We recently played the Classic Club and Tradition Club--2 excellent Arnold Palmer desert courses in the Palm Springs area. When we heard that Arnold Palmer designed a course in Scottsdale (Wildfire),... Continue »

We recently played the Classic Club and Tradition Club--2 excellent Arnold Palmer desert courses in the Palm Springs area. When we heard that Arnold Palmer designed a course in Scottsdale (Wildfire), we wanted to give it try. But we accidentally showed up at ANOTHER Arnold Palmer course called at STARfire (which happened to be just down the road from the Wildfire-Palmer course).

Assuming that Starfire would be another course in the mold of the Classic Club, Tradition Club, and Aviara (all Palmer courses), we decided to stick around. Bad assumption.

Starfire has a lot of good things--three friendly greeters grabbed clubs from our car, and loaded up our cart; the pro shop and restaurant folks couldn't have been nicer; the green fees were only $28(!); the course was empty; and the greens and bunkers were in very good to decent shape. Maybe enough good things to overlook the fairways (which were in very rough shape).

But the course layout is nothing like Classic Club or Aviara. While there are a few interesting par 3s, the course is fairly straightforward, winds among houses, and borders several busy streets. It seems like it offers a good value for the price; but it's a far cry from what we assumed was the typical Arnold Palmer layout/experience.