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18

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By Design

I

n the language of the Pascua Yaqui

Tribe of Arizona, ‘Sewailo’ means

‘flower world.’ The tribe’s belief

is that they emerged from Sewailo,

before traveling through the desert to

reach their present homeland.

This journey was to be the

inspiration for the design of a new golf

course for tribal families and visitors

to the tribe’s Casino Del Sol resort in

Tucson, Arizona. They turned to fellow

Native American and former PGA Tour

player Notah Begay III, who worked

in collaboration with California-based

golf course architect Ty Butler, ASGCA,

to bring this vision to reality.

The resort is one of the few in the

Tucson market to earn the

Forbes

Four Star

and

AAA Four Diamond

awards, so the golf experience would

need to be of the highest quality to

meet guests’ expectations – but also

to help transform the property to a

destination, with golf becoming a

primary draw for visitors.

A key challenge for the designers

would be to successfully incorporate

water into the desert environment.

“Water is an integral part of the

Yaqui’s belief system and, for this

reason, the tribe wanted water to be

a big part of the design. It also meant

the golfing experience would be like

no other in the Tucson market,” says

Butler. He and Begay developed the

concept of a ‘desert oasis’-style course,

which features lakes, flowing streams,

waterfalls and lush landscaping.

However, the existing site was flat and

featureless, so a degree of engineering

would be required to create the fall

needed for the stream system, and to

give the holes shape and visual interest.

“Like at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas,

the approach involved sinking areas of

the course below existing grade and

raising others, in order to create the

flowing creek system,” explains Butler.

“To reflect the Pascua Yaqui journey,

the course transitions from desert to

oasis, while taking full advantage of

the surrounding mountain views to

create an exciting and unique setting.

The course finishes with a waterfall

backdrop to the final green, signifying

the Yaqui’s hope of returning to

Sewailo one day.”

The tribe has water rights that

enable them to service the stream

system and provide the irrigation

source for the course. But the area

also has to cope with a tremendous

amount of runoff/flooding during

the monsoon season. The property

is in the path of this runoff and the

designers saw an opportunity to

use the course to capture this water

and direct it to the Black Wash area

north of the course. “We constructed

a series of retention areas to capture

runoff before it could spread to other

areas where flooding occurred. From

these retention areas we created

desert washes which run through the

golf course to carry the runoff in a

controlled manner to the neighboring

Black Wash. The washes added

another visual element and became

a key strategic element for the holes

that play along them.”

Begay and Butler worked closely

with Ken Alperstein of Pinnacle

Design, who was responsible for

landscaping of the course. The plant

Sewailo Golf Club

|

Toby Ingleton

Honoring

nature’s gifts

CASE STUDY

When the Pascua Yaqui Tribe decided to build

a golf course, they wanted it to work with the

land and reflect their cultural beliefs