10-05-2025
There's finally progress on the former ASU golf site where Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm played
There's finally progress on the former ASU golf site where Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm played
Arizona State University's Karsten Golf Course was home to a long line of future PGA Tour and LPGA pros.
The pro shop had two shelves of tour bags of former Sun Devils, and it was a who's who of golf: Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Anna Nordqvist, Blair O'Neal and Azahara Munoz, among others.
The golf course, an 18-hole facility designed by Pete Dye and opened in September 1989, hosted its final day of play in 2019. The property, which sits about seven miles east of Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, is part of the 330-acre ASU athletic facilities district, created in 2010 by the Arizona Legislature. The area is now called the Novus Innovation Corridor with a master plan by ASU and Catellus Development Corporation.
"I played there 2000 through 2004," said Chez Reavie, who won the U.S. Amateur Public Links title - and the ensuing invite to the Masters - as a sophomore at ASU in 2001.
"A lot of great memories, a lot of BBQs before football games, chipping and putting contests. A lot of great rounds early Saturday morning, although in college it seemed way too early, but yeah, a lot of great memories.
"It's a good golf course. I think it's become maybe a little outdated, just because guys are hitting it so far now. … But it's a very fun golf course to play."
Here's an update on sluggish progress that is finally taking shape:
Location: McClintock Drive and Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe
Description: Rio Yards, a creative office development that is under construction on the eastern part of the shuttered Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University. One of four planned office buildings has been completed at the development, along with a parking garage. The rest has yet to begin construction. The building is available for lease but not yet occupied.
History: The office complex is being developed on the former Karsten Golf Course, which closed in 2019 to make way for commercial development in the Novus Innovation Corridor. The corridor encompasses about 300 acres on the eastern part of the Arizona State University campus and was created to serve as the university's athletic facilities district, to generate money to fund ongoing capital needs for ASU sports.
When will the work be done? Construction has already been completed on the first building, and other buildings will be constructed based on demand.
Sources: Arizona State University, Catellus Development Corporation
Golfweek's Todd Kelly contributed reporting to this article. Contact Corina Vanek at cvanek@ Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @CorinaVanek.
