Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa’s new Tom Lehman-designed target golf Sonoran Course, nestled in the western foothills of Tucson’s Santa Catalina’s Mountains, opened to the public Jan. 1.
The new desert-style course complements the resort’s parkland-file course, the Catalina, home to the PGA Tour’s annual Chrysler Classic. This gives the Omni resort two 18-hole championship courses.
Lehman also redesigned two holes on the Catalina course to lengthen and tighten the holes, as well as enhance their safety.
The Lehman Design Group redesigned the former nine-hole Green course and added nine holes to create the Sonoran course. Lehman’s design objectives were to use and protect the natural washes and native vegetation, to create a seamless appearance between the two parcels and to create a layout with elevation changes and rolling greens that require golfers to hit a variety of shots using every club in their bag. The par-70 course, which features MiniVerdi Bermudagrass greens, measures 5,254 to 7,138 yards. However, length was not Lehman’s primary challenge.
“Length doesn’t necessarily mean better,” he says.
The design team incorporated strategic fairway bunkering, requiring players to carefully place their tee shots. The green complexes require thoughtful approaches with challenging short shots and angles.
Lehman kept the players’ interests in mind with the goal of creating a fair, safe and fun course that gives golfers an element of risk without being penalized. Taking advantage of the numerous dramatic desert vistas and mountains, Lehman enhanced the players’ overall experience.
“I’ve enjoyed creating a golf course that the members and guests will enjoy, find interesting, feel challenged by, and look forward to playing again and again and again,” Lehman says. “Hopefully, everyone’s expectations will not only be met but exceeded.”
Lehman’s supervision went beyond the nine-month design period. He took an on-site role during the construction phase. The construction contractor, Wadsworth Golf Construction Co., completed the project in 10 months.
Wayne Fraijo, assistant superintendent for the Sonoran Course, says Lehman was a pleasure to work with during the construction phase.
“We’d walk the course once a month where he placed special emphasis on bunker placement,” Fraijo says.
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Lehman Design Group currently has golf courses in the design or construction stage in Arizona, California and Canada. Lehman began designing courses in 1996 and has completed 11 course designs. GCN