The shaded course on the Phoenix side of Shea
Orange Tree is the answer to a question visitors rarely think to ask: where can I play in the shade? It is one of the Valley’s older courses, begun in the late 1950s on former orange-grove land at 56th Street just north of Shea Boulevard, and its trees have had nearly seventy years to grow. The course describes the look as Midwestern, and for a Scottsdale golf course that is not an insult.
The ground is relatively level, the fairways are lined with very tall, mature trees, there is water on six holes, and Camelback sits in the view. There are about 110 acres of turf. It is a parkland course in a city that sells desert golf, and it rewards straight hitting more than length.
Know the geography before you book. The mailing address says Scottsdale, but Orange Tree is in the City of Phoenix, a few miles west of Scottsdale Road, between Paradise Valley’s mountain estates and the Shea corridor. Our explainer on whether Scottsdale is in Phoenix covers why that happens so often here. Next door is the Club Wyndham Orange Tree Resort, a timeshare of one-bedroom suites along the fairways; you do not need to stay there to play.
Rates, cards, the range and the rules
Tee times are public, online through the course’s booking site or at (480) 948-3730, from sunrise to 4:30 p.m. The golf shop opens 30 minutes before the first time and closes at 5. Check in 15 minutes before your time.
Rates float. Checked in October 2026:
- Thursday, November 12: $121 for the public in the morning, $35 to $60 late in the afternoon. Loyalty card holders paid $75 and Citrus card holders $65 for the same morning times.
- Saturday, November 14: from $144 in the morning, $35 to $55 late.
The loyalty card opens tee times 4 days out and the Citrus card 7 days out at card rates; ask the shop or check the course’s online store for current prices. Juniors get 20% off any non-discounted green fee, and military and first responders 15% with ID. Weekend rates apply on holidays, including Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas Eve.
Carts and walking. Carts take two people. A single who wants a cart alone pays an extra $25, ride-along spectators $45 at the shop’s discretion, and drivers must be 16 with a license or permit. The course does not post a walking policy online; it is flat, so ask.
The range was recently remodeled and has two putting greens. It closes at dusk, and at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Dress code. No denim of any color. Men wear collars or mock turtlenecks; women’s sleeveless tops need a collar. No jeans, cut-offs, gym shorts, tank tops or metal spikes.
Cancellations need 24 hours. Inside that, a call-in cancellation counts as a no-show but earns a 75% rain check good for a year.
After the round, the Sports Edition bar and patio is on site. For dinner, El Chorro is a short drive south in Paradise Valley and Sushi on Shea is east on Shea.
Overseeding. Orange Tree closes for a few weeks each fall to overseed (see our overseeding entry). In 2026 the resort next door listed the course and restaurant as closed from late September to mid-October.
An old course in the middle of a newer city
Orange Tree predates almost everything around it. The course’s own history says simply that it began in the late 1950s on land that had been an orange grove. Suite buildings went up beside the fairways later, and that resort, sold for years as a vacation club and now under the Club Wyndham flag, is the reason many visitors find the course at all. The golf has stayed public throughout.
The course has also had to adapt to the desert it was built in. The driving range was remodeled, and the course won a Scottsdale Green by Design award from the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau for its work on waste reduction, water conservation and recycling, which on 110 acres of grass in a desert city is the right thing to be recognized for.
The name is honest, too: it is the kind of course the older Phoenix and Paradise Valley neighborhoods were built around before golf moved north into the boulders. If you want that older style closer to Old Town, Papago is the municipal version and Scottsdale Country Club on Hayden Road is the city’s own 1953 course. For a wider view of where locals play without paying a resort rate, see golf without a membership.