Golf Inc., one of the top golf industry trade publications, named We-Ko-Pa Golf Club to its list of the 10 Most Admired Golf Developments in the April 2015 issue of the magazine.
The ten clubs were grouped into four categories – resort courses, daily fee courses, private courses and municipal courses. We-Ko-Pa was the lone course honored in the daily fee category.
The article points to We-Ko-Pa’s unspoiled Sonoran Desert location with mountain views and no commercial development that help it to be “what Arizona golf is all about.”
“The overwhelming majority of our customers want a premier desert golf experience,” said Matt Barr, general manager of We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. “And that’s exactly what we give them.”
To arrive at this conclusion, Golf Inc. “asked golf course operators, developers and industry experts to share their thoughts on which recent golf course developments they admire the most from a business standpoint. Which ones work magic, both for players and investors?” Golf Inc. has already honored We-Ko-Pa’s Derek Crawford, who was the director of golf for the club at the time, in 2009 as one of the 10 Most Admired Golf Operators. And in 2002, We-Ko-Pa earned Development of the Year honors.
Golf Inc. also called out Bandon Dunes, Streamsong Resort and Hammock Beach Resort as the top resort courses. Creighton Farms, Martis Camp and Fieldstone Golf Club were winners in the private category. Chambers Bay Golf Course, Sand Creek Station Golf Course and Butterfield Trail Golf Club earned the top spots in the municipal category.
