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And then there are the golf courses, all 180 of them. That's counting those within the city limits. In the Greater Phoenix area, which reaches into neighbouring Scottsdale, there are 220. If there's a bad one they're not shouting it from the roof tops. Most are first class; many are world class, part of all-inclusive resorts with accommodation and facilities of the top echelon.
We played the courses of Marriott's Camelback Mountain and The Phoenician, both within 30 minutes of Phoenix, with forays to a couple of others on a flying visit.
Camelback, a laid-back, sprawling resort with pueblo-style cottages around a central inn, has two courses the Padre, recently rebuilt, and Indian Bend, a traditional parkland designed by the renowned Arthur Hills.
It's a resort, with mountains as a glorious backdrop, that wants for nothing, a philosophy reflected on the two courses and the new $15 million clubhouse. Several groups of Britons we ran into said they were regulars. They were having a ball.
The Phoenician has a more formal ambience in keeping with its unsurpassed quality and luxury. There's a five star hotel, a choice of low rise casita-apartments and an elegant clubhouse serving three loops of nine whose desert beauty will knock you sideways. My notes describe it as "parkland in a garden in the desert."
To say it is spectacular is an under-statement. Each hole is surrounded by desert and rock gardens with flowering succulents set in wilderness that's a rainbow canvas of flora and fauna.
It sounds odd, no doubt, because the region has only seven inches of rain each year, but the flora has not merely adapted, it has thrived. So has the wild life: we saw birds galore, ground squirrels, lizards and heard a rattlesnake. If your ball wanders off course forget it: re-load!
The course condition was flawless, with multiple island tees emulating the finest emerald Axminster carpet. You can only guess at the quality of the greens.
In terms of playability, it is challenging but not penal, although tight in places and undulating. Generally speaking the targets are expansive but the greens are slick and hard under the constant sun which bakes the land for upwards of 320 days a year.
It's easy to see why The Phoenician is ranked in the top ten resort courses in the US. It brings a memorable experience. The hotel, too, is something else, as they say. It's all part of a resort that's rated among the finest in America.
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