Course Spotlight: Longbow Golf Club
Making Easter Weekend memories for West Coast golfers

This March, Easter Weekend will mark the 10th annual ReBath Heather Farr Classic and the fifth year Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz., will host the event. Located just outside Phoenix, Mesa provides golf enthusiasts with exquisite courses and beautiful desert scenery year round. However, few courses can compare to the Longbow Golf Club tournament course, one of Golfweek’s Top-20 Courses in Arizona.

Longbow Golf Club will host it's fifth ReBath Heather Farr Classic in 2008.

Longbow Golf Club originally opened in 1997, but was redesigned in 2003 to expand to its current 7,003-yard, par-71 layout. The club is named after the Longbow military attack helicopter, which was manufactured in a plant across the street from Longbow Golf Club. The old plant is now a small airport.

Both the original and current designs were created by Kenneth Kavanaugh. The tournament course features plush fairways and greens, surrounded by traditional desert plants and brush, multiple bunkers and just one water hazard.  Most holes provide sizeable landing areas, but simultaneously give players multiple risk-reward options. The local Superstition Mountains scatter the horizon to provide players with breath-taking views, especially from holes Nos. 2 and 14.

Unlike other areas of the country, Longbow Golf Club is fortunate to be in an arid climate. March temperatures average about 60 degrees and, according to the National Weather Service, Mesa typically sees more than 300 sunny days a year.

2007 champion Kimberly Kim

Longbow Golf Club has hosted the ReBath Heather Farr Classic since 2004 and will host the tournament March 20-23 this year. Last year’s champions were 16-year-old Kimberly Kim of Pahoa, Hawaii, and 17-year-old Richard Lee of Chandler, Ariz. Lee has since turned professional, while Kim is currently ranked No. 2 in the Polo Golf Rankings.

Similar to last year, Jay Larscheid, general manager and director of golf at Longbow Golf Club, expects players will face a strong field on a challenging, but playable course.

“The best thing to do is to keep the ball on the fairway,” Larscheid advises. “Don’t short side yourself. Make your putts. But most importantly, have fun!”

Past champions of this event include current PGA and LPGA Tour players Hunter Mahan (1999), Paula Creamer (2003, 2004) and In-Bee Park (2005).  Other golf standouts to win the event are Rory Hie, a three time Rolex Junior All-American and current sophomore at USC, and Amanda Blumenherst, a four time Rolex Junior All-American, a 2007 National Golf Coaches Association Player of the Year and junior at Duke.