Payson Golf Guide

When the Phoenix thermometer starts flirting with 115 and your irons get too hot to hold, Payson is the escape hatch. About 90 minutes up the Beeline Highway, the saguaros give way to ponderosa pines, the air drops 20-plus degrees, and suddenly golf in Arizona feels less like a dare and more like a vacation.

The first time I drove up, I kept waiting for the desert to come back. It never did. Payson sits at roughly 5,000 feet beneath the Mogollon Rim, a 200-mile limestone wall that gives this part of the state its nickname: Rim Country. The thin air adds yards to your tee shots, which is great for your ego until you fly a green you had no business flying.

The headliners are The Rim Golf Club, a Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design carved through what's billed as the largest stand of ponderosa pines in the country, and The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines, a David Graham and Gary Panks layout that is narrower, meaner, and fully capable of eating a sleeve before the turn. Both are private, so you will want to work your connections or ask around about guest play before you pack the sticks. For a public tee time, Payson Golf Club is the town's friendly, no-nonsense option -- and the resident elk do not care about your swing thoughts.

Off the course, Payson is a mountain town, not a resort town, and that's the charm. Hike Tonto Natural Bridge, try your luck at Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, and find a patio with a cold beer and a view of the Rim. Golfers who make the trip will find summer golf in Arizona that doesn't require a 5 a.m. tee time and a cooler full of ice towels.

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