When Tom Lehman was 38 and one of the world’s leading golfers, he helped to design The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain. It was the Next Big Thing in Tucson golf, and it wasn’t long before Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were playing at The Gallery with $8.5 million at stake.
A few years later, Jack Nicklaus built The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain, and sure enough, Tiger and Phil were still there, joined by the PGA Tour’s Next Big Things: Jordan Spieth and Rory McElroy.
It was business as usual in Tucson golf. For 80 years, golf in Tucson hopped from one big thing to another.
From the Randolph Golf Course to the Tucson Country Club to Tucson National to Starr Pass and finally to the Stone Canyon Club — now owned by none other than Phil Mickelson — Tucson could hold its own with any of the heavyweight golf precincts in America.
Then the economy went bust and younger generations came to the realization that golf can take too long, cost too much and, as much as anything, is too difficult.
Three Southern Arizona courses have closed in recent years and many others are struggling.
Now, 20 years after he designed the Gallery Golf Club, the 58-year-old Lehman is defending champion of Tucson’s latest golf venture: the PGA Champions Tour.
When he tees up Friday in the Cologuard Classic at Tucson National, Lehman will be opposed by contemporaries from the glory days of Tucson golf, such as 54-year-old Vijay Singh, 51-year-old John Daly and 57-year-old Mark Calcavecchia.
Oh, how times have changed.
“I used to play mini-tour events at Arthur Pack,” Lehman said.
Arthur Pack? Symbolic of the evolution of golf here and everywhere, that Pima County public course, designed by the star of another era, 1969 Tucson Open champion Lee Trevino, changed its name to Crooked Tree Golf Club a decade ago.
Lehman still builds and designs golf courses, but not with the frequency of the height of his grand career in which he won the British Open and was three times runner-up in the U.S. Open.
“There is a ton of golf history in Tucson,” Lehman said. “It’s always festive out here.”
Now it’s a different kind of festivity. No longer does Tucson’s pro golf event feature the head-turning names of the sport. No more Hogans, Sneads, Palmers, Watsons and Mickelsons. Now it is 51-year-old Billy Mayfair, who 30 years ago was perhaps the top amateur golfer in Arizona history.
The demographics of the Tucson Open, by any name, have changed with the age of the golfers. The galleries at Tucson National are decidedly 50-and-over, which corresponds with those who keep the local golf clubs in business.
If you spend a morning watching golfers tee off at, say, Golf Club of Vistoso or Silverbell Golf Club, you’ll rarely see anyone under 50.
What happened to all the young energy at golf courses here and everywhere?
“Time is the No. 1 issue in golf today,” Lehman said. “The pace of play is a big thing, and it’s dictated by the design of the course. Many were designed to test the elite player. So to the average guy, this is no fun.”
What works in golf in the 21st century?
“The greatest growth of the game is the concept of Topgolf,” Lehman said, referring to the chain of driving ranges that includes a location on Costco Drive near Interstate 10 and Orange Grove Road. “The common denominator is having fun, and that’s what Topgolf provides.
“What’s missing is getting some kids out there with all of their buddies and playing golf all day in the summer. That’s how I grew up, and that’s how it used to be. You’d get hooked on golf for life. That’s not happening any more.”
Lehman’s approach to golf design has changed to fit the younger generation. About 10 years ago he designed the Sonoran course at Tucson National, a nine-hole, desert-type course that is a total departure from what he built at The Gallery.
Gone are the forced carries over devilish washes, unfriendly par-3 holes that measure in excess of 200 yards and fairways so tight that they would give Bubba Watson pause.
“We’re successful if you say it’s fun,” says Lehman.
Pro golf at Tucson National has never had to worry much about fun. The average spectator can easily walk the course, find some shade, sit on the grass and not worry about rattlesnakes or stumbling into a wicked growth of cacti.
It’s not Topgolf — but neither is it getting lost near the Wild Burro wash on Dove Mountain.
Ten years ago this month, Tiger Woods won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships at The Gallery.
Oh, how golf in Tucson has changed since that day.
