Tubac Golf Resort's 'Tin Cup' legacy makes it a bucket-list round for golfers

In Southern Arizona, there's a plethora of golf courses worth playing. Yes, even in peak summer — hey, cheaper rates!

We've created a guide with 10 courses Southern Arizona golfers should play as soon as possible.

Here's the catch: no country clubs or courses that require memberships to play, which excludes sumptuous tracks like Tucson Country Club — the home course of the Arizona Wildcats — along with La Paloma Country Club, Skyline Country Club, The Gallery Golf Club and Stone Canyon Golf Club. 

Oh, and no putt-putt golf, although we don't discourage anyone from working on their short game at Golf N' Stuff, a longstanding Tucson staple.  

This week, we're featuring courses that should be on your golf to-do list in Southern Arizona.

We're almost to the finish line — 80% of the way there — after Quarry Pines, The Golf Club at Dove Mountain, Casino Del Sol's Sewailo Golf Club, The Club at Starr Pass, Randolph Golf Complex, Arizona National Golf Club, El Conquistador and Omni Tucson National started the countdown.

Our next destination is south of the Old Pueblo in Tubac.

Tubac Golf Resort & Spa

Location: 65 Avenida de Otero, Tubac 

Length: Three nine-hole courses — Otero, Rancho and Anza 

Par: 71 (27 holes for a combined 10,064 yards)

Notable hole: Rancho No. 4, Par 5 (568 yards)

The rundown: Southern Arizona is no stranger to Hollywood using the land as a film set. 

Parts of baseball movie "Major League" were filmed at Hi Corbett Field. "Transformers" used the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Other notable movies shot in Tucson: "Revenge of the Nerds," "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Tombstone." 

About 45 minutes south of Tucson, down Interstate 19 in Santa Cruz County, Tubac Golf Resort & Spa was the site for many scenes in the movie "Tin Cup" with Kevin Costner and Rene Russo.

Tubac Golf Resort & Spa — co-founded by singer and actor Bing Crosby — opened the Otero course, designed by Robert "Red" Lawrence, in 1959. The second course, Rancho, was also designed by Lawrence and later updated by longtime architect and course designer Kev Kavanaugh. The Anza nine-hole course was officially built in 2006. 

The signature course between the trio is Rancho, which was used for several scenes for "Tin Cup," which was released in 1996. Tubac Golf Resort has markers and plaques throughout the golf course for famous scenes in the movie, including the 240-yard approach shot on the fourth hole on Rancho.

Costner, whose name was Roy McAvoy in the movie, was a caddie and challenged David Simms (played by Don Johnson) to use a 3-wood to clear a lake and land a shot on the green. Instead, Simms played it safe and used a 7-iron to layup for par. McAvoy accepted a bet minutes later to hit a 3-wood and get the shot on the green. After showing up Simms, McAvoy was fired as the caddie.

The third tee box on the Rancho course is where Costner broke all of his clubs — putter, too — except for his 7-iron after refusing to listen to his caddie, played by Cheech Marin, in the U.S. Open qualifier. Costner's character finished the rest of the round with only a 7-iron. The 7-iron bet between Costner and Johnson was also filmed at Tubac Golf Resort. 

Several PGA Tour golfers have cameos in "Tin Cup," including Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Lee Janzen and Craig Stadler, among others.

"Tin Cup" is considered one of the greatest golf movies of all time — and Tubac has a piece of that history. Between the course's cinematic history, along with the variation of cottonwood trees, pine trees and oak trees along the fairways, 18 or 27 holes at Tubac Golf Resort makes a strong case to be on the bucket list of Tucson golfers.  

Look out for the cattle roaming near the fairways!