Playing golf at the site of the annual Waste Management Phoenix Open, one of the PGA Tour’s longest-running events, has plenty of appeal, but even without that distinction, the Stadium Course stands as one of the best daily-fee layouts in Arizona. Designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, and tweaked by Weiskopf several times since, it generally is regard as No. 2 among the 29 courses in the tour’s TPC chain, behind the signature TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., which hosts the Players Championship. The Stadium Course opened in 1986 and offers a stern test on the front nine and a thrill ride on the back nine, especially the four finishing holes, which have set the stage for plenty of dramatics in tour events. Their risk-reward nature has proven to be a make-or-break challenge for several prominent pros. The Champions Course, which received a makeover in 2007, isn’t nearly as prominent, but stands as one of Scottsdale’s best golf values. Sometimes, the two are paired together for a reasonably priced 36-hole day.

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