La Paloma Country Club at The Westin Resort & Spa – Tucson, AZ
La Paloma Country Club, located at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains lies a desert golf oasis and the comfort to match. Nicklaus drew up a beauty in designing La Paloma, one of the earlier designs in his wildly successful course design practice, “Nicklaus Design”. With three sets of nine in Hill, Ridge, and Canyon, La Paloma features seven separate tee boxes to cater to any distance and skill level. Most amateurs will play from either the silver tees (6,000 yards) or the gold tees (about 6,500 yards). With a slope between 138-141, La Paloma will challenge your game and your patience. With steep elevation changes and little room to miss, golfers of all skill levels are in for a treat with this fun-playing course.
When we first arrived, the gargantuan façade of the Santa Catalina Mountains was stunning. We checked in early and went to park and put our stuff down. If you are golfing close to check in time, they offer a complementary service to shuttle your clubs to the course (a bit of a walk away) and have them waiting for you before you arrive.
The Golf Shop at La Paloma
The wind was a steady 20-25 mph when we arrived at the course, not a single group in sight, due to the recent storm that recently came through the area. We were lucky with just wind, rain peppered the area over the previous 48 hours. If nobody is currently at the curb for service, there is a button to press for a staff member to assist you. Apart from your traditional golf cart, La Paloma offers the option of both a 4-person cart as well as GolfBoards. Each golf cart provided us with two bottled waters in the ice cooler as well as built-in ball and club cleaners.
After checking in, we headed to the range and practice area located through the tunnel on the other side of the road. The practice facility featured a full range with a pyramid of balls provided at every station. On one side of the driving range was a putting green, and on the other was a chipping area complete with 2 practice bunkers. The wind was a steady 25mph at that point, so I made sure to hit enough shots to dial in my distances. When you make it over to the putting green, know that most putts break away from the mountain, a tip we gathered from the golf pro.
Ridge and Canyon were the two lucky nines that day, playing at 6,635 from the gold tees. We started on Ridge, which had four of five of the par-4’s being under 400 yards. We were thankful for the lack of distance, especially since hitting into the wind was already proving a challenge just a few holes in. Although La Paloma is traditional desert golf, the fairways were rather playable and wide off the boxes. My favorite hole on the Ridge nine was the 176-yard par-3 4th hole. It played closer to 150-yards due to the dramatic elevation drop. A pitching wedge or nine iron should be enough to get you there from the gold tees. We also noticed throughout our first nine that nearly every green had multiple tiers and slopes, so make sure to warm up with some breaking putts.
Hill Nine: Par 4, Hole 6
Next up was the Canyon nine. You will notice quickly, and especially on this particular nine, that the par-3s require you to carry to the green or else you’re out of play. I was the victim of a slightly chunked tee shot, resulting in a lovely drop and eventual bogey. The course is not especially well-marked. Luckily, I had a range finder to get distances from any point on the course. Check the nearest sprinkler head to get relative distances to the center of the green before each shot.
My favorite hole on the Canyon nine was the par-5 second hole. It plays at 497 yards from the gold tees and turns to the right. There is a massive desert ditch on the right side, which most players will have to carry if going for the green in two. I opted to go for it in two and hit it a bit too well. You guessed it, out of play. There seemed to be a lot of that for our group on this particular day. We would have liked to blame it all on the wind but mishits are part of the game.
Hill Nine: Par-4, Hole 9
La Paloma was one of the most fun and challenging courses I have played. There are some tight fairways and large elevation changes, but a lot of playable holes too. The fairways and greens are very undulated, with a slope of 141 on the Ridge and Canyon nines (from gold tees). The Santa Catalina Mountains make for breathtaking views, and perched tee boxes overlook the city of Tucson.
Once our round ended it was time to experience the beautiful Westin Resort. Unfortunately, that meant my team had to pay up on our lunch bet at the hotel’s restaurant, Azul. The Westin features all kinds of bells and whistles, catering to everyone from golf trippers like us to families with small children. Send the kids to the Westin Family Kids Club and visit the Red Door Spa for a relaxing day. Giant ballroom and meeting rooms for weddings and corporate events. A Tennis and Health Center to accommodate multi-sport interests. A fitness center, offering yoga and exercise classes to guests of all ages and skill levels. The feature amenity at the Westin is no question the outdoor pool area, or “5-Pool Oasis.” See the photo gallery for detailed photos of each amenity.
The pool area contains 5 separate pools and one of the city’s longest waterslides, the 177-foot Slidewinder. Other features of the outdoor area are the swim-up bar, Sabino’s Pool Bar & Grill, a lap pool and a mineral pool. I was wondering the same, what the heck is a mineral pool and what is it for? The mineral pool is kept at approximately 42° F and enriched with salt from the Dead Sea. The pool can be used for a myriad of things, from stimulating blood circulation to reducing inflammation. Due to the weather we unfortunately didn’t get a chance to experience the 5-pool oasis, but all the more reason to return to stay and play again!
Once we paid the painful bill of losing our round, we headed back to the master suite. The master suite consisted of three rooms, with a king bed in one room, 2 full beds in the second room, and a pull out couch in the other. The suite featured 2.5 bathrooms, which was especially luxurious with 4 people. The suites are separated from the actual hotel building as shown on the cover photo. Our room overlooked the city of Tucson and hole 7 of the Canyon nine.
5-Pool Oasis
One of the many small details of the rooms were the rainforest showerheads. Personally, I rarely have access to an over top shower head fixture, so this was especially nice to experience. All the products in the room (shampoo, lotion, conditioner, bed etc.) were provided by Heavenly. The suite also included a small wet bar with a separate sink and a mini fridge to cool beverages.
In conclusion, La Paloma Golf Club was an amazing experience, wind or no wind. Although virtually no part of the course was flat, it was extremely fun to play. The rolling Tucson hills certainly made themselves relevant, especially on the greens. The Westin Resort and Spa provided a relaxing and all-inclusive experience, essentially offering anything we needed. The attention to detail was definitely noticed with little things like offering to bring your clubs over to the course. I am looking forward to returning, hopefully with the traditional spectacular Arizona weather.|
La Paloma Golf Club Course Rating 4 ¼ out of 5 Stars
La Paloma came in at 4.25 stars out of 5. This course was very close to being a 4.5 rating or even higher, but due to the time we came, it suffered from arrival process, green condition and bunker condition. I assume it had to do with the storm that just came through. There was also no beverage cart that particular day since we were the only group out. As I have mentioned throughout this article, this course was very fun to play. The hole variety really made us use every club in the bag and forced us to make shots.