McCormick Ranch Real Estate & Homes

You have to look beyond a resort haven’s big-money plays to find its golf heart. You need to see a course like McCormick Ranch.

Right in the heart of Scottsdale’s resort corridor, McCormick Ranch is anything but your typical all-snob, no-squeals palace. There are kids all over the range, kids (gasp!) on the course.

This is no bare-bones cheapie - it’s an interesting Desmond Muirhead design that charges more than $130 in high season. Yet it’s found a way to succeed welcoming those who are still growing (whereas most high-end courses are populated by those who are shrinking).

And with the help of McCormick Ranch Golf Club, a local kid becomes a golf phenom.

Amanda Blumenherst is the star of Duke’s powerhouse golf team, a future LPGA player. I met her and her father, Dave, when she was still in high school, hitting shots past sundown on McCormick Ranch’s back practice range.

“You need a place like this where you can actually play the course a lot growing up, rather than just being limited to the driving range,” Blumenherst told me.