Architect Robert "Red" Lawrence's evocation of classic strategic playing principles in the Sonoran foothills is more than a conventional course, and "Desert Forest Golf Club" is more than a conventional club history.

The book locates a unique tale within the larger scope of developments in Phoenix and Arizona, including the story of how real estate visionaries Tom Darlington and K.T. Palmer founded the town of Carefree with Desert Forest Golf Club at its heart.

Here is a club that cherishes its identity and has preserved its tradtional character: a golf club, not a country club, with a simple clubhouse; a course that doesn't overseed and goes dormant brown in winter; and holes without a single fairway bunker that yet demand some of the most exacting shot-making to be found anywhere in the U.S.

"When Desert Forest Golf Club opened for play in 1962, it was far ahead of its time. Early members had to have a true pioneer spirit to travel twenty miles across the desert to play golf, but good players embraced its rugged challenges, and the course proved the feasibility of the game in this unusual setting.

"In the years since, the desert between Carefree and Scottsdale has been liberally sprinkled with imitators, but the best players in the Phoenix area today drive past the rest to play Red Lawrence's original."
--Tom Doak

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