The greater Tucson area has 36 golf courses, and almost all are in some stage of financial crisis, even those owned by Phil Mickelson and operated by Marriott, Westin, Loews and the United States Air Force.
Tucson is overbuilt and overburdened by a game that is too expensive, too hard and takes too long to play.
So you might imagine the surprise when I turned off Pantano Parkway, drove through an aging 60-year-old neighborhood and turned into Rolling Hills Golf Club, which is harder to find than the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine.
The parking lot was full.
It was Monday afternoon.
I walked into the so-called “world famous” Niblick Bar and Grill, and the first person I saw was Jo Ann Prentice, who won six LPGA Tour championships. She was sitting next to Margie Masters, another former LPGA champion.
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Do you know who regularly plays in the Friday skins game at Rolling Hills? Ed Updegraff, the finest amateur golfer in Arizona history, a man who has played in the Masters six times.
Jeff Scurran, the uber-successful high school football coach, was on the driving range with his grandson, Julian. And Arizona Golf Hall of Fame writer Jack Rickard was climbing into cart No. 10, paired with Dennis Criswell, who for four years was the chief executive of a company, Touchstone Energy, that sponsored the PGA Tour’s Tucson Open.
Everybody but Happy Gilmore was there.
Rolling Hills is part “Tin Cup” and part “Caddyshack,” and if you think it’s old fashioned, or low-brow, I would suggest that Rolling Hills is more the future of American golf than casino-endowed Sewailo Golf Club or any of those high-end golf courses at Dove Mountain.
“We cover our (financial) nut every year,” said John Anttonen, a former board member of the RHGC who is now on the Tucson City Golf Greens Committee. “We have more than 100 member stockholders and 400 affiliate members. We have food service from 7 to 5 every day, and you can play a round of golf here in three hours.”
A year’s pass at the five Tucson city courses costs about $3,200. At Rolling Hills, it’s $1,265.
Michael Thompson, a PGA Tour winner from Rincon/University High School, routinely played at RHGC. Chris Meyers, the reigning state champion from Canyon del Oro High School, has won a tournament there.
Former UA golfer Tom Tatum, who played on the PGA Tour, owns the course record: 53. Yes, 53.
Rolling Hills is 4,146 yards long. There’s not a par-5 on the property. But the par-63 course, as designed by William F. Bell — yes, the same William F. Bell who designed Torrey Pines — is seriously sloped and shaped so that not even a scratch golfer walks away saying “piece of cake.”
The 185-yard No. 11 hole, an uphill, across-a-wash terror to a two-tiered green as narrow as a Abe Lincoln’s jeans, is my nomination for the most difficult par 3 in Tucson.
Why is this news now?
I mean, Rolling Hills was built in 1960 when Tucson was sprawling, and homes on the east side couldn’t be built fast enough. The developer, Fred M. Busby, was so successful that he infringed on Bell’s architectural design by adding eight houses near the No. 2 hole because, well, because he could.
They were easy to sell when Tucson was experiencing its greatest growth spurt.
Once Criswell retired from the energy business and his active days as a Tucson Conquistador, he wanted to stay involved. Now he’s the president of Rolling Hills, which is a bit more than being involved.
“We had 25,000 to 30,000 rounds played here last year,” he said, a number close to those at Tucson’s two most-played muni courses, Dell Urich and Randolph North. “We’ve got five full-time maintenance employees, we have our own water supply, and we take great pride in making this a fun experience for everyone.”
Criswell and Anttonen wisely worked to change the demographics and image of Rolling Hills by becoming part of the PGA Tour’s First Tee program. It’s not just a place for some cranky old guy to play nine, have a drink and hurry home for a nap.
This year, Criswell created the Edward Jones Southern Arizona Senior Short-Course Open (Jan. 22-23), a 36-hole net tournament for men and women 55 and older with some of the proceeds going to the First Tee program. (Entry information: 298-2401.)
I asked how big the field would be for the inaugural tournament.
“Well, we’ve got 35 golf carts,” Criswell said with a laugh. “So 70 players in the morning and 70 in the afternoon.”
Everybody else will have to wait in the Niblick Bar and Grill on the lookout for Happy Gilmore.
