Gold Canyon Golf Resort: You'll need your straightest-hitting golf game and adept course management to prosper on Gold Canyon's highly-rated Dinosaur Mountain course. Having a camera at the ready is not a bad idea either. Laid out in the foothills of the Superstition Mountains, Gold Canyon's first-choice championship course is a wild, undulating and dramatic layout, definitely one to challenge all facets of your game. The early holes takes you through natural and spectacular desert-mountain terrain, with wonderful elevation changes and many stunning golf holes, not least on the signature stretch from the par-5 3rd to the long par-3 5th.

The course will take you up, over and around Dinosaur Mountain with many dramatic tee-to-green elevation changes and long, loping fairways. Although the middle section of the course flattens out and housing becomes more evident, the ever-present views onto impressive mountain scenery more than compensates for any man-made intrusions. There are many dramatically plunging holes played from naturally elevated tees on both-nines; the par-3 14th and par-4 15th being a wonderful back-to-back combination.

Gold Canyon is well worth the 30-minute drive from Phoenix, not least if your intention is to tee it up on the immensely scenic and challenging Mountain course.

At this Stay & Play venue, the on-site accommodation is located close to the golf facilities.