Best for: The trip's marquee round and the one everybody will tell stories about. Strong players get a legitimate PGA Tour test; higher handicaps get the experience of standing on 16.

Insider tip: If your budget is tight, this is the single course where the summer discount is most worth the heat — the same round that runs $500 in March can be had for around $120 at dawn in July. Avoid the two weeks around the WM Phoenix Open entirely unless you're coming for the tournament, since the course goes into build-out and the whole valley prices spike.

Best for: Groups who want the TPC experience twice without paying Stadium rates, and mixed-skill foursomes who'd rather enjoy the round than survive it.

Insider tip: This is the best value on the property by a wide margin: roughly half the Stadium price for a course that would headline most resorts. Play it first — it's a fair introduction to desert target lines before the Stadium Course starts punishing you for them.

Best for: Purists and anyone who wants desert golf without a single house, cart path bottleneck, or HOA fence in view. Also the most walkable course on this list.

Insider tip: This is the connoisseur's round of the trip and the one that ages best in memory. Because there's no housing to define the corridors, first-timers routinely aim at the wrong bail-out — take a caddie or at least study the yardage book, and trust that the fairways are far wider than they look from the tee.

Best for: Groups who want the classic desert target-golf experience with big views, and the natural 36-hole pairing with Saguaro.

Insider tip: Cholla is the more conventional of the two We-Ko-Pa courses — target golf with defined landing areas, where Saguaro asks you to think. Play Cholla in the morning and Saguaro in the afternoon and the contrast between the two design philosophies is the most interesting golf lesson of the trip.

Best for: The most scenic round in the valley and the one your group will photograph most. Better players will appreciate that the beauty comes with real teeth.

Insider tip: Take the Monday-through-Wednesday same-day replay deal and play Monument in the morning, Pinnacle in the afternoon for roughly 20% off the second round — the best 36-hole value in north Scottsdale. Desert lies are unforgiving, so play the correct tees; there is no rough here, only cactus.

Best for: Mixed-skill groups and anyone who found Monument's forced carries punishing. Equally scenic, meaningfully more playable.

Insider tip: Pinnacle is the friendlier sister but not a pushover, and it's the smarter first round if your group hasn't played desert golf before. Pair it with Monument on a Monday through Wednesday to trigger the replay discount, and put the softer course first so nobody has lost a sleeve before lunch.