Tubac good enough for Roy McAvoy, good enough for you

I was down to the very last ball in my bag when I got to the fourth hole on the Rancho Course at Tubac Golf Resort & Spa, 30 miles south of Tucson, Ariz. This is the hole, known to locals as the "Tin Cup Hole," where Roy McAvoy -- a down-and-out golf pro so aptly played by Kevin Costner in the 1996 film Tin Cup -- hit shot after shot after shot into the lake fronting the green. There's even a plaque commemorating the site.

"Tin Cup" hole at Tubac

A par 5 that plays 544 yards, I hit a good drive on the hole, but was nowhere near in position to go for the green in two. I did the smart thing -- a thought process that escapes me most of the time -- and laid up to 120 yards. But of course, as happens after any smart play, I proceeded to chunk my next shot -- a pitching wedge -- to the edge of the lake and right next to the plaque.

Friggin' great. Remembering McAvoy's 12 on the hole -- based apparently on a real-life 15 that CBS commentator and occasional golfer Gary McCord took on a similar hole -- I took a deep breath and lifted a nice little wedge onto the putting surface and one-putt for par. Whew!

There's much to like about Tubac, both the resort and the funky/artsy/historic town itself. If you think of the southern Arizona desert as a dry, arid landscape populated by cacti and lizards, Tubac will surprise you. It is a literal oasis in the desert, located on the banks of the Santa Cruz River, which feeds the largest grove of cottonwood trees in the United States.

Residents swear it's the greatest place on earth. Indeed, Tubac is still a town where locals get to the post office, supermarket and restaurants by golf cart. Horses swish their tails in the cool shadows of the cottonwood trees. Though October through May are ideal months to visit -- with average temperatures hovering in the 60s and 70s -- even summer months are significantly cooler than other parts of the desert and the thermometer rarely breaks into triple digits.

Though I had come for the golf, it's tempting to rack the sticks for a day and spend your time strolling the myriad galleries, artist studios and gift shops lining the streets of the cozy downtown square. You'll find crafted leatherware, one-of-a-kind jewelry, sculpture, Southwest-themed painting, furniture and lots of exquisite pottery that you can load in the back of the car or have shipped home.

A visit to Tubac Presidio State Historic Park sheds light on the history of the settlement and its fight for survival. And there are also several tempting cafés and restaurants in town, although dining at the hotel is a true pleasure at the Western-themed Stables Restaurant & Bar -- with its saddle barstools -- or at Dos Silos for authentic Mexican cuisine and tasty margaritas.

Tubac Golf Resort & Spa has a rich history of its own. The property on which it sits -- Otero Ranch -- was the first land grant by the King of Spain in what was then called New Spain in 1787 to the Otero family, who used the land for farming and cattle ranching (golfers will be amused when they encounter Suzie, a large brown cow who still roams the golf course).

Stables Bar at Tubac

By 1959, the land came into the hands of a group of businessmen headed by Bing Crosby, who established a small inn and the first 18 holes of golf. The simple charm and relative isolation of Tubac made it an attractive hangout for Hollywood stars such as John Wayne and others.

Today, under the ownership of celebrated developer Ron Allred -- former owner of Telluride Ski & Golf Co. -- there are 98 new and newly renovated casitas (red tile floors, fireplaces, flat screen TVs, spacious bathrooms), two thriving restaurants, a state-of-the art spa and salon, 7,000 square feet of meeting space, an impressive replica Spanish mission church used for weddings and nine new holes of golf. Allred's investment of $40 million modernized the resort, but did so in a way that respected and preserved its colorful past and small-town charisma.

Apparently, there was no water on the course before Tin Cup, but since the script called for a lake to accommodate McAvoy's obstinate attempts to get on the green, Tin Cup Lake was built. Also built -- under Allred's ownership -- was the Tubac Triangle, which added three ball-eating holes, Nos. 6, 7 and 8 onto the Rancho nine, and expanded the golf course to 27 holes.

Alas, it was in the Tubac Triangle that my last golf ball finally met its fate, on No. 8, appropriately called "Approaching Train Wreck." A cranky par 5 that plays adjacent to some railroad tracks, the hole tapes out at 651 yards from all the way back and 595 yards from where I was playing. If you can manage to put your drive in the fairway -- and not on the railroad tracks that run all the way up the right side of the green -- you'll be rewarded with a tight layup shot or an impossible go-for-broke shot at the green, tucked behind a broad lake.

I played the smart shot and laid up. But remember what happens every time I play a smart shot? Exactly. Chunk ... this one into the water in front of the green. Oh well, my saddle was waiting in Stables Bar.