Special Places - Ritz Carlton GC

An elite field of the top 64 golfers in the world rankings will travel to the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain in Arizona for the WGC Accenture World Match Play Championship. The event has been hosted here since the resort opened in 2009, and Paul Casey will hope the third time is the charm after two runner-up finishes, firstly to Geoff Ogilvy and then defending champion Ian Poulter. All-time great Jack Nicklaus’ brief when he designed this layout was threefold: create a course that would challenge the world’s very best in an annual tournament, capture the imagination of guests at a 5-star leisure destination and remain enjoyable for the private club members of a new luxury golf community. Jack accomplished his goal with a masterful design of three distinct 9-hole loops in the High Sonora Desert - the Saguaro, the Tortolita and the Wild Burro.

The Saguaro is the tournament’s front nine and is named for the majestic saguaro cactus forest to the west. Stretching to 3600m and playing to a par of 36 the first nine holes are typically Nicklaus with large greens and generous fairways. There are forced carries over desert washes from the tee and approaches to the greens, together with significant undulations and changes in elevation. There is also a variety of sand traps, from classic pot bunkers to vast waste areas along the fairways, all framed by the distinctive saguaro cactus with its arms reaching skyward. Water is in play on only one hole, the 190m par 3 3rd where a large pond sits to the right and partially in front of a green that is well protected by bunkers, and slopes left to right towards the water.

The Accenture Match Play’s back nine is the 3650m par 36 Totolita that winds along the base of the Tortolita Mountains. The third hole, a 200m picturesque par 3, is the highest point on the complex at just less than 1000 metres. Holes five to eight meander through an arid and secluded canyon, arriving at the 440m par 4 9th where the grassy surrounds to the green are sculpted into a natural amphitheatre to greet any match that goes the distance.

When this layout on the outskirts of Tucson opened for play just five weeks before hosting the 2009 Match Play some of the world’s best players thought it was brutal and unfair. Jack Nicklaus believes he has created a thinking man’s course where every shot merits consideration before execution. Certainly visually spectacular and stunning, only time will tell where Dove Mountain will rank among the 280 courses Jack has designed.