Talking GolfGetaways: Your Golf Getaways Podcast · Mitch Laurance and Darin Bunch

Special Edition: Playing Grass Clippings in Arizona

·44 min·3 clips

The Good Good Desert Open grew from a 120-player outing into a YouTube Sports stream with 105,000 concurrent viewers.

1. Talking Golf Getaways centers on Grass Clippings Rolling Hills in Tempe, Arizona, and the show frames it as a public-golf place that changed how the hosts think about enjoyment and fun. 2. Mitch Lawrence hosts with Darren Bunch and Chris McKeown, while Brian Bennett appears as director of sales and events and explains the operation from inside the property. 3. The episode asks what Grass Clippings is for: a shorter, lit golf experience that still feels like real golf and works as a community asset. 4. Bennett says he moved from Phoenix to Gamble Sands in Washington and later returned to Arizona for a family move. 5. He says he landed at Grass Clippings after a long RFP process, and he notes that the group did not even have the keys until July 1st. 6. The property is still a municipal golf course owned by the city of Tempe, managed by Grass Clippings, and supported by Troon Golf. 7. Bennett explains that the founders were four lifelong Arizona friends who grew up around the game and noticed that local superintendents did not get enough credit. 8. He says they started a clothing line called Grass Clippings to support local greenskeepers and used the tagline “stay grass.” 9. He adds that the founders promoted the brand through events at Mountain Shadows before deciding to buy a golf course. 10. Bennett says they wanted a shorter course and wanted it lit from the beginning, so they pursued Rolling Hills near the airport and Arizona State University. 11. He says the course plays as an executive layout during the day with five par fours and par-three yardages from 110 yards to 200 yards. 12. He says night golf turns every hole into a par three, and he notes that players hit almost every club in the bag except driver. 13. Bennett describes 88 light poles from Moscow Lighting and says the lights are purpose-built for golf rather than repurposed field lights. 14. He says each tee box has a light that aims upward so players can see the bottom of the ball and follow the shot flight. 15. He says superintendent Scott Hebert came from TPC Scottsdale and led the resurfacing of the greens and tees. 16. Bennett says the club is moving through four construction phases that include a renovated clubhouse, a restaurant and patio, and an event space with a concert pavilion for up to 1,500 people. 17. The interview style is conversational and detailed, with Mitch and Darren repeatedly reacting to the numbers and the pace of the buildout. 18. Bennett’s delivery is upbeat and specific, and he uses examples like tacos, tee-time spacing, and the midnight lights to make the place easy to picture. 19. People who like community golf, short courses, and lit-night play will get the most from this episode. 20. People looking for a traditional resort-course architecture discussion may skip it.

As heard by us

A public-course story that turns buzz into something tangible.

Grass Clippings Rolling Hills in Tempe, Arizona comes through as a public-course story that widens the show's view of what public golf can be.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a public-golf story that starts in Tempe and grows into a bigger conversation about fun, reach, and what a course can become.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Talking GolfGetaways: Your Golf Getaways Podcast