My favorite course of the year offers an incredible summer deal

One of the great ironies of living in a winter paradise like Phoenix is ​​that just when the weather turns gorgeous, prices get wild.

This is a very unwelcome development for someone like me who tends to be a bit price sensitive when it comes to paying for golf. With two young children at home, shelling out more than $100 for a routine round at a local course hurts my wallet AND my conscience.

That’s why summer in Arizona is really my time to shine—at least, in the golf sense. Because offers are available for courses that charge routinely a lot of money for rounds in the high season falls to the lowest prices. The only caveat? You have to play in 100 degree heat. But remember – it’s dry heat. Really, it’s not bad!

This year, my mother and I bought summer passes Starfire Golf Club in Scottsdale – an original Arnold Palmer design that once included three nines, but has since been renovated to feature a short 9-hole course (Mulligan – a great option for families) and a full-size, 18-hole King option.

Here’s the killer detail: For a one-time fee of $149, you can play essentially unlimited golf for $20 per round at King and $11 at Mulligan from mid-May to mid-September. There are some restrictions around weekend meeting times and a seven-day limit to book ahead, but let me tell you, this is it the kind of value I covet!

My mom and I both bought passes as soon as the deal started with the goal of playing once a week. With the exception of a few weeks lost to summer travel, we did just that, logging 12 rounds over the summer and bringing our total spend to about $400 — or about $33 per round. We always went between 8:30 and 10:00 in the morning and never spent more than four hours playing. Once, when the crowds were thin, we even did a sub-three hour ride (how exciting!).

I learned at Starfire that the best part of bargain golf is that it takes all the pressure off of your performance or expectations for the day. When you spend an arm and a leg on a round of golf, it’s easy to get frustrated with bad shots or holes because you want so badly to justify the expense with a good day of play and memories. But when the round is free, I’ve found that it frees me up mentally to enjoy the day more deeply – regardless of any bad swings.

My mom and I don’t warm up before we’re full, and we often skip a hole or two ahead to avoid the slow groups. One day, I even brought my son with me when he took a day off from camp. It was his first “big course” experience and he absolutely loved it. He bogeyed every hole and putt every green.

So what’s the catch here? Well, the heat, of course. Some days were worse than others. But as full-time ‘Zonies’, it rarely bothered us. If you play in the morning, you can usually get at least an hour or two of semi-moderate temperatures. Camp and skipping school kept me from playing 6-8am, but it’s the best way to beat the heat. And a little cloud cover can make a big difference, too.

The only other thing to consider is that summer prices also mean summer conditions. In Starfire, this meant that grassy areas became scarcer over time, and irrigation occasionally saturated some landing areas.

A course that isn’t pristine? This has never bothered me. I was raised at an approximate daily rate. The opportunity to spend time with my mother, moving and laughing all summer – for a reasonable price! – is the real gift.

Needless to say, we can’t wait for the summer heat to return.