By Shelley Shelton Arizona Daily Star
Photo by Jim Davis, Arizona Daily Star
Dec 15, 2008
Buzzing electric saws, jackhammers and giant fans blowing through doorways — it's not what you think of when you think of a high-end resort.
But it is the scene at the Dove Mountain Ritz-Carlton in Marana as the giant development readies its 45,000-square-foot clubhouse to open Jan. 18.
That means putting the finishing touches on the grounds — which include the first new Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses in Tucson in 25 years — as well as two restaurants, a golf shop and fitness facilities, and hiring for about 70 full-time and part-time jobs.
So far, the club has received about 500 qualified applications, said Michael McMahon, general manager.
"It's very important that we get people with the right skills and innate talents to want to provide our level of hospitality," McMahon said.
A paperweight on his desk serves as silent witness to that, bearing an inscription that declares The Ritz-Carlton to be "Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen."
The club's ownership group, Cottonwood Properties and Greenbrier Southwest Corp., will host a charity golf tournament and dinner called Fore for Four on Jan. 17, with proceeds benefiting four local organizations.
The golf course officially opens the next day.
Then staff training and planning will shift into high gear as the new facility prepares to host the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at the end of February.
"It's a busy time, but it's an exciting time," said David Mehl, president of Cottonwood Properties.
Mehl worked with Nicklaus on his last Tucson-area golf course, at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa, 25 years ago, and enjoyed the reunion for the new course.
And he's glad to have the Ritz-Carlton managing the property, he said.
"This is a project we've worked on for over a decade, and it's wonderful to see it come to fruition and see an opening date just around the corner," he said.
The golf club is one piece of the overall development, which will include a 250-room hotel resort and an exclusive residential community of more than 300 homes.
It is the first Ritz-Carlton development to incorporate all three elements in one location, McMahon said.
The hotel will bring another 400 to 500 full- and part-time jobs and is slated to open in October. Some of the homes are already for sale.
When complete, at 850 acres it will be the largest Ritz-Carlton development in the continental United States.