William Francis “Billy” Bell was a very busy man back in the late 1950s and early 60s. After having a hand in designing what would become America’s two most popular public golf facilities, San Diego’s Torrey Pines in 1957 and Tucson’s Randolph Golf Complex in 1961, Bell ventured up to Phoenix and started working on Papago Golf Course. …
Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville, Colorado bills itself as “Colorado’s newest 25-year-old golf course.” There’s a good reason why. The course was originally designed and built by Richard M. Phelps (who also designed Alta Mesa Country Club in Mesa, Arizona) back in 1990, but in September of 2013, massive flooding ravaged several cities located …
La Paloma Country Club is a 27-hole private facility, open only to members and Westin Hotel guests, that meanders along ridges and through desert canyons at the base of the Catalina Mountains in northwest Tucson. Eighteen of the 27 holes (Ridge and Canyon) opened in 1984 in what was then the middle of Tucson’s high-end …
Shea Homes and BlueStar Resort & Golf are at it again, this time with Wickenburg Ranch Golf & Social Club. BlueStar is the specialty division within (or subsidiary of) Shea Homes. BlueStar “provides services to a portfolio of golf experiences… from Orlando to Oahu.” In Arizona alone, BlueStar manages Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia in Peoria, …
The Grand Canyon University Golf Course, which is home to the Antelopes men’s and women’s golf teams, already has a rich and storied history under a different name: Maryvale Municipal Golf Course. Maryvale Municipal was designed and built in 1961 by William F. “Billy” Bell, who most famously designed both courses at Torrey Pines in San Diego. …