Oakcreek Country Club

Sedona’s first 18, below Bell Rock.

Oakcreek opened in 1968 as Sedona’s first golf course, and more than 55 years on it is still the area’s original championship layout and its most straightforward public round. It sits on Bell Rock Boulevard in the Village of Oak Creek, south of uptown Sedona, with red rock buttes around the edges of the property. Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his son Robert Trent Jones Jr. built a tree-lined, Midwestern-style parkland course rather than a desert target layout, and every public green fee includes a cart and range balls.

Oakcreek Country Club green fees and tee times.

Oakcreek is open to the public every day. Book by phone on 928-284-1660 or through the club’s OCC Sedona app; the club notes that internet rates can vary with availability. It does not publish a booking window or a handicap rule. Timing matters more here than at most courses. From December to February there are no morning tee times: public play goes off an 11am shotgun, and nine holes are only available after it. The rest of the year the first tee time is 8am and play continues until dark, though walking is not allowed in the evenings. Arizona residents can buy a Quail Card, which brings 18 holes down to $70–$85.

The round, in perspective.

Miller Barber and Bob Rosburg played the opening match. The club sums up the design in a single line: every hole should be a hard par and an easy bogey. That means doglegs lined with trees, fairway bunkers placed for the tee shot, and slightly raised greens ringed by large, swirling bunkers, with enough room to recover from a miss. The course covers 145 acres and three lakes, and water comes into play at the 4th, 6th and 7th going out and the 10th and 18th coming home. From the black tees it measures 6,824 yards, par 72, rated 72.0 with a slope of 134; the blue tees are 6,353 yards, and forward sets come down to 4,419. It has hosted the Sedona Open and Arizona Golf Association events.

Know before you go.

Winter start

11am shotgun, December–February

First tee time

8am the rest of the year

Included

Cart and range balls with every green fee

Walking

Not allowed in the evenings

Rental clubs

Available from the golf shop

Make the trip work.

The rate card rewards flexibility. Spring and autumn mornings are the dearest slots, but in those months the price falls to $169 between 11am and 3pm and to $74 after 3pm, when you play as many holes as the light allows. In summer the morning rate drops to $145, and nine holes start at $69. Every fee includes range balls, so arrive early and warm up. The Oakcreek Bistro in the clubhouse has a full bar and looks across the putting and chipping greens to the 18th.

Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) is the usual gateway, around two hours north by Interstate 17 and then State Route 179, which passes through the Village of Oak Creek on its way to Sedona. Flagstaff Pulliam (FLG) is closer, at roughly 45 minutes, but has fewer flights. The club is at 690 Bell Rock Boulevard, just off 179, so you reach it before Sedona’s busier streets.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Sedona Golf Resort (1 km)

Somewhere to settle in.

The club itself has nowhere to stay. The Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock is the nearest large hotel, a minute or two away beside Sedona Golf Resort, and the Village of Oak Creek has smaller inns and holiday rentals within a short drive of the first tee. Staying in uptown Sedona puts you near the restaurants, galleries and trailheads but adds a drive back down 179 each morning.

Make a trip of it.

Sedona Golf Resort, the Gary Panks course about a mile away, is the natural partner and has its own guide on this site. Seven Canyons, a Tom Weiskopf design, is private and open only to members and guests of Enchantment Resort, and Canyon Mesa is a nine-hole executive course for a short evening loop. The Scottsdale courses on this site, from Troon North to We-Ko-Pa, are about two hours south. Off the course, the Bell Rock Pathway is minutes from the club, and Tlaquepaque arts village is in Sedona itself.

Find your season.

Visit Sedona puts average highs at 93°F in summer and 58°F in winter, with more than 300 days of sunshine, and the area’s bent grass greens and rye fairways are kept up all year. Oakcreek prices the year in three: winter with its late shotgun, peak spring and autumn rates from March to May and September to November, and cheaper summer golf.