There’s little more satisfying than smashing a drive from an elevated tee carved into a rocky mountainside, watching the ball linger in the air for what seems like minutes against an impossibly blue sky before landing on a slender emerald ribbon on the desert floor below. The air is warm and dry, the views are long and the penalties for wayward shots are severe.

The factors that combine to make desert golf so uniquely challenging and rewarding—the rugged and dramatic landforms, the sensational vistas, the climate—likewise test and gratify golf’s finest course designers.

The following courses illustrate the quality and variety of golf in the Southwest. They are the creations of some of golf’s great architects and the design elements and strategies used are as varied as the courses themselves. Yet they all represent the best in desert golf.

The design team of Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry worked a bit of magic in designing the Firecliff and Mountain View courses at Desert Willow Golf Resort (desertwillow.com, 800-320-3323) in Palm Desert, Calif. Each routing brilliantly showcases unobstructed views of the San Jacinto, Santa Rosa and San Gorgonio Mountains, and the strategic (and liberal) use of water features and indigenous desert plant life ensures that you’ll enjoy a spectacular, colorful setting, no matter what time of year you’re playing. Even better, the designers have cleverly utilized elevation changes to minimize views of the groups ahead and behind—you’ll feel as though you have this desert oasis to yourself.

The design features are far more than aesthetic, however. Firecliff is a true test, with a number of forced carries from tee to fairway and no fewer than 106 bunkers on the course. It can be a visually intimidating course from the tee, despite deceptively generous landing areas. The par-5 13^th is a great example, with a forced carry off the tee (of 180 yards from the back tees) and 11 bunkers from tee to green. Play your second shot with your approach in mind and take an extra club on your third when playing to the elevated green. The 204-yard, par-3 17^th is another exceptional hole, with water down the right and a waste bunker that wraps around the green. When it plays into the wind, don’t be shy about bailing out short left.

Although Mountain View is a bit friendlier tee to green, with more turf between tees and fairways and fewer bunkers, it can be an exacting test, too, with smaller, more challenging greens. Waterfalls and babbling brooks also soften the experience of Mountain View—it is clearly the better choice for the beginner or higher handicapper.

TOM FAZIO

Those fortunate enough to stay at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon (thelodgeatventanacanyon.com, 800-828-5701) enjoy an embarrassment of golf riches, with a choice of two Tom Fazio designs, both set in the foothills of the spectacular Santa Catalina Mountains.

The routings of both courses are varied and perfectly paced. Each course features two long par-3s, balanced by two shorter one-shotters. Each has two short (reachable for the long hitter) par-4s, which present themselves just when you’re ready for a bit of a breather—or a chance at redemption.

The Canyon Course is a bit more generous (laterally) off the tee than the Mountain, but still has plenty of bite. No one who has played the par-5 finisher when the pin is cut back right will argue this point. Perhaps used when the superintendent is in a bad mood, you’ll find water just five paces behind, in front and to the right of this hole location.

The Mountain Course is more visually intimidating, and has more holes that can be described as “target golf.” Take, for example, the one-of-a-kind No. 3. It’s a par-3 of only 110 yards, but the green is carved out of the side of a mountain, with the tee located on another mountain with a yawning valley in between. We’d recommend a bail out area if there were one; a knock-down shot is your friend, here. Hoist a wedge up into the air and you’ll be at the mercy of the swirling winds. This is a hole you’ll never forget. It is often referred to as “the most photographed hole west of the Mississippi.”

You’ll also enjoy superb conditioning, with speedy greens year-round, thanks to a new hybrid Bermuda surface. And remember: putts break away from the mountains.

JAY MORRISH

Designer Jay Morrish, both by himself and with former design partner Tom Weiskopf, can claim some of the greatest designs in Arizona golf, including Forest Highlands, The Boulders, Troon Golf and Country Club, Stone Canyon and TPC Scottsdale.

Another to add to the list: The Golf Club Scottsdale (thegolfclubscottsdale.com, 480-443-8868). Occupying a drop-dead gorgeous setting north of town, the course has some of the most spectacular 360-degree views imaginable. No real estate development intrudes upon the golf experience. In fact, 75 percent of the course lies adjacent to state preserve land.

