Established in 1963, Papago boasts a 63-year history as a pristine, beautiful course. Recently, the course became the Sun Devils’ new home in 2018. This move was part of a larger renovation project for the course, funded by ASU and the Arizona Golf Community Foundation. 

The Sun Devils’ facilities at Papago are particularly fascinating and of high quality. Golf.com’s Josh Berhow even said Papago holds the  “the coolest practice facility in college golf.” Sun Devil alumnus Phil Mickelson even helped design the state-of-the-art facilities, emphasizing functionality. 

ASU men’s golf head coach Matt Thurmond expressed his fondness for his home course. 

“Papago presents a great challenge for the pros and top collegiate players, while also being enjoyable for anyone, on any day,” Thurmond said.  “The rolling flow of the course coupled with the beautiful views make it one of the most pleasant walks in the valley. It’s difficult enough that may not have your best round ever, but you’re guaranteed to enjoy any day you spend at Papago Golf Club.”

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I was lucky enough to play the course earlier in the month. Unfortunately, I am nowhere near the ability of these college golfers, but I still loved the course. Here were some of my main takeaways.

Fairway Finder

You have to be accurate with your drives. The fairways are narrow, and while the tee shots are pretty straightforward, there is little room for error. Missing left and right won’t usually lose your ball, but will often make your shot hit out of a rocky sand area. 

Distance Made

This course is long. Even from the blue tees, which are the tees after the farthest back tees (black), a driver is definitely required for almost every hole. A shorter tee shot isn’t the end of the world, but a long approach shot will definitely follow it.

Iron Mastery

This course definitely requires good iron play. As mentioned before, it's full of long approach shots and definitely plays as a target practice course. Additionally, three of the four par three holes are tee shots over 200 yards for both the blue and black tees (holes four, eight and 17).

Green Secrets

For this time of year, I would argue that the greens were the easiest part of the course. They didn’t have a ton of breaks, and were at moderate speed… for now. Come March, there is no doubt in my mind that these will be lightning quick and tough just in time for ASU’s season. 

I totally recommend you try the course out! It is definitely a fun and astounding course for golfers of any skill level.