After a quick lunch we were back out golfing, this time on the Cholla course. In case you didn’t read my previous post, we played the Saguaro course in the morning. So, that review is available if it interests you.

While I had never played Saguaro (before today) I did manage to play a round on Cholla about ten years ago when visiting Phoenix. For the last ten years Cholla has been among my personal favorite courses so I was excited for a second round here. By most accounts, Saguaro is viewed as the better of the two courses by the golf community, but after two rounds on Cholla I’d give it the edge over Saguaro.

Cholla is the original course at We-Ko-Pa and it opened in 2001. These days I don’t see Cholla among many top-100 public lists like I do Saguaro, but I wouldn’t skip a round here on your Phoenix golf trip. A few years back you could easily find Cholla among the top-100 public rankings.

Cholla is designed by Scott Miller, who spent some time working for Jack Nicklaus’ firm before splitting out on his own. Cholla was the first of a handful of Miller courses that I played on this golf trip to the desert. Overall, I am impressed with his work.

Like we did on Saguaro, we played the purple tees and while Cholla is a bit longer it is a par-72 compared to Saguaro’s par-71 setup. The purple tees here are 6,740 yards with a rating and slope combo of 70.7/133. To me, it seems that Cholla is more penal than what those numbers reflect.

Like I did ten years ago, I found Cholla a blast to play! Visually, the holes on Cholla seem more dramatic and I think the course presents better than Saguaro. Fairways snake in different directions, greens are cut into small hillsides and the terrain seems to move more. I know some will say that the funk on Cholla (say on the 2nd, 8th or 16th holes where the tee shots are messy) sways their opinion in favor of Saguaro and I can understand that. Saguaro is an architectural masterpiece while Cholla isn’t.

Cholla has a strong collection of par-3’s and par-4’s. The most interesting par-4 is the short 15th. It is only 299 yards from the purple tees and could be driven. However, lost-ball trouble lurks left and it has a narrow fairway, even for a layup. So, be careful on the 15th if you have a good round going.

The par-3’s on Cholla are my favorite holes because they have a great desert look. The 3rd and 5th are a couple of those holes that have green complexes cut into hillsides. To get it close on the 3rd your tee shot may need to flirt with a desert bank to the left of the green. The 11th is one of the par-3’s on the back and it has mountain views.

The conditions on Cholla were consistent with Saguaro. Everything was lush and soft. The course played longer than I would have thought as there wasn’t much roll. The greens rolled well, just slower than most surfaces on this trip.

I don’t think there is a clear winner between Saguaro and Cholla. I prefer Cholla as I think it is more exciting to play, but Saguaro is a wonderful golf course. No matter where you land with your course preference, I am pretty sure you’ll love your We-Ko-Pa experience!

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):