Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Announces Major Renovation

Enhancements Designed to Improve Playability for Leisure Players While Maintaining the Challenge for Advanced Golfers

(Maricopa, Ariz.) – Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club, named among the “Top 100 Courses You Can Play” by Golf Magazine, has announced plans for a significant renovation project aimed at improving the course’s playability for leisure players while maintaining the challenges and shot-values enjoyed by experienced golfers. The enhancements include a complete bunker renovation, additional tee boxes, expanded landing areas, and other design improvements on several holes. Plans also include a hybrid conversion of the practice facility to serve as a six-hole short course in the afternoon and a traditional driving range during peak times of the day.

With the project scheduled to start May 27 and be completed by September 2014, the changes at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes make a major statement in the industry by taking action to make the golf experience more enjoyable for a broader range of golfers and creating an environment suited for juniors and players who are new to the game. When complete, the course will be ideally suited to appeal to both resort-style play and competitive tournaments.

“The Ak-Chin Indian Community is proud of its involvement with the Southern Dunes course since acquiring ownership in 2010,” said Louis J. Manuel, Jr., tribal chairman. “We are pleased to be working with Troon and the course architects to make these very important enhancements to our already beautiful course.”

To ensure the integrity of the award-winning design at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, original course architects of Schmidt-Curley Design and Fred Couples were brought in to lead the project that involves a complete bunker renovation. In all, 83,000-square-feet of bunkers will be removed from the course’s current total of 480,000-square-feet.  Major improvements also include significant turf expansion between many of the forward tees to eliminate unnecessary forced carries for those choosing to “tee it forward” or are still learning how to consistently hit shots in the air.

“This facility enhancement project is a game-changer for Ak-Chin Southern Dunes on a local, regional and national level, said Brady Wilson, general manager. “The project addresses every spoke of the wheel with regards to improved playing conditions, better playability for core golfers, more challenge for accomplished players and growth of the game options.”

Additional enhancements include re-vegetation of native grasses and many transitions between bunker edges and native desert. A new back tee will be added on No. 1 (a change made with the experienced golfer in mind) while new forward tees are added on holes 5, 8, 12, 15 and 17. Improvements on No. 17 also include a nearly full-redesign with an expansion of the green, reshaping of a large dune to open sightlines to the hole, and changes to the bunker complex around the green.

For more information on Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club, visit www.golfsoutherndunes.com.

The Ak-Chin Indian Community, which owns the nearby Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino and the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Ak-Chin Circle, has brought together championship-style golf and world-class gaming and entertainment. Gaming and golf packages are now available through Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, creating a truly exciting and multi-faceted destination, pleasing to a wide range of visitors. The course sits on 320 acres of land that was once a part of the Ak-Chin's original May 1912 reservation before it was removed by Presidential Executive Order in late 1912. Nearly 100 years later in 2010, the Community recovered its sacred land when they purchased Ak-Chin Southern Dunes after it was originally developed as a private club. The course currently boasts several coveted accolades that include Golfweek’s list of the “Top 100 Resort Courses,” “Best Courses You Can Play,” and “Top Casino Courses,” as well as Golf Magazine’s list of “Top 100 Courses You Can Play.”