Legendary Longbow course sold to Gilbert group for $8.9M

Mesa’s legendary Longbow Golf Club has been sold to a Gilbert owner-operator of three other daily-fee golf courses.

Daedalus Real Estate Advisors sold the 18-hole golf course at McDowell and Higley roads for $8.95 million to the Thompson Golf Group, which said it will retain its Troon affiliation and related rewards programs. The deal included a down payment of $2,685,000 and two loans totaling just under $6.3 million, according to Valley real estate tracker vizzda.com.

Daedalus considers the 161.5-acre course and award-winning 2,996-square-foot clubhouse/patio a centerpiece of its 330-acre mixed-use development. Built in 1997 and completely renovated six years later, the property also includes a 5,000-square-foot service garage.

Founded in 2020, Thompson Golf Group is also the owner/operator of Power Ranch Golf Club in Gilbert, Dove Valley Ranch Golf Club in Cave Creek, and Geneva Golf Club in Minnesota. It also manages the resident-owned Sunland Springs Golf Club in Mesa.

“We are very excited about the addition of Longbow Golf Club to the portfolio. Longbow Golf Club has long been known for its excellent playing surfaces, amazing hospitality as well as its involvement and advancement in all levels of the game of golf,” said Thompson Managing Partner Ryan Thompson in a release. 

“My team and I look forward to continuing these traditions, forging new ones, and welcoming all Longbow Golf Club customers to the Thompson Golf Group. I am also looking forward to building our relationship with Troon and offering our customers all that Troon and Thompson Golf bring to the game.”

The course was built by the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft company and was named to evoke a medieval archer’s distance and accuracy. The name also was adopted as the name of the Apache Longbow helicopter, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in the plant later purchased by The Boeing Company across the street from Longbow Business Park and Golf Club.

Longbow Golf Club is the centerpiece of Daedalus’  Longbow Business Park, which incorporates office, light industrial, retail, hotel and residential uses.

The golf club also includes a large practice facility, private and group instruction facilities, a contemporary clubhouse with a spacious outdoor event patio and The Grille at Longbow Golf Club restaurant and bar. 

It hosts the Fisher Bryan Golf Academy year round, plus the First Tee-Phoenix, as well as tournaments for the Junior Golf Association of Arizona, American Junior Golf Association, Arizona Golf Association, NCAA, USGA, and LPGA. The club has also sponsored multiple junior, collegiate, amateur and professional golf events, plus charity and community outings.

Led by General Manager Bob McNichols, Longbow Golf Club Associates purchased the existing golf club from the Boeing Company in 2001. McNichols commissioned original course architect Ken Kavanaugh to lead a total course renovation and expansion, which was completed in 2003. 

Kavanaugh’s second edition of Longbow Golf Club exceeded the length, design and playability of the course’s previous iteration and has been called “The Essence of Arizona Golf.”

The clubhouse and patio at Longbow Golf Club were recently honored as a “Top 50 Clubhouse in the U.S.” and a “Top 10 Golf Club Patio in the U.S.” by Club + Resort Business Magazine.