Loews Ventana Canyon - Mountain Course

Tom Fazio designed both Ventana Canyon courses for the Loews resort in Tucson, opening the Mountain Course in 1984 and Canyon shortly after. Mountain is the more famous of the pair, classic desert target golf with elevated tees, quick undulating greens, and the par-3 third, one of the most photographed holes in the Southwest, where balls have been known to ricochet off boulders into the cup. Mountain debuted inside the top 5 in Arizona in 1987 and held the top 10 from 1989 through 1995. Modern-era recognition has been more variable: 32nd in Arizona for 2025-26 with a #9 Golf Advisor ranking in 2022. The course earned Golf Digest's Best New Course nod when it opened, and was on the publication's 100 Best Resort Courses for years. Standard premium-Tucson resort pricing, well below Scottsdale's marquee tier but firmly $$ to $$$.