Tortolita's New Greens Spend the Winter Growing In. Wild Burro Comes After.

November 5, 2026

Elevated view of a limestone terrace beside a sand-colored stucco home, with teak lounge chairs, a granite planting edge, saguaro cactus and blue agaves.

On Sept. 8, crews seeded the new green on the eighth hole of the Tortolita nine at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain. By Sept. 12 the seed had started to sprout. Holes 1, 6, 7 and 9 were seeded that same Tuesday. Hole 3 went in on Aug. 17, and holes 4 and 5 went in on Aug. 18.

That means the hard construction on Tortolita is largely done, and what's left mostly depends on how fast the grass grows. If you own one of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, the next five months on the Jack Nicklaus course are about new turf maturing, not heavy equipment. The order of the phases also puts Wild Burro last. Wild Burro is the nine whose routing looks back toward the resort.

Seven months between seed and finish

The Golf Club at Dove Mountain is spending $15 million to redo greens, bunkers and tee boxes on all three of its nine-hole courses: Saguaro, Tortolita and Wild Burro. The club says the three-phase project aims to make the course more playable while keeping Nicklaus's championship design. Tortolita is Phase Two. It started May 4, 2026, on an estimated 10-month schedule, according to the club's renovation page. The October 2026 article on the course from Dove Mountain expects it to be finished by early April 2027.

From the first seeding on Aug. 17 to early April is about seven and a half months. The club's Sept. 14 progress report shows where each hole stood when the seeding was finished:

Tortolita hole	Green seeded	Status in the Sept. 14 update
1	Sept. 8	Greens complex sodded; fairway bunkers still need irrigation, drainage, liners, sand and sod
2	Not listed	Fairway bunkers and turf expansion on the green side of the wash done; green still filling in
3	Aug. 17	Irrigation in for a new tee; GSI adding mix and finish grading before sod
4	Aug. 18	All bunker irrigation done; GSI sodded two fairway bunkers
5	Aug. 18	New irrigation around fairway bunkers; sod pending in the rough where a bunker was removed
6	Sept. 8	Fairway bunker and turf expansion along the cart path waiting on irrigation and sod
7	Sept. 8	Greens complex sodded; bunkers filled with sand
8	Sept. 8	Greens complex sodded; bunkers filled; sprouting by Sept. 12
9	Sept. 8	Greens complex sodded; bunkers filled; fairway bunkers lined

The leftover work in that report is mostly finishing: sand in bunkers, sod around them, and irrigation for small new patches of turf. Hole 5 has one less bunker than it used to. The report lists sod for "the rough where the bunker was eliminated."

One 18 on the Nicklaus side until April

The Golf Club at Dove Mountain has 27 holes. Its three nines can be paired into different 18-hole rounds. With Tortolita closed, only one pairing is left: Saguaro and Wild Burro. Until Tortolita's work is finished, that is the full 18 on the Nicklaus side.

Who gets on the course hasn't changed. The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain's golf page says tee times are for club members and resort guests. Escalante Golf owns both The Golf Club at Dove Mountain and The Gallery Golf & Sports Club. One membership covers both clubs and 63 holes. For members, that means The Gallery's 36 holes by John Fought, with Tom Lehman collaborating on the North Course, are still on the same membership during Tortolita's closure. The club's FAQ confirms that membership includes all 63 holes.

The 45,000-square-foot clubhouse, the practice facilities and Cayton's Restaurant are all still at the Nicklaus course.

What Saguaro shows about the finished Tortolita

Saguaro, the first phase, has been open since April 2024. It's the best guide to what Tortolita will look like when its work is finished. The club's capital campaign timeline lists the finished Saguaro work.

Greens resurfaced and reseeded, with the areas around them recontoured
Old bunkers removed or made smaller, and new ones shaped with premium liners and white sand
Existing tees laser-leveled and replanted, plus new forward tees for golfers of all ages and abilities
Some desert vegetation cleared to open sight lines, with the course's rare crested saguaros left in place

Tortolita is getting the same kind of work. The club lists greens, bunkers, tees and the surrounding landscape for the 10-month phase. The Sept. 14 report matches that list on the ground: a bunker removed on hole 5, a new tee on hole 3, and new turf next to the wash on hole 2. For anyone who wants to know how the finished nine will play, Saguaro is open now.

A plan that has run about a year long

When the club first described Saguaro as Phase One, it said there was "more to come on Tortolita and Wild Burro through Spring 2026." The phases so far, in order:

April 2024: Saguaro opens after Phase One.
2025: Desert vegetation clearing begins on Tortolita.
May 4, 2026: Tortolita closes for an estimated 10 months of work.
Aug. 17 to Sept. 8: Greens on holes 1 and 3 through 9 are seeded, according to the club's Sept. 14 report.
Early April 2027: Expected completion for Tortolita.
After Tortolita: Phase Three, Wild Burro.

That earlier wording put the work on Tortolita and Wild Burro through spring 2026. Tortolita alone is now set to finish about a year after that. Two years passed between Saguaro reopening and the start of Tortolita's construction, though crews were clearing vegetation on Tortolita in 2025. For homes along the Nicklaus course, this changes the calendar more than the scope. The work is the same, but it now runs into 2027 and beyond.

Wild Burro, the nine with the resort in its views

The club says Phase Three will move to Wild Burro, "whose routing offers views of the Tortolita Mountains and The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain." So the nine that looks back toward the resort grounds, and toward the golf homesites the Residences offer above the course, is the last one in line. For now, Wild Burro is half of the only 18-hole round on the Nicklaus side. Once Tortolita is finished, Wild Burro takes its turn.

This also covers the busiest stretch of the year. Until Tortolita's work wraps up, the old Accenture Match Play course plays as a single 18. The World Golf Championships event was held here from 2009 through 2014. Meanwhile, Tortolita's greens get a full winter to grow in before the work's expected finish in early April.

Around the clubhouse and the resort this holiday season

The resort's holiday events give you a reason to walk over while Tortolita is still under construction.

Thanksgiving, Nov. 26: Cayton's, at the golf clubhouse, has a Thanksgiving brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with roast turkey, a seafood raw bar and seasonal sweets. At the resort, CORE, A Sonoran Grill serves Thanksgiving dinner from 6 to 9:30 p.m., with aged Sonoran beef and confit roast turkey on the menu.
Nov. 28: The life-size Gingerbread 4x4 and Cacti Candy Wonderland opens after crews add the final details on Nov. 27. It stays up through Dec. 29. That same day, Chef Marlon and his team host a free desert-themed sugar cookie decorating session from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: CORE serves a tasting menu by Chef David from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Christmas morning brings breakfast at CORE from 7 to 11 a.m. with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Cayton's Thanksgiving brunch is in the clubhouse next to the renovation, so it's the closest seat to the work.

If you own a home or homesite on the Nicklaus course, the renovation schedule affects the views, the sound of work crews and how the course plays through 2027. If you're thinking about selling or buying a golf-front property at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Caroline Freedman at Gray St. Onge can walk the course with you and talk through the timing. Schedule a confidential buying or selling consultation.