By Weldon B. Johnson, The Republic | azcentral.com
Before there was grass in Arizona golf, there was golf at the San Marcos Hotel Golf Course.
A.J. Chandler opened the hotel in 1913, the first building with electricity in the city that bears his name. Across the town square to the east was the hotel’s golf course, with nine holes on 100 acres.
Playing the layout was a bit rougher than the life of luxury Chandler envisioned when he built the opulent resort that attracted a U.S. president, Hollywood celebrities and leaders of business: It had no grass. The course featured oiled-sand greens.
