PLAYROUND COURSE GUIDE

How to Play Wildfire — Palmer

Course strategy, tee-specific yardages and a hole-by-hole game plan for Wildfire — Palmer in Phoenix, AZ.

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Wildfire — Palmer golf course

Wildfire — Palmer

Phoenix, AZ
Black tees · 7,145 yards
COURSE OVERVIEW

About Wildfire — Palmer

Designed by Arnold Palmer and opened in 1997 at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, the Palmer Course at Wildfire Golf Club is a desert layout known for wide fairways, scenic mountain backdrops, and expansive undulating greens. The layout features strategic flashed bunkering, natural desert arroyos, segmented fairways, and select water hazards on the back nine.

COURSE STRATEGY

How to play Wildfire — Palmer

Off the tee

Fairways are wide and forgiving, allowing players to swing freely with driver on most holes. However, landing areas narrow downcourse on select holes, and several par 5s feature segmented fairways separated by desert waste.

Elevation & terrain

Situated on flat Sonoran Desert terrain near the McDowell Mountains, elevation changes across the layout are minimal and rarely affect club selection.

Approach play

Approach shots often demand aerial carries over flashed bunkering or desert washes to large putting surfaces. Certain holes omit greenside bunkers completely, offering open entryways and contour mounding.

Around the greens

Greens are expansive and feature significant undulation and multi-tiered shelves. Surrounding turf mounds and flashed sand bunkers require versatile chipping and sound lag putting.

Best way to play it

Capitalize on open tee shots, execute clean layups across desert waste gaps on multi-section fairways, and target the center of large green complexes to avoid peripheral sand and water hazards.

Key takeaways

  • Generous fairways keep tee shots in play, but segmented fairways force tactical layup decisions.
  • Prominent flashed bunkering guards many greens, while select holes rely entirely on mounding.
  • Water hazards protect the right side of key approach zones on the back nine.
  • Large, contoured greens demand strong distance control and effective lag putting.
YOUR GAME PLAN

Hole-by-hole game plan

Hole
Par
Yards
HCP
Strategy
1
4
415
11
Target the center-right side of the fairway off the tee to clear the forced carry and secure an open angle into a green guarded by bunkers set short.
Your 240 yd driver · ~175 yards remaining by raw distance.
2
4
450
3
Position the tee shot cleanly on the fairway before it runs out. The approach requires a full carry over native desert terrain to a green complex framed by contour mounding rather than bunkers.
Your 240 yd driver · ~210 yards remaining by raw distance.
3
5
605
1
Prioritize accuracy off the tee into the initial landing strip. The layup shot must cross a left-side bunker complex to hit the second fairway section, setting up an approach to a green protected by a single left bunker.
Your 240 yd driver · ~365 yards remaining by raw distance. Plan this primarily as a three-shot hole.
4
4
345
13
Lay up with a fairway wood or mid-iron off the tee to the broad fairway area. Challenging the green with driver brings the right ravine and left out-of-bounds into play while leaving a difficult shot over fronting bunkers.
Your 240 yd driver · ~105 yards remaining by raw distance.
5
3
160
17
Take enough club to clear the front bunker complex protecting the ridge. Bailing out to the right leaves a delicate recovery to a green with noticeable slope.
6
4
415
7
Tee off with less than driver to favor the wider first section of fairway while avoiding the bunker complex on the left. The fairway tightens considerably on the approach toward the green.
Your 240 yd driver · ~175 yards remaining by raw distance.
7
4
465
5
Favor a tee shot that stays right of the dogleg corner while avoiding the far fairway bunkers. The approach faces a narrow, deep green with no surrounding sand bunkers, leaving ample room to miss right.
Your 240 yd driver · ~225 yards remaining by raw distance.
8
3
225
9
Carry the tee shot cleanly over the fronting bunker complex, or play short-center where generous landing space remains before the sand.
9
5
520
15
Cross the initial desert waste off the tee to reach the main fairway. The second shot must carry the diagonal sand trench to access the elevated upper fairway, setting up a wedge approach to a moderate green.
Your 240 yd driver · ~280 yards remaining by raw distance. Plan this primarily as a three-shot hole.
10
4
420
10
Lay back off the tee with a fairway wood or long iron to hit the wider section of fairway. On the approach, play toward the center or right side of the green to avoid the lateral water hazard guarding the left.
Your 240 yd driver · ~180 yards remaining by raw distance.
11
5
550
6
Aim down the left side off the tee to stay clear of the water hazard on the right. The layup shot must carry a desert gap to reach the second fairway, keeping left of the bunkers lining the right side of the approach.
Your 240 yd driver · ~310 yards remaining by raw distance. Plan this primarily as a three-shot hole.
12
4
430
8
Shape the tee shot right-to-left around the bend into the generous landing zone. With no sand traps on the hole, fire directly at target flags on the well-sized green.
Your 240 yd driver · ~190 yards remaining by raw distance.
13
3
175
18
Focus purely on distance control to reach the large putting surface. With no greenside bunkers present, play aggressively for the center of the green.
14
5
530
4
Place the tee shot into the narrowing first fairway section. On the second shot, choose the wider left fairway option to gain a clearer angle to the green and avoid central trees.
Your 240 yd driver · ~290 yards remaining by raw distance. Plan this primarily as a three-shot hole.
15
3
205
14
Aim for the center of the wide green surface. Ample room exists short of the putting surface for run-up shots, but wide lateral misses enter native desert vegetation.
16
4
355
16
Lay up short of the deep bunker cluster on the right using a fairway wood or long iron. Trying to drive close to the green introduces surrounding hazards and difficult bunker lies.
Your 240 yd driver · ~115 yards remaining by raw distance.
17
4
450
2
Carry the fairway gap on the tee shot. Aim approach shots toward the left-center of the green, using the left fairway mounding as a safe miss away from the water hazard on the right.
Your 240 yd driver · ~210 yards remaining by raw distance.
18
4
430
12
Drive down the left-center of the fairway to avoid the right bunker off the tee. Approach the broad green aiming for side entry angles to bypass fronting sand traps.
Your 240 yd driver · ~190 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.