PLAYROUND COURSE GUIDE

How to Play Talking Stick Golf Club — O’odham Course

Course strategy, tee-specific yardages and a hole-by-hole game plan for Talking Stick Golf Club — O’odham Course in Scottsdale, AZ.

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Talking Stick Golf Club — O’odham Course

Scottsdale, AZ

Black tees · 7,001 yards

COURSE OVERVIEW

About Talking Stick Golf Club — O’odham Course

Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 1997, Talking Stick Golf Club's O'odham Course (formerly the North Course) is a minimalist, desert links-style layout set on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land in Scottsdale, Arizona. Built on virtually flat terrain with zero residential development, the course features broad angular fairways, strategic crossbunkering, split fairways, low-profile crowned greens, and tight short-grass surrounds that demand thoughtful positioning and ground-game precision.

COURSE STRATEGY

How to play Talking Stick Golf Club — O’odham Course

Off the tee

Fairways are broad and welcoming, but tee shots require strategic placement to clear midline crossbunkers, central hazards, and split-fairway forks. Positioning to one side of the fairway often opens up superior approach angles into crowned greens.

Elevation & terrain

The terrain is exceptionally flat across the entire property, meaning elevation change is not a factor in club selection or distance calculation. Ground contours, firm turf, and wind dictate play.

Approach play

Approaches are played into low-profile, crowned, and subtly sloped greens surrounded by tight short grass. Close-cropped aprons encourage bump-and-run techniques as well as high aerial shots.

Around the greens

Greens complexes feature subtle tiers, central plateaus, and gentle crowns that repel off-center shots into tight collection areas and surrounding bunkers, making precise chip shots necessary.

Best way to play it

Prioritize fairway angles over pure distance off the tee to clear strategic bunkering, and utilize the firm ground conditions to run approaches onto crowned greens.

Key takeaways

Minimalist Coore & Crenshaw design with broad fairways, open views, and no housing on the course.
Virtually flat desert terrain where strategy is governed by fairway angles, crossbunkering, and firm ground.
Distinctive split-fairway design concepts on holes 4, 12 ('Red Mountain'), and 15.
Crowned, low-profile greens surrounded by short-grass aprons that reward creative ground-game approaches.

YOUR GAME PLAN

Hole-by-hole game plan

Hole

Par

Yards

HCP

Strategy

397

Favor the right-center portion of the fairway off the tee to avoid the left bunker and out-of-bounds area, setting up a clean approach into a back-to-front sloped green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~157 yards remaining by raw distance.

539

Keep tee shots and layups down the right side of the wide fairway to remain well clear of the left boundary fence, leaving a straight shot into a green protected by bunkers short and right.

Your 240 yd driver · ~299 yards remaining by raw distance. Plan this primarily as a three-shot hole.

438

Target the fairway center to stay right of the left crossbunker and left of the right-side fairway bunkers, then attack the subtle green guarding against the right greenside sand.

Your 240 yd driver · ~198 yards remaining by raw distance.

425

Choose the left fairway lane for a clearer angle into the green while avoiding the extensive bunkering lining the right side of the landing area.

Your 240 yd driver · ~185 yards remaining by raw distance.

381

Aim to the left side of the fairway or lay back short of the central bunker off the tee to create a controlled wedge angle into a heavily bunker-protected green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~141 yards remaining by raw distance.

214

Play for the center of the green complex to navigate surrounding bunkering and prevent shots from rolling off into tight short-grass collection areas.

435

Drive down the left-center section of the fairway to clear the corner and secure an unobstructed view into the green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~195 yards remaining by raw distance.

153

Hit to the precise center or designated tier of the green to avoid the middle ridge repelling balls toward short and left greenside bunkers.

439

Position your drive down the middle between the left and right fairway traps, then approach the left side of the green to stay clear of the large right bunker.

Your 240 yd driver · ~199 yards remaining by raw distance.

429

Favor the left-center portion of the wide fairway to stay away from the right-side out of bounds while avoiding the sequential left crossbunkers.

Your 240 yd driver · ~189 yards remaining by raw distance.

262

Take enough club to clear the front bunker and target the left side of the green, allowing the left-to-right and back-to-right slope to funnel the ball toward the hole.

389

Choose between the risky left fairway route requiring a long carry for a short wedge approach, or the wide right fairway offering safety but a longer approach across the wash.

Your 240 yd driver · ~149 yards remaining by raw distance.

384

Tee off toward the left side of the fairway to keep clear of the right bunkers, establishing a direct line up the green's false front.

Your 240 yd driver · ~144 yards remaining by raw distance.

434

Drive toward the right-center of the fairway to bypass the left bunker chain, setting up a straight approach onto a raised green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~194 yards remaining by raw distance.

457

Carry or steer right of the central cloud bunker off the tee to secure the ideal angle into the diagonal green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~217 yards remaining by raw distance.

189

Select enough club to comfortably carry the native desert vegetation and aim for the middle of the large putting surface.

572

Hit a straight tee shot into the generous fairway, lay up to the left side to avoid a right fairway bunker 85 yards short, and play your approach onto a right-extending green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~332 yards remaining by raw distance. Plan this primarily as a three-shot hole.

464

Aim down the left-center off the tee to clear the right fairway traps, giving an unobstructed approach into the final green.

Your 240 yd driver · ~224 yards remaining by raw distance.

Course information and strategy are provided for planning purposes. Yardages, course setup, hazards and playing conditions can change. Always confirm current course information before your round.