After spending a good portion of the 1999-2000 winter in Michigan, I was looking forward to my favorite pastime, golf, in warm sunny Arizona. Having lived for a year or two in Arizona as a youth, I have learned to love the wonderful predictable, warm weather and the friendly people. On this trip, I wanted to experience a resort I had heard great things about when I was there as a youth, more years ago than I want to remember.

Southwestern charm that doesn’t end…this is The WIGWAM RESORT. Located just 25 minutes west of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport and downtown Phoenix, The Wigwam’s country club garden setting offers a relaxed intimate atmosphere that seems a million miles away from urban stress. Acres of lush green lawns, fragrant flower gardens, citurus groves and towering palms surround The Wigwam’s quaint village of 331 adobe guest casitas. The individual casitas, nestled along golf fairways, garden courtyards, and sparkling pools, feature oversized bathrooms, walk-in closets, 3 telephones, in-room safes and distressed-wood furnishings that reflect the resort’s elegant but rustic southwestern ambiance.

Guest room amenities and services include fully-stocked wet bar and refrigerator, cable television, in-room movies, Caswell-Massey toiletires, thick cotton terrycloth robes, make-up mirrors, hair drayer, scale, ironing board and iron, turndown service, 24-hour Room Service and same day laundry/valet.

The Wigwam was once a private club, built in 1918, and served as lodging for executives of the Goodyear Tire & Rubbr Company. Not long after, many gests realized the special vacation experience existing here and the facilities were expanded to be made available to the public in 1929. Since then, many changes and restorations have taken place; however, a portion of the original structure still stands as a presentation and reminder of the “Authentic Arizona.”

The Wigwam boasts a myriad of recreational activities including three championship 18-hole golf courses, golf shop, two pools, 9 tennis courts and tennis shop, health club with spa services and beauty salon. Off-property activities including hot-air ballooning, sunset horseback rides, desertr jeep tours and day trips to the Grand Canyon or Sedona can be booked on site.

The resort’s 54 holes of championship golf remain the centerpiece of The Wigwam experience. The resort’s 36 holes by Robert Trent Jones Sr. are complemented with an underrated championship design by Robert “Red” Lawrence. Caddies are available and walking here is a particular pleasure on Jone’s top-ranked Gold Course.