A number of design subtleties combine to make this a course you’ll never grow tired of. For example, many holes offer shortcuts off the tee. Most are blind shots (your aiming point will be a distant saguaro or rock outcropping) to a narrow landing area. Pull it off, and you’ll be rewarded with a shorter approach with a better playing angle. Play it safe and aim to the more generous (and clearly visible) landing area, and you’ll be faced with a stiffer challenge for your second.

There’s much more turf (90 acres) at The Golf Club Scottsdale so it’s not what you might call target golf. Instead, it’s the fairway bunkering that applies the pressure. For example, “pitch-out bunker” lies in the right center of the landing area on No. 18. Hit into it and you’ll be forced to play out sideways (hence the name). Be timid and aim too far left and you’ll be through the fairway and into the desert.

The Golf Club Scottsdale is not all subtlety, however. In fact, the green is pretty much straight away at the par-5 5^th—641 yards from the tips! You know a par-5 is all you can handle when Tiger is forced to hit his driver off the deck to reach it in two, as he was when playing the course for the first time. JOHN FOUGHT and TOM LEHMAN 

The Gallery Golf Club (gallerygolf.com, 888-437-4800) north of Tucson at Dove Mountain offers two wonderfully varied golf courses. The North Course, designed by John Fought and Tom Lehman, traverses rugged desert terrain, winding through Ruelas Canyon on the front side and Wild Burro Canyon on the back. The North is heavily bunkered (106 bunkers line the fairways and surround the greens), and your knees will be knocking on several tees, although fairway corridors are much wider than they appear.

The North is filled with fascinating design nuances, some of which take several rounds to appreciate. The short par-4 17^th is an example. It’s drivable for big hitters, but the deepest bunker on the course guards the front of the green. If you lay up short, it’s still not an easy par. A severe ridge runs through the center of the green, which puts pressure on your wedge game. Hit to the same side of the fairway as the hole location and it’s a birdie hole. Fail to do this and bogey is a real possibility.

The South, designed by Fought, may be on a flatter piece of property, but there is a deceptive amount of movement in fairways and greens. Speaking of the greens, they are the South’s primary defense. Turtle-backed and modeled after the greens at Pinehurst No. 2, they will send all but the most accurate shots into collection areas, from which you can play a multitude of short-game shots, from putting 30 feet off the green to bump-and-runs and flop shots.

The South—and its beguiling greens—are host to the Accenture Match Play Championship. If you participate in an office pool, here’s a tip: choose players with strong short games.

JACK NICKLAUS

The Golden Bear has designed dozens of superb desert courses, but Desert Highlands (deserthighlandsscottsdale.com, 480-585-7444) was his first—and is arguably his best. Though not particularly long—just 7,072 from the tips—it’s a challenging test. It’s target-oriented from the tees, with a narrow cut of light rough separating fairway from transition area and desert. (“White on green is the key,” jokes the golf staff.) However, it’s really the green complexes that give Desert Highlands its teeth. Dramatically undulating putting surfaces, bunkering in all the popular miss areas and grass mounding that leads to awkward greenside chips will place a strain on anyone’s short game.

There’s no easing into a round at Desert Highlands. The tee shot at No. 1 (a 356-yard par 4) is one of the most intimidating on the course. The tee is elevated 125 yards above the narrow landing area, with a bunker and rocky desert to the right and waste area to the left. The two-tiered green is guarded left by grassy mounds. Finding the fairway is absolutely essential to get your round off to a good start (miss and you could be re-teeing). Hit the club you’re most comfortable with—even a 5-iron will leave you with an approach of only about 125 yards.

The par-4 4^th is another exceptional hole, playing 417 yards uphill, all against the stunning dramatic backdrop of Pinnacle Peak. A common theme at Desert Highlands: hit the fairway at all costs even if it means keeping your driver in the bag. Grass bunkers (hit in one and you may find yourself wishing they were sand) protect the green left and right. Take an extra half to a full club for the uphill approach toward the mountain.

One test of the quality of a golf course is the number of holes you remember after playing it the first time. The smart money says that after holing out at Desert Highland’s 18^th, you’ll remember them all.

KEN KAVANAUGH

OB Sports (OBSports.com, 480-948-1300) has a well-earned reputation as a developer and operator of world-class golf courses. And though their course portfolio stretches from coast to coast, some of their finest facilities are in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Mesa, Arizona’s, Longbow Golf Club (LongbowGolf.com, 480- 807-5400), for example, is a Ken Kavanaugh design that perfectly exemplifies “core golf.” You won’t find a home on the course. It’s also a desert golf experience unlike any other.

