The Raven

Getting To Know: Raven Golf Club Phoenix

An Insightful Interview With Kevin Weber, General Manager

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Kevin Weber who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The Raven, the highest rated golf course in Phoenix, AZ, is ideally located in Phoenix only five miles south of Sky Harbor Airport and a short drive from most valley Resorts or Hotels making it a "Must Play" in the Scottsdale/Phoenix region. The Raven was awarded 4.5 stars and is known as having the "#1 guest service in North America."

The layout features rolling fairways framed by thousands of mature pine trees, as well as vistas of rugged desert mountains and the Phoenix skyline. The golf course's playable and strategic design offers a fun golf experience for all players. The subtle elevation changes are enhanced by challenging sand and grass bunkers that are placed against large multi-tiered greens.

Before your round experience our first-class practice facility complete with putting green, chipping green with bunker, and large grass hitting area. To create an on-course experience, there are 5 strategically placed target greens.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
The Raven has a unique layout for AZ golf. Every hole is line with Pine Trees. Golf course is always in great condition.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Beware of the false fronts and make sure you hit enough club to carry to the safe spots on the greens. Club selection is key in avoiding these areas as well as the large bunker complexes guarding this otherwise open layout.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
The Raven was awarded 4.5 stars and is known as having the "#1 guest service in North America."

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Although it's ranked as the 13th handicap hole, the Par 3 #7 hole is one where you take par and walk away. Stretching out to 221 yards with water up the entire left side accompanied by a massive bunker running all the way to the green. If you happen to avoid the lake make sure you hit enough club to avoid the false front the runs the length of the green entrance.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
One of the best holes out here is our Par 4 #6. Standing on the tee you see a slight dog leg right with water up the left side and a fairway bunker easily within driving distance. The tee box is lined with Rosemary bushes and bougainvillea along the cart path and behind the green. Off in the distance you can see Four Peaks from the slightly elevated tee box. Although it plays 428 yards from the back, 3 wood is definitely the call off the tee. That will leave you a mid-iron in to a double tiered green with one of the deepest bunkers on the course guarding the whole right side. There are false edges all around the green so 4 on this hole is a victory.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The "Raven Razz Tini" Rasberry infused premium vodka martini.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Darren Wallace, Canada Tour Professional, shot 60 in the Spring of 2014. It only took him 19 putts to just miss that elusive 59. Previous to that the record was held by tour veteran Kevin Stadler with a 62.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7078
Slope: 132
Rating: 73.2

More Information
Raven Golf Club Phoenix
3636 E. Baseline Rd.
Phoenix, AZ , 85042
602-304-3724
www.ravenphx.com

Revised: 01/13/2015 - Article Viewed 32,452 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.