Verrado Golf Club s Founders Course is a spectacular course you should not miss when you are in the greater Scottsdale/Phoenix golf mecca. Located in the town of Buckeye in the far southwestern corner of the region, it s one of two eighteens designed by John Fought and Tom Lehman at the club. (The other layout, Verrado Golf Club Victory Course, plays out of its own clubhouse in a separate location.) Verrado Golf Club Founders Course is the club's original and premier playing field. When it opened in 2005 it immediately copped honors as one of the Top New Golf Courses in the country in both GolfWeek and Golf magazine. The course, which winds through the upscale Verrado Founders community, has long been a fixture on Golf Advisor s list of the Top Courses of Arizona and for a time Golf Digest even rated it the no. 1 course in the state. Fought and Lehman created a masterpiece on rugged terrain. The layout showcases awesome views overlooking the Valley of the Sun and the Phoenix Skyline from a perch in the White Tank foothills. Verrado Golf Club Founders Course is a par 72 that plays anywhere from 5,142 yards to 7,258 yards. Everyone can find a distance that suits them. The course features five sets of tee markers, but with the hybrid teeing options on the scorecard, players have nine different distances to choose from. Dramatic elevation changes highlight a broad-shouldered routing that moves up and down in the landscape. The holes on Verrado Golf Club Founders Course play amidst deep desert ravines and box canyons with massive rock croppings and gorgeous desert vegetation all around. Though forbidding desert looms wide of the lush irrigated turf, the fairway landing areas are, for the most part, generous. Memorable holes abound at Verrado Golf Club Founders Course. The 3rd and 14th holes are big-drop par 3s. Fourteen boasts the highest tee box on the golf grounds. It s a welcome relief from the 13th hole, which plays severely uphill and features an almost outrageously penal false front. Water factors into play by the greens of the par-4 9th, the short par-3 17th, and the downhill, downwind 18th which is backdropped by the clubhouse. It s one final rousing hole of a round filled with wow moments. You ll be well served to warm up before you set off on your round. Practice facilities include a driving range and a putting green. Verrado Golf Club boasts a rustically elegant clubhouse. The clubhouse is home to a well-stocked golf shop and a grill restaurant where you can tuck into tasty food and cold beverages. It s a popular local hangout. Verrado Golf Club Founders Course steals the show, however. A tee time in Buckeye provides an unforgettable experience at one of the very best courses in the entire Valley of the Sun.