SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Waitlists at North Scottsdale’s top private golf communities are a fact of life.
Up and down the locally famous Pima Corridor and beyond, clubs are at capacity. Estancia, Mirabel, Desert Highlands, Troon, Silverleaf, DC Ranch and Pinnacle Peak all have folks waiting for the opportunity to join. Whisper Rock, Boulders and Terravita are others nearby enjoying unparalleled popularity.
Perhaps the most lauded golf community of all, Desert Mountain — ranked eighth among private country clubs in the U.S. by Platinum Clubs of America — is in a similar situation, with a waiting list for club membership of one to two years. However, unlike most of the other acclaimed clubs set into the higher elevations of the Valley of the Sun, Desert Mountain offers a way — two ways, actually — to bypass the waitlist.
“It’s widely understood that high demand for private luxury golf club living has resulted in growing waitlists, and many will wait years for a spot,” says Melanie Halpert, director of membership at Desert Mountain Club. “While Desert Mountain has its own waitlist, it is less well known that there are a number of options for those motivated to activate a membership right away.”
What sets Desert Mountain apart is its unparalleled size, scale and scope. The club and community are home to seven golf courses, a like number of clubhouses, miles of hiking trails, spa and fitness facilities and seemingly every other facet of a life well-lived. It also features an expansive collection of neighborhoods, with more than 2,000 homes that unfold across 8,300 open-space acres of high Sonoran Desert. It’s the community’s sheer size, and its attendant flexibility, that provides the means to bypass the waiting lists. These qualities uniquely position Desert Mountain to offer opportunities not found elsewhere in Scottsdale.
At many of Scottsdale’s highly desired private golf community clubs, property or home ownership is not required for club membership. A smaller minority grants automatic membership upon property purchase. Desert Mountain employs a different model entirely. A full golf membership is contingent upon property ownership and is granted only after a club application has been approved by the board.
Between record demand, exceptional member satisfaction and limited turnover, Desert Mountain has a scarcity of membership opportunities — but at least they exist, mostly due to the community’s ample home offerings, paired with the varied tiers of membership categories. At year-end 2025, approximately 80 homes for sale included Desert Mountain Club membership access, some recently listed, allowing qualified buyers approved for membership to begin enjoying the Desert Mountain lifestyle upon closing. This opportunity exists because certain properties carry an available membership, while others do not.
“These new listings reflect typical seasonal activity for this time of year,” says David Friedman, managing broker of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s at Desert Mountain. “However, buyers at Desert Mountain have options. Most are of the belief that all private club communities in the valley are full, and it is true that many are happy to wait because the home they love does not have a membership. However, these new listings with membership are a prime chance for motivated buyers to find something exceptional right now.”
The range of 80 or so homes that currently carry a transferable membership range from $2 million lock-and-leave luxury casitas to grand mountain estates priced at $25 million. The membership team at Desert Mountain continually educates prospective members on the options available. The team regularly advises home buyers to pre-qualify for membership prior to closing on a home.
“Desert Mountain continues to set the bar for luxury private golf club Scottsdale living,” Halpert says. “We’re happy to help prospective members navigate the application process and nuances of private club membership.”
Because membership and home ownership go hand-in-hand at Desert Mountain, there’s a remarkable spirit of cooperation between the club and the on-site Russ Lyon real estate office.
“Our relationship with the Russ Lyon real estate team helps create a seamless experience right from the start,” Halpert adds. “While the club’s waitlist reflects strong demand, these membership-included homes create a rare and immediate path to experience the lifestyle our members love.”
The second way to bypass the waitlist revolves around Seven Desert Mountain, an adjacent enclave of condominiums, villas and custom homes that features one of the nation’s top-ranked short courses. Opened in 2019, the course known as No. 7 at Desert Mountain bears the design imprint of Bill Brownlee and Wendell Pickett. It’s a championship par-3 layout, 18 holes, USGA-rated and stretches to 3,004 yards. No. 7 is walkable and family-friendly, yet can test the best, with four holes measuring 200-plus yards, including the 264-yard sixth, the No. 1 handicap hole.
Homes and homesites for sale at Seven Desert Mountain come with a guaranteed front-of-the-line pass for membership, provided the buyer qualifies with the Desert Mountain board. However, golf privileges are limited to No. 7. The Seven Desert Mountain member has access to all 10 of the club’s restaurants and other amenities but can only play the remaining six Jack Nicklaus-designed championship courses as a guest of a full golf member.
Initiation and monthly dues at Seven are approximately two-thirds the price of a full golf membership at Desert Mountain. Of course, the Seven clubhouse is so enticing, some folks are more than happy to hang out there exclusively. Outfitted as a sleek, modern gastropub, the Seven clubhouse wows with its seamless indoor and outdoor setup, complete with collapsible glass walls. It offers the ideal opportunity to mix golf, food and drink — take a break from the short course, then go back for more golf. Comfy sofas, fire pits and bocce games enhance the camaraderie.
A venerated tournament host to 13 Tradition events, a major championship on the PGA Tour Champions schedule, plus four editions of that circuit’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Desert Mountain will host its first USGA championship this May, when the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship comes to the Cochise and Outlaw courses.
Competitors will certainly have their eyes on the tournament trophy but expect at least a few players and spectators to be looking at real estate and membership options as well.
