Arizona golf has a country club problem, and that’s exactly why the Cactus Shootout is almost sold out.

With only 3 team spots remaining, this week’s newsletter explores why community is replacing exclusivity, and why you’ll either be in the photos next week or wish you had signed up.

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Some of the most exciting things happening in Arizona golf aren’t happening behind private club gates. They’re happening at public courses, in group chats, inside niche communities, and among golfers who care more about finding their people than collecting status symbols.

And honestly, I think that’s exactly why the Cactus Shootout has resonated with so many golfers.

For years, the golf industry has sold exclusivity as the ultimate aspiration. Better memberships. More restrictions. More access. More prestige. But if you pay attention to where the energy is actually moving, a different story is emerging. Golfers are looking for connection. They’re looking for competition. They’re looking for experiences that feel memorable enough to talk about long after the final putt drops.

That’s what makes this Saturday feel different.

The first-ever Cactus Shootout isn’t just another tournament on the calendar. It’s a gathering of Arizona golfers who genuinely love the game and want to be part of something bigger than a scorecard. Forty players. One shotgun start. A golf course full of competitive personalities, side games, content creators, and enough trash talk to keep group chats active for the rest of the summer.

And right now, only three team spots are remaining.

Not thirty.

Three.

Over the last year, The Cactus Club has become much more than a newsletter.

I’ve watched strangers connect through a shared obsession with golf. I’ve watched readers become playing partners, playing partners become friends, and friends become business partners. I’ve watched golfers who had never met in person create relationships that now extend far beyond the first tee.

That’s the part of golf people rarely talk about.

The best rounds are usually not the lowest rounds.

They’re the rounds where something happens.

The round where somebody holes a bunker shot on 18.

The round where a random pairing becomes your regular foursome.

The round where a birdie putt suddenly feels important because everyone around the green stopped to watch.

The round that becomes a story.

The Cactus Shootout was built around creating more of those moments.

We’ll have closest-to-the-pin contests, side games, giveaways, content creators documenting the day, and a field full of golfers who are competitive enough to care while still remembering that golf is supposed to be fun.

It’s the kind of atmosphere that feels increasingly rare in today’s game, where competition and community somehow manage to exist at the same time.

And I think that’s why Arizona golfers have responded so strongly.

Because deep down, most golfers don’t need another event.

They need a reason to show up.

They need a community that feels like theirs.

They need something worth remembering.

The future of golf belongs to communities that create belonging, not exclusivity. It belongs to golfers who are willing to build something rather than wait to be invited into something. It belongs to people who understand that the best parts of this game have always happened between shots, not during them.

So if you’ve been thinking about signing up, consider this your warning.

Because by this time next week, you’ll either be in the photos or you’ll be scrolling through them.

You’ll either be part of the stories or hear them secondhand.

You’ll either be one of the golfers who helped launch the first Cactus Shootout, or you’ll be telling yourself you’ll play next year.

Three team spots remain.

Let’s fill them.

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