Two Courses, One Championship: Superstition Mountain’s Five-Hole Finish

A player could stand on the 14th tee Sunday at Superstition Mountain three shots out of the lead and still have a realistic chance to win. Matt Brooks, the club’s director of golf, knows exactly why.

Lost Gold closes with two par 5s, two par 3s, and a demanding par 4. Brooks expects those holes to produce eagles and birdies, along with bogeys and worse.

“Anybody within three strokes of the lead will still have a legitimate chance to win,” Brooks said.

That is where the Senior PGA Professional Championship will finish Oct. 25. First, the field of 264 PGA of America Golf Professionals, representing 41 PGA Sections, must negotiate two different courses at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona. This is only the championship’s second visit to Arizona, following Desert Mountain in 2017.

The top 35 finishers will earn a spot in the 2027 Senior PGA Championship, April 15-18 at The Concession Golf Club in Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

Prospector opened in 1998, designed by Jack Nicklaus with his son Gary. Lost Gold followed in 1999, with Nicklaus working alongside his son Jack Jr. Both are par 72, framed by the Superstition Mountains. The differences emerge in how players approach their greens.

Brooks says Lost Gold is slightly wider off the tee, while Prospector, although hardly narrow, offers less room. Yet Lost Gold places a bigger premium on the angle of the approach. Strategically located bunkers and mounding protect its greens, and Brooks describes those putting surfaces as large and undulating. Prospector’s greens, he says, tend to have flatter, subtler contours.

Brooks advises competitors to pay attention to where the ball finishes relative to the hole location. A good-looking tee shot might still leave the wrong approach angle, and a putt from the wrong part of a green can be exceptionally fast.

The official championship yardage sheet lists Lost Gold at 7,018 yards and Prospector at 6,905 from the men’s tees. Both courses are in play Thursday and Friday, before a cut to the low 90 and ties. Saturday and Sunday move entirely to Lost Gold, with another cut to the low 70 and ties after 54 holes.

Prospector previously hosted the LPGA’s Safeway International from 2004 to 2008 and the LPGA Drive On Championship in 2023. Its 556-yard, par-5 18th, with water along the left, could affect who makes the first cut.

The shorter par-4 14th presents options of its own. In a 2023 interview, Brooks described the choice between an aggressive drive and laying back to leave a wedge. At the championship’s listed 331 yards, the day’s tee location and hole position will help determine which option makes sense.

The championship also follows the club’s normal fall overseeding. Brooks credited director of agronomy Scott Krout for maintaining championship-level conditions year-round and said favorable weather helped the turf emerge from overseeding in excellent shape. He said no major departure from the club’s normal course preparation was needed.

Brooks singled out Lost Gold’s final five holes. Lost Gold’s 14th is a 535-yard par 5 on the championship yardage sheet, with a natural dry wash along the right. No. 15 is a 220-yard par 3, one of the toughest holes by Brooks’ assessment. The par-5 16th measures 575 yards, before a 184-yard par 3 at the 17th and a 439-yard par-4 18th.

Brooks calls Nos. 14 and 16 two of the easier holes, while Nos. 15 and 18 rank among the hardest. A birdie at 14 sends a contender straight to the 220-yard 15th, where one missed green could erase the gain. Another par 5 waits at 16.

The stakes extend beyond the Leo Fraser Trophy. The top 35 finishers earn places in the 2027 Senior PGA Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Florida. For PGA Professionals who spend most of their time helping others play golf, a national start can mean considerably more than the trophy.

One player who understands that is John Ogden, PGA, director of golf at The Country Club of Spartanburg in South Carolina. He won the Carolinas Senior PGA Professional Championship in August, closing with a 68 at Bulls Bay Golf Club to finish 7 under and claim the title by one shot.

His trip to Arizona carries a meaning beyond that victory. Ogden is a survivor of stage 4 cancer. “For me, a big part of how I play depends on how I feel each day physically,” he said. Treatment has left him with physical challenges that will be part of his week.

“I felt my days qualifying for national championships were behind me,” he said in an email interview for this story.

Ogden has never played either course. He expects the higher elevation and dry air to affect how far his ball travels. The staff at Spartanburg, he said, has also made it possible for him to spend time preparing.

For Ogden, the scorecard is only part of the week.

“I plan on enjoying the experience and opportunity to play against the best senior PGA Professionals,” he said.