Whirlwind Golf Club | Cattail Course | Chandler, Arizona
By Michael Mattingly | June 14, 2026
There comes a point in life when you stop counting quite so carefully.
Not because the numbers disappear.
Because they matter less.
Golfers spend a lifetime counting. Strokes. Putts. Fairways. Greens in regulation. Handicaps. Distances. We measure everything because we believe numbers explain the game.
Sometimes they do.
Sometimes they don’t.
My wife and I were reminded of that while celebrating her birthday at Cattail, host of this spring’s LPGA Ford Championship.
We teed off at 8:15 on a clear desert morning beneath the Sierra Estrella Mountains. Four hours later, I couldn’t have reconstructed my score if I tried.
What remained was everything else.
Mountain light. Desert air. Conversation between shots. True-rolling greens. A marshal appeared with ice-cold towels as the temperature climbed.
And the sense that, for a few hours, nothing else was required.
Before arriving, I was curious what the LPGA saw in Cattail when selecting it as the site of the Ford Championship.
The answer revealed itself quickly.
The setting is unmistakably Arizona. The Gila River corridor, the surrounding desert, and the distant mountain range frame every hole. You are never outside the landscape—you are inside it.
But what defines the course is not scenery.
It is openness.
Modern championship golf often narrows everything—fairways, margins, recovery, even the player’s sense of options. Cattail does the opposite. It opens the field of view for players and spectators alike. Fans can stay close. Shots remain visible. The game is experienced, not hidden.
The course doesn’t create drama through punishment.
It creates it through decisions.
That becomes most apparent on the par 3s. Elevated tees. Desert carries. Water guarding targets. The question is simple—play safe or take on the flag—but the answer is never routine.
And that idea extends beyond the ropes.
Because while golf offers choices, life often does not.
You can choose whether to attack a tucked pin.
You can choose whether to lay up or go for the green.
You can choose whether to hit driver or play it safe.
Life is less accommodating.
You don’t choose how your body changes as you age.
You don’t choose how many years you get with a beloved dog.
You don’t choose when life quietly shifts its demands.
The difficult questions arrive whether we are ready or not.
The only choice is how we respond.
That realization sits closer to birthdays than scorecards.
At some point, we stop counting quite so carefully.
Not because the number stops mattering.
Because we begin to understand what matters more.
Character.
Gratitude.
Perspective.
And the people who walk through it with us.
Whirlwind carries that same quiet philosophy.
The Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass sits beside the course with a calm that never feels manufactured. Even when active, it never feels crowded. Spa, pool, open desert air—it feels designed for exhaling rather than consuming time.
After our round, we stopped for a quick bite and a cold Dos Equis with a club member who had worked during the LPGA week.
He didn’t hesitate when asked about it.
“I can come out here for six hours and not have to worry about anything.”
Not a slogan. A lived truth.
Our favorite hole was the sixteenth—a gentle dogleg right climbing toward the resort. By then, the score no longer mattered.
The greens rolled true. The fairways stretched into open desert light. The mountains stood steady in the distance.
The game felt unhurried, almost generous.
Earlier this spring, the LPGA brought its best players to Cattail for the Ford Championship.
After spending a morning there myself, I understand the decision.
Not because the course is easy.
Not because it is scenic.
But because it understands something essential.
Golf is not meant to be endured.
Cattail challenges you.
It rewards you.
It welcomes you.
And most of all, it gives the game room to breathe.
Enjoy your Sunday – MWM
Michael Mattingly is a freelance journalist from Smithton, Illinois, with a background in advanced mathematics and creative writing. He is a student of the game of golf, drawn to its pressure, rhythm, and unpredictability. He is also an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan and a loyal Chicago Bears supporter.
