Desert Mountain Golf Club, Apache Golf Course

Desert Mountain Golf Club is a Private 108 hole golf facility located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The facility has six, 18-hole, championship golf courses. They are: Apache Golf Course, Cochise Course, Chiricahua Golf Course, Geronimo Golf Course, Outlaw Golf Course and Renegade Golf Course.

All six course were designed by Jack Nicklaus. Desert Mountain is the only golf community in the country with six Nicklaus designs. These are typical desert courses in which the desert often comes into play alongside fairways and around greens.

The courses opened in the following order: (1987) Renegade Golf Course, (1988) Cochise Course, (1989) Geronimo Golf Course, (1996) Apache Golf Course, (1999) Chiricahua Golf Course, (2003) Outlaw Golf Course.

Par for the course is 72. From the back tees the course plays to 7211 yards. From the forward tees the course measures 4743 yards. The longest hole on the course is # 1, a par-5 that plays to 563 yards. The shortest hole on the course is # 3, a par-3 that plays to 146 yards from the back tees.

Watch out for # 8, a 443 yard par-4 challenge and the #1 handicap hole on the course. The easiest hole is # 12, a 208 yard par-3.

The Apache Course, with its many grass areas and transitions to the desert, is more player-friendly than the Geronimo Course. A lake only comes into play on one hole on the Apache Course, the signature hole, which is #15, a 182-yard, par 3, requiring a tee shot to a green that slopes away from the water protecting its right side. Apache was designed as a links-style course that winds gracefully through gentle desert terrain. The challenges of this course are the length and elevation changes. Large, lush greens appear as extensions of the fairways. Many members say it is important to master uphill or downhill shots. The eighteenth hole features two separate greens with the more difficult green set into a hillside bordered by an unforgiving.