Golf in Sun City, Arizona: A Local Guide
Sun City, America's pioneering active-adult community, was built around golf. A guide to its courses, how they work, the climate of the northwest Valley and the best times to play.
When Del Webb opened Sun City, northwest of Phoenix, on January 1, 1960, the first phase came with five model homes, a shopping center, a recreation center and a golf course. The idea of a retirement community built around an active life was an instant success, and golf has been at the heart of Sun City ever since. Today the community has eight golf courses operated by its homeowner-owned association, the Recreation Centers of Sun City, plus several private country clubs. Its younger sibling, Sun City West, adds many more a few miles to the west.
How Sun City Golf Works
Sun City's association courses are owned by the community and run for its residents, which gives them a distinctive character:
- A mix of lengths: the community's courses include both regulation 18-hole courses and shorter executive courses, which suit a relaxed round and a faster pace.
- Residents first: residents who hold a recreation card receive priority tee times and lower rates. Some courses are also open to visitors, but access and prices vary, so check with the course or the Recreation Centers of Sun City before you go.
- Golf in the neighborhood: many fairways are lined with homes, and golf carts are a common sight on the streets.
Alongside the association's courses, Sun City has privately run clubs such as Sun City Country Club, Union Hills and Palmbrook. See all of them, with a playability forecast for each, on our Sun City golf weather page, and the courses of neighboring communities on our Sun City West page.
The Climate
Sun City sits at around 1,150 feet in the northwest Valley. The National Weather Service's 1991–2020 normals for the Youngtown station, right next to Sun City, show an average high of about 65°F in January and about 105°F in July, and about 8 inches of rain a year. Winter nights are a little cooler than in central Phoenix, with average January lows around 41°F, so frost delays are more common on clear winter mornings.
When to Play
- Winter and spring: the community is at its busiest from about November to April, when many seasonal residents are in town and the weather is ideal.
- Summer: very hot, with the quietest courses of the year. Early-morning tee times are the norm.
- Autumn: overseeding season. The Recreation Centers stagger their closures so that some courses stay open. The Arizona Golf Association's 2026 schedule shows, for example, Willowbrook and Lakes East closing from September 28, South from October 2, Riverview from October 5, Lakes West from October 19 and Willowcreek from October 26, with the last reopening in mid-November. See our article on Arizona's 2026 overseeding season.
How Far the Ball Flies
Sun City is one of the lower-lying golf communities in the Valley, so altitude adds little distance. Our carry model estimates that a drive that carries 230 yards at sea level on a 70°F day would carry about 233 yards on an average January afternoon and about 241 yards on an average July afternoon. For many golfers, the winter chill costs a few yards compared with warmer months.
Getting Started
If you are visiting, contact the Recreation Centers of Sun City or the individual course to check whether visitors can play, and at what rates. For the wider picture of golf in the state, see Golf in Arizona: A Season-by-Season Guide.
Photo: golfing in Sun City, Arizona, by Einar E Kvaran (Carptrash), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
