Elephant Rocks Golf Course

This site is not affiliated with Elephant Rocks Golf Course or the City of Williams.

History of Elephant Rocks Golf Course

In the early 1920’s, Williams Country Club was formed. Originally built by the railway workers, it was a private members club where membership cost a whole $10. Much of the courses’ land was leased from the US Forest Service, but the club did own the land covering three holes. The members and railway workers constructed the courses’ historic stone clubhouse in 1932 and it has remained nearly untouched for the past 75 years. The course has had quite a different life.

Until 1990 the course had dirt/native grass fairways and sand and oil greens. The original nine holes were redesigned by Gary Panks in 1990. Panks tweaked the layout and added lush grass throughout the course along with pure bent grass greens. Under the direction of previous (1990-2008) PGA Professional John McCahan, the course quickly gathered the reputation of the best 9 holes of golf in Arizona. Despite its high reputation, it retained its laid back nature and is a great retreat from the hassles of daily life.

The city council began to view the future of Williams as a destination town with a strong influence of retirees living in the cool ponderosa pines. They made a deal with local developer Bill Gary, to include 9 holes within one of his development and sell the course to the city. This brought the return of course architect Panks, who in 1999, despite a very different terrain, managed to sculpt a very scenic and challenging completion to the course. The new nine consisting of holes 6 – 14, is situated in one of Northern Arizona’s many golden meadows. It is much longer than the original nine, but still maintains the true essence and environment of Elephant Rocks golf.