Hole Feature: Orange Tree's No. 18 Wraps Up a Perfect Round

By Cristin Murphy-St.John
Course Reviewer

June 7, 1999

SCOTTSDALE - Hole 18 on the Orange Tree Golf Resort course is the perfect way to end a day of golf. It is a difficult hole and requires precision, much like the course overall.

The tee shot on this hole needs to be straightforward and aimed slightly to the right in order to set up a good second shot. A powerful golfer may need to lay up a little on the tee-shot to keep his ball dry. There is a magnificent water hazard directly in the path of the tee box. That hazard, which houses a spouting fountain, creates the centerpiece for the restaurant and really, the entire course.

The hole is 403 yards from the championship tee box, 340 yards from the ladies. It is a par four and an average golfer will have to play carefully in order to par the hole. The water hugs the left hand side of the hole and has claimed many balls. Near the green, two sand bunkers guard the hole and every golfer will know that to sink the ball here will leave them with a real sense of accomplishment.

The green, once you arrive on it, is sloped and can be rather deceiving. This caused many golfers to two or three putt for bogey or worse. The best way to handle this hole is to be calm, confident and take your time reading the hole, while taking both the water and wind into consideration.

Although on most other holes, the wind does not come into play thanks to housing and other natural barriers, hole 18 is fairly exposed. Thus, wind did play a factor in dunking a couple of tee shots in the fountain.