ABOUT DESERT FOREST
Storied history.
brilliant future.
the first desert course ever built
transformed the face of the game.
now, it’s even better.
IN 1962, Desert Forest’s bold new design transformed the face of golf in the american southwest.
Many consider our acclaimed Robert “Red” Lawrence design to be the first desert course ever built. Lawrence was a founding member and president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
Red Lawrence made history when he broke ground at Desert Forest. It is not just the first "desert links" course in America; it remains a unique challenge in what has become a prolific, often mediocre genre.
Architect Robert "Red" Lawrence's evocation of classic strategic playing principles in the Sonoran foothills continues to be much more than a conventional course.
FROM THE DESERT FOREST ARCHIVES
Real estate visionaries Tom Darlington and K.T. Palmer founded the town of Carefree with Desert Forest Golf Course at its heart.
"What Lawrence seemed to appreciate better than most architects who have followed him is how to exploit the vastness of the desert in his design, yet maintain the human scale of the course."
EARLY COURSE DRAWING
Desert Forest Golf Club drawing from October 1961. Shows all the original bunkers.
The Golf Club Atlas History of Desert Forest
BY RAN MORRISETT
Desert Forest was a true outpost when it opened for play in 1962. Surprisingly, it might be even more so today...
In 2013, the golf course underwent a $3 million renovation
Led by architect David Zinkand, a longtime associate of the Coore/Crenshaw design firm. The renovation added tee boxes, improved sightlines from tee boxes, brought Desert Forest’s greens up to modern standards and updated bunkering to provide additional strategic challenge and visual tie-ins to the surrounding desert.