Troon Golf Arizona Interclub

On Monday afternoons during the summer months (end of May, June, July, and August), several of the Troon courses in Arizona take turns hosting one-day shotgun tournaments. The series is called the Troon Golf Arizona Interclub, and it’s been a Troon Golf tradition dating back to 2011. They don’t do this anywhere else because no other state or country has as many Troon courses (28) as Arizona does.

Each club forms a three to five-person team, and the lowest three scores count toward the team total. The entry fee is $25 per person or $100 per team, but none of the money goes to the host club. All of it goes into a purse, which pays out the top three individual scores (includes ties), the low team total, and several skins. There are also usually 2-3 closest to the pin contests. Weekly payouts are $500 for skins and $200 for low team, and in the event that all skins are covered, the skins pot carries over to the next event.

Jerry Bellew, the Head Golf Professional at Poston Butte Golf Club in Florence is in his first summer as Tournament Organizer. He told me of the $100 team entry fee, $50 goes toward skins, $20 goes toward team low gross, $20 goes toward individual low gross (1st – $100, 2nd – $60, and 3rd – $40), $5 goes toward a year-end payout for the Team Champion ($500), and $5 goes toward a year-end payout for the Individual Champion (1st – $250, 2nd – $150, 3rd – $100).

Weekly and year-end payouts increase/decrease based on the total number of teams that enter. Individuals who wish to participate may enter for $25 per event. Of that $25 entry fee, $15 goes toward the weekly skins purse, and $10 goes toward the the individual low gross purse.

Obviously, we can’t play in all of the Interclub tournaments because of the time commitment. A majority of them are well north of Tucson. The only other event we played in as a team was at Sewailo just up the road, but I couldn’t play because I was out of town.

This week, La Paloma played host to the 18-player field, and unfortunately, our foursome decided to walk off the course on the back nine because of thunder and lightning in the area. It was our call, and I think it was the safe thing to do. As soon as we got back to the clubhouse, it started pouring! I guess that’s what happens when you start a tournament at 2:00p during the height of the monsoon season.

A lot of guys ended up finishing, however, and their persistence (insanity?) was rewarded. Instead of issuing a refund to those players who got rained out (like they did at Quintero late last month) they elected to payout anyway. Either way, I had a lot of fun getting off to a hot start at one-under through six holes before my wheels started to wobble.

Here’s a breakdown of the summer tournament schedule:

June 6 – Poston Butte (Florence), 2:oop
June 13 – Sewailo (Tucson), 2:00p
June 20 – Troon North, Pinnacle Course (Scottsdale), 2:00p
June 27 – Quintero (Peoria), 2:00p

July 11 – Lookout Mountain (Phoenix), 2:00p
July 18 – La Paloma (Tucson), 2:00p
July 25 – Troon North, Monument Course (Scottsdale), 2:00p

August 1 – Toka Sticks (Mesa), 2:00p
August 9 – Terravita (Scottsdale), 2:00p
August 15 – The Phoenician (Scottsdale), 2:00p
August 22 – The Gallery (Marana), 2:00p
August 29 – Whirlwind, Cattail Course (Chandler), 2:00p