Renegade course
Lots of clubs say their courses offer “challenge for the good golfer as well as fun for the new player.” But no one is doing it the way Desert Mountain is doing it. And no other golf community is home to seven stunning championship courses.
In the past year, Desert Mountain has added a new short course (bringing the total number of courses to seven) and renovated its original, Renegade, in a manner that truly makes it fit—and fun for—every golfer. Plus, the club already boasts one of the most advanced teaching centers in the country. All the necessary ingredients for learning, mastery, and lifetime enjoyment of the game in one place.
“We’re able to give the best golfers all the challenge they can handle, but also develop people who haven’t played before,” says Desert Mountain’s Director of Golf, John Lyberger.
The Jim Flick Performance Center (pictured below)—named after one of golf’s legendary instructors, who spent more than 18 years at Desert Mountain—is 6,500 square feet devoted to teaching golf’s key elements, swing, fitness, the mental game, and club fitting. Equipped with the latest technology and a dedicated staff, the center can introduce someone to the game while making even the most experienced golfer better.
The newest course, No. 7 at Desert Mountain, is the centerpiece of the exclusive, new Seven Desert Mountain community. It’s par 54, plays to 3,114 yards, and promises experienced players a good skills workout as well spirited competition. Just as important, with wide fairways, large greens, and choice of tees, No. 7 is the perfect place for the new player to ease into the on-course experience. Plus, all but 3 of the 190 homesites are positioned for premium fairway views.
The next step up Desert Mountain’s golf ladder is the recently renovated Renegade Course, the first of the six Jack Nicklaus Signature courses built on property. When Nicklaus laid out Renegade back in 1987, he pushed the limits of golf design by building two greens on every hole, along with a selection of tees: Depending on the choices made, Renegade could be either the easiest or hardest course in the country. When time came to modernize the design and upgrade the maintenance, the Nicklaus Design team took the concept of “player’s choice” to its extremes.
The renovation of Renegade has been total: new greens, bunkers, tees, cart paths, drainage, irrigation system, lake construction, and going to a cool weather bent grass that will keep the course open for more of the club’s prime season. Holes still offer multiple pin placements, but with a difference: 11 holes have two greens each, six have one large green with two flags, and one hole—No. 14—has three greens, with two in play each day. Also, each hole has a choice of seven tees, creating hundreds of possible ways to play the course, options that make Renegade ideally suited to seniors, juniors, women, and anyone else looking for inviting rather than intimidating.
“Pick your appropriate distance, set the right carry distance over bunkers, play any course you want,” explains Lyberger. “The course gives options in length, topography, ways to run the ball onto the green. High handicappers who can’t handle a forced carry can still get their ball on with a hybrid or fairway wood. They couldn’t be happier, and we couldn’t be happier.”
The ultimate learning facility, a “short course” that is fun for all, and six Nicklaus-designed layouts that vary in look, topography, and experience. Something for every golfer, of all ages, skill levels, and devotion of the game.
Says Lyberger, “Our mission to our members is to offer variety, great golf, and the best recreational opportunities.” It’s a mission Desert Mountain is uniquely capable of serving.
