In a golf-centric metropolis like ours, one private club was designed with purists in mind: The Golf Club Scottsdale. Like any other private club, membership is limited (to 350 members in this case) and expensive ($110,000 gets you in the door). But it's what The Golf Club Scottsdale doesn't have that sets it apart — a fairway lined with homes.

True, the $2 million to $10 million homes alongside the Boulders and Estancia clubs aren't eyesores. But The Golf Club Scottsdale gives purists the opportunity to play an award-winning course amongst beautiful high-desert scenery and with nary a mansion in sight.

That's why Golf Magazine named The Golf Club Scottsdale one of the "10 to take your breath away" in 2005, and Golf Digest placed it among the top 10 Arizona courses in 2007.

Befitting such a majestic and secluded course, the mansion-like clubhouse hits well below par (that is, in a good way). Both the clubhouse and restaurant have an old-world Royal Palms-esque air about them. And like its neighboring north Scottsdale courses, The Golf Club Scottsdale will challenge even the most avid (and wealthy) of regular golfers, particularly — we hear — on the final four holes.