Although holes are bordered by desert filled with Saguaro and other native desert vegetation, the desert floor is groomed, allowing you—in most cases—to find your ball and play it. Longbow offers a great variety of holes, from short par 4s to 600-yard par 5s. No. 17 is a great example of the Kavanaugh design. At 309 yards, this par 4 is reachable for the long hitter. But if you take the aggressive play from the tee and fail to pull it off, you may struggle to make par with a two-tiered green with a grass hollow and bunkers left and desert to the right. The tee shot favors a high power-fade.

SCOTT MILLER

In Fountain Hills, you’ll find another OB Sports facility: Eagle Mountain Golf Club (Eaglemtn.com, 866-863-1234), designed by Scott Miller. His design credits also include the acclaimed Cholla Course at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. Contoured playing corridors will deflect slightly wayward tee shots back toward the fairway, but creative bunkering and undulating greens give golfers all the challenge they can handle— two-putts are anything but a sure thing. No. 18 (pictured above) is a spectacular finisher and typifies Miller’s work at Eagle Mountain.

The tee shot plays downhill to a fairway that will kick slight misses back toward center. But then, watch out: bunkers line the right side from 150 yards out to the greenside, with water right of the green, as well. A bail-out left will leave you with a downhill chip with water beyond the green. Be aggressive off the tee— you’ll want the shortest iron possible for the approach. DYE DESIGNS and SCHMIDT/CURLEY

Sometimes, the best desert golf experiences aren’t found on desert designs at all—at least when the courses are in the Walters Golf portfolio (waltersgolf.com, 888-427-6678). Royal Links Golf Club, Desert Pines Golf Club and Bali Hai Golf Club all may be located in the Las Vegas desert, but to play them, you’d never guess. But the three offer some of the most uniquely enjoyable rounds of golf you’ll ever experience.

Royal Links, by Dye Designs, faithfully replicates 18 of Scotland’s legendary links holes. You’ll cross “Swilcan Bridge” and may find yourself in “Hell Bunker” as you play replica holes from courses such as the Old Course, Troon, Muirfield, Turnberry and Carnoustie.

Desert Pines, also by Dye Designs, has been described as the Pinehurst of Las Vegas, with thousands of mature pines lining the fairways, white sand bunkers and water in play on half the holes.

But perhaps the most fun is to be had at Bali Hai. Located just off The Strip, Bali Hai is an immaculately maintained tropical paradise, with blinding white sand, an island green and seven acres of water features. There’s no experience in golf like playing this Schmidt/Curley design, right in the shadow of all the iconic Vegas landmarks.

  SIDE ARTICLE:  "Senior-Friendly Designs"

It’s unfortunate, but true: far too many courses are designed with the stronger player in mind. Sure, the marketing materials may boast of “multiple sets of tees to suit players of all abilities,” but in many cases these forward tees are little more than an afterthought. As a result, senior players encounter courses with irrelevant fairway bunkering and awkward playing angles. Par becomes distorted: some par-4s become reachable off the tee, while others are reachable only in three shots. And compensations in overall course length do nothing to ameliorate seven-foot-deep bunkers or firm, elevated greens—features which can make a course almost unplayable for some seniors.

The golf courses at Robson Communities (robson.com, 800-732-9949) in Arizona and Texas bring the best of desert golf to the senior golfer. Robson has tapped some of Arizona’s most acclaimed course architects including Dick Bailey (Whitehawk Ranch and The Golf Club Scottsdale, with Jay Morrish), Gary Panks (Grayhawk’s Talon Course and the Sedona Golf Resort) and Ken Kavanaugh (The Homestead at Murphy Creek and The Oregon Golf Club, with Peter Jacobsen), to create a collection of courses with seniors in mind. You’ll find all of the beauty, shot values and drama of the great desert courses, but you’ll be able to enjoy (and be challenged by) the playing lines envisioned by the designers.

There are three Robson Communities located near Tucson (a fourth is coming soon), and one located just west of Phoenix. A sixth community is located just south of historic Denton, Texas. In addition to golf, all feature a variety of amenities for (very) active retirees.