. The other 18 at Whirlwind, Cattail, is receiving a similar bunker renovation and tee enhancements this summer and is scheduled to reopen in September.
Whirlwind’s Devil Claw in Arizona (Courtesy of Whirlwind)
The Cattail ranks No. 37 among all casino courses in the U.S., and Devil’s Claw is No. 41.
Both courses were designed by Gary Panks, who turned a flat desert landscape of 500 acres into a gently rolling oasis. The Devil’s Claw, which opened in 2000, is wider and generally more forgiving than the Cattail, which opened in 2003 and features more water. Both offer stunning views of the nearby Sierra Estrella Mountains.
It was on Cattail that I somehow found a putting stroke. The layout offers plenty of room to play, but it has less of a typical desert-course motif. Unlike many other Arizona courses that feature so many raw gashes of gravel and sand, this layout almost has the feel of a Florida course plopped into the desert, complete with the ponds. After several days spent kicking around the scrub, it was an entirely welcome break.
Talking Stick Resort on the northeast side of Scottsdale offers even more chances to swing away during the day, then hit the tables at night. The AAA Four Diamond resort – which opened in 2010 at the site of a previous casino – features nearly 500 guest rooms and a 98,000-square-foot casino.
Talking Stick Resort in Arizona (Courtesy of Talking Stick)
The entertainment doesn’t stop there. Included are a slew of restaurants of all flavors, a booming pool scene and an entertainment district that features everything from a butterfly conservatory to a Topgolf across the street.
The adjacent Talking Stick Golf Club presents two courses, both designed by the team of Coore and Crenshaw, who also designed the Saguaro at We-Ko-Pa just a little farther east of town. When Talking Stick’s courses opened in 1997, they were the first to be designed by such highly acclaimed architects on tribal land in Arizona.
Coore and Crenshaw were working with a flat site, and they were instructed to create two very different courses. The O’odham 18 (formerly named the North) plays wider, and with its firm desert conditioning it’s entirely possible to play the angles with links-style bump-and-run approaches into many of the greens. The Piipaash 18 (formerly named the South) has smaller, elevated greens with more trees lining the fairways.
The O’odham ranks No. 43 on Golfweek’s Best Casino Courses list for the U.S., with the Piipaash checking in next at No. 44. Talking Stick also is home to the Vision54 Golf Coaching program created by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, who have helped numerous touring professionals including Annika Sorenstam.
Talking Stick’s Piipaash Course in Arizona (Courtesy of Talking Stick)
On the spring Saturday on which I played, Talking Stick was brimming with potential students for Vision54. Located as it is in the golf mecca of Scottsdale, with warm-weather pricing in effect and weekend tee times available to locals for less than $50, pace of play crawled a bit. But it was a joy to check out the creativity of Coore and Crenshaw, who kept to their well-known minimalist approach to create two courses that appear to have been found upon the flat land, instead of pushing a lot of dirt into mounds to alter the landscape.
There are plenty of great public-access golf options around Phoenix and Scottsdale, so why go the casino route? It’s all about ease.
The casinos offer great golf, restaurants, entertainment, pools, adults-only fun, family activities – just about anything you could ask for in a resort, all in one easy-to-navigate package. It makes booking easy.
And as gaming continues to expand in Arizona and COVID concerns – knock on wood – continue to ease, the tribes will continue to invest to keep amenities in top form. That may be the surest bet of all.
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