We-Ko-Pa Resort - Cholla Course

Review and Rating of We-Ko-Pa Cholla Course in Scottsdale AZ

We-Ko-Pa is home to a resort with great golfer accommodations, a casino, good amenities and things to do, and two outstanding golf courses – the Cholla 18 and the Sonoran 18.  Both courses define desert golf – no home, condos, or high rises – it's just you and the wildlife, the wide variety of cactus, and the Sonoran Desert where the term high rise is high-rise” is either used to describe the ancient saguaros in the foreground or the magnificent mountains in the distance.  The variety in the routing and pacing of holes will keep all levels of golfers entertained from opening tee shot to final tap-in. Both courses, Cholla and Saguaro, feature an ideal blend of doglegs and straightaway holes, a mix of slender and ample fairways, and a balance between benign and rugged green complexes. Both courses offer a host of shot-making options and plenty of grassy bail-out areas when the occasional shot gets away.

Saguaro has a desert links feel to it, more gradual elevation changes, and you can play multiple shots into the greens including bump and run.  When Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed Saguaro they placed great emphasis on making Saguaro walker-friendly – greens and tees are built close together, often part of the same turf complex and walk paths lead you from the teeing ground directly to the fairway. Cholla is an outstanding desert course with elevated challenging greens, lots of forced carries, and a couple strokes harder than Saguaro. 

It's not surprising that We-Ko-Pa Golf Club has won a number of awards and accolades, some of which include:

• Sports Illustrated  claimed them as one of the “10 best new public courses in the world” shortly after opening
• a Zagat Survey gave Cholla its highest rating among all Arizona courses
• Golf Magazine listed it as No. 45 in its ranking of the “Top 100 You Can Play” for 2014
• in 2015, Golfweek bestowed Cholla with three prestigious rankings: 13^th “Best Casino Courses” in the U.S.; 4 “Best Courses You Can Play” in Arizona; and No. 70 on the list of America’s “Best Resort Courses”

We've played and reviewed over 350 courses from Florida to California and only 3 courses have scored a 10 – the front nine of Cholla is one of those.  Almost every hole on the front got a "Wow" or a "that was fun" or some other accolade.  Each hole on the front was fun, challenging, scenic, and unique.  And the was just about as good.  During your round you'll encounter a little of everything: forced carries off the tee (every hole on the front but not from the forward tees which makes the course very playable for women or high handicappers), heavily sloping and contoured fairways with generous landing zones off the tee, strategically placed bunkers, well guarded raised greens, several elevation changes, split fairways, dog legs left and right, blind shots, some risk reward opportunities, and several Kodak moments.  You'll find holes that require some excellent strategy, good club selection, and some precise shots.  In addition to all of that, the course is very well maintained and manicured – you won't find a pebble or cactus out of place.

Normally in our golf course reviews we would describe two to four holes that we liked.  But for Cholla, we absolutely loved every single hole!  And words can't describe how unique, beautiful, challenging, and fun they are to play.  So I'm not even going to attempt to describe any of them. 

The fairways at Cholla range from wide and sweeping to a little tight and on three holes a natural area of trees and sand split the fairway.  You'll encounter elevated tee boxes, washes and arroyos to carry, uphill and downhill shots, and in some cases severely rolling and contoured fairways.  They were in near perfect condition when we played and rough was cut thin and playable.  Miss the rough and you're in the desert sand with lots of opportunity to get stuck by a wide variety of different cactus!

The greens at Cholla were also in near perfect condition – they ran smooth and true and at a good speed of around 11.  They are a variety of shapes and most are good sized ranging from 29 to 42 yards.  Most are raised, guarded by 2 to 4 bunkers, and have some combination of slope, tiers, or ridges.

The bunkers have typical Arizona sand which we find to be gritty, thin, and a challenge to hit out off until you get used to them.  Bunkers are strategically placed in your landing zone or around the green and most are steep and deep. 

Bottom line – Cholla is a must play – add it to your bucket list and also take advantage of their stay and play package.  Read our review of We-Ko-Pa Resort to lean more.