Encanterra Country Club

Encanterra Country Club occupies desert terrain in San Tan Valley, a community southeast of Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert foothills. Tom Lehman, the 1996 Open Championship winner and longtime PGA Tour professional, designed the course as part of a master-planned residential development. Lehman's design work, which emerged after his competitive playing career, emphasizes strategic options and playability across different skill levels while incorporating the natural desert landscape. The routing works through native Sonoran vegetation, with saguaro cacti, palo verde, and ocotillo framing fairways carved from the desert floor. The course features elevation changes that provide views across the San Tan Mountains and the surrounding valley. Lehman's design philosophy favors risk-reward scenarios and multiple approach angles rather than penal hazards, with generous landing areas balanced by strategic bunkering and desert waste areas that define playing corridors. Encanterra functions as the centerpiece of an active adult community, and the club includes resort-style amenities alongside the golf course. The facility caters primarily to residents and their guests, with the course serving as both a recreational amenity and a social hub for the community. The desert setting requires target golf on many holes, though the design provides bailout areas and forward tee options that accommodate a range of playing abilities.