Hashtags, lights and six holes

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona, will open its #miniDunes golf course for night play on April 26.  Located on the club’s practice range, #miniDunes is a six-hole short course that originally opened for play in 2014 with holes ranging from 60 to 115 yards. Fifteen poles with 88 LED light fixtures shine down and illuminate the course while up-lighting will allow golfers to track ball flight through the night sky, while meeting all Arizona Dark Sky ordinances.

Tee times will become available for #miniDunes on April 26, but walk-ins are welcome and replay rounds will be first come, first serve. Each round of golf is unlimited, as guests can play six, 12, 18 holes or more for $35 (weekdays) and $39 (Friday-Sunday), with times starting in the afternoon, before sunset and playing into the night. #miniDunes is a beginner-friendly golf course, while also providing golfers who are more advanced the ability to sharpen their short games. Groups can secure #miniDunes for private parties and events. The course’s new Musco LED lighting can be synced to music, creating the opportunity for fun light shows on par with the latest football stadium celebrations.

“We are excited to take this next step in amenity offerings at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club,” Ak-Chin Southern Dunes general manager Brady Wilson said. “We feel we are expanding both our grow the game efforts along with our fun factor, by creating something awesome to do when the sun sets in Arizona, which makes it a year-round form of entertainment. It’s going to be ‘LIT’ … literally and figuratively, without UV rays.”

In 2014, using the club’s existing practice range, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes built new greens and bunker complexes for the short course. The range is open for traditional use in the mornings, and then after the range has been picked and hole locations have been set, #miniDunes opens for play in the afternoons. Holes on #miniDunes measure:

• Hole 1: 100 yards
• Hole 2: 70 yards
• Hole 3: 65 yards
• Hole 4: 77 yards
• Hole 5: 114 yards
• Hole 6: 61 yards

Night golf at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes will be the newest evening amenity for visitors and residents of Maricopa and the Ak-Chin Indian Community, opening golf opportunities for families and those with busy daytime schedules.

“We are proud to offer the lighted #miniDunes as just the latest example of the commitment the Ak-Chin Indian Community has to creating memorable golf experiences for not only our local communities of Ak-Chin and Maricopa, but also for all of the region and it’s visitors who can now experience a taste of what Ak-Chin Southern Dunes has to offer at night,” Ak-Chin Indian community chairman Robert Miguel said. “I can’t wait to play golf under the lights with my friends and family.”

The club’s standalone restaurant, the Arroyo Grille, will also be represented under the lights by the “Arroyo Grille: On the Go” food truck/trailer featuring many of the same items on the original restaurant’s main menu, plus some unique grab and go fare. Each hole is also equipped with drink holders on the tee box and near the green.

Owned by the Ak-Chin Indian Community and managed by Troon Golf, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club features an 18-hole Brian Curley and Fred Couples-designed golf course. Originally developed as a private club by private investors in 2001, the course sits on 320 acres of land that was once a part of the Ak-Chin’s May 1912 reservation before it was removed by Presidential Executive Order in late 1912. Nearly 100 years later, in 2010, the Ak-Chin Community recovered its sacred land when it purchased the golf facility and opened the course to public play.

Wes Haner is Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club’s superintendent.