Experiences you’ll discover with a 36-Hole Golf Club Membership
Among the beautiful mountains of Arizona, golfers can enjoy two unique experiences located directly across Highway 260 from one another. The Rim Golf Club, and The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines, are sister clubs in the town of Payson, with each club featuring a major golf champion as a designer.
Former British Open Champion Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish combined their design excellence to produce The Rim Golf Club, replete with towering ponderosa pines, spectacular views, and massive rock formations. On the other side of 260, former U.S. Open and PGA Champion David Graham and noted Scottsdale-based architect Gary Panks, collaborated on The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines, where narrower fairways and more undulating greens will challenge you to hit more targeted golf shots.
Different golf experiences, yes, but each still provides incredible mountain views, the shade of towering pine trees, and the serenity of a private mountain golf course.
To learn more about how the clubs go about marketing these two unique properties, we asked the guy who knows – Mark C. Lyons, Membership Director of The Rim Golf Club & The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines.
Q. Mark, how does having two different, private golf club experiences so close to one another make these properties attractive to prospective members?
The option of having daily variety in golf experiences is the biggest feature of being a golf member here at the Payson Clubs. We have many members that play one course one day and the other the next. Both courses have the same grasses with Bent Grass greens and Kentucky Blue Grass and Rye mix in the Fairways, roughs and tees. With many members playing one course today and the other the next, we keep the course conditions in as similar condition as possible. Greens usually run between 10.5 and 11.0 on the stimp meter. That is the end of the similarities, as Chaparral Pines winds through the trees with conservative play being rewarded while The Rim is very forgiving off the tee and you can play as aggressively as you like. The greens at Chaparral Pines are slightly more undulating than the greens at The Rim.
Q. What are the specific features that you highlight about each course?
Both course architects tried to keep most of the original rock outcroppings that existed prior to the golf courses being built. This kept the integrity of the land and provides a very natural setting for golf. While the Rim Golf Course property sits higher as a whole, there are a few more vistas that can be enjoyed while playing The Rim. Chaparral Pines has its views as well but plays more through the towering Ponderosa Pines on many holes and has several elevated teeing areas to begin the hole. Another interesting feature of Chaparral Pines is there are three par 3s on the front nine and three par 5s on the back nine so it plays 35 on the front and 37 on the back. Two of the par 5s on the back are very reachable in two and a great opportunity to score.
Q. Do you find that members play both clubs an equal amount?
Each Club plays about 13,000 rounds a year, which means getting on the golf course is almost never an issue for our members. Not having to worry about trying to get on the golf course means you get to use the golf course on your schedule. This seems somewhat unique in today’s golf world. Members play both courses and there is usually one tournament per month at each Club during most months of the calendar year. Several of our tournaments are combined between the two Clubs providing a great opportunity to spend time with other members from each community. This lends to making friends from many different backgrounds and leads to future meals at the Club and long-term friendships made. Most tournaments are designed for golfers of all different ability levels, which maximizes the enjoyment for the majority of our golfing members.
Q. What is unique about the clubhouses and amenities at each of the two clubs?
While the golf courses provide a totally different golf experience, each Clubhouse does the same. Chaparral Pines is mostly described by our members as a Mountain Ski Lodge feel with everything for the members on one floor with a large double fireplace, and the patio looking out over the 18th green amongst the tall pines. Conversely, The Rim was supposed to be designed like an old Baron’s manor. The Rim Clubhouse is very spread out with lots of rock. After entering the food and beverage building, the experience only gets better by the step, culminating in an indoor/outdoor lounge and bar area looking directly east with a view that you can only truly experience by being here. Words do not do it justice.
Q. What types of questions do you typically get from prospective members, and how do you respond?
The two questions I get more often than any others are, “Do we really play golf all year round” and ‘Are the members here friendly, and will we fit in?” The members at both Clubs are very welcoming and after hearing of a new member of the community moving in, it is typically followed by a dinner or hor’s d’eouvres party in the new member’s honor hosted by a current member at their house. Usually there are 40 or more members who attend to help welcome the new member.
We do play golf all year round with the average high in January over the past 60 years being 54 degrees. In December, January and February we start tee times at 11 am due to frost, which means golfers are usually out on the course during the best part of the day. On average over our 20-year history we have only been closed due to weather an average of four days per year.