Inside Comments by Steve Turcotte

Northwest native Steve Dallas is leaving his mark on the Arizona golf scene

When I checked into the pro shop one day 15 years ago at Las Colinas Golf Course in Queen Creek, Ariz., I noticed the name on the door of the owner. It said Steve Dallas. That name rang a bell. I have been involved in the golf business in the Pacific Northwest for over 35 years and there was something about that name that rang familiar.

I knocked on the door and the man was at his desk. I didn’t want to sound like a total idiot but I asked casually, “I know the Steve Dallas name, are you a Northwest guy?” He looked at me, cracked a smile and said “I am a Northwest guy.”

We got to chatting and it turns out that he is a total Northwest guy. Steve has a Northwest background as an amateur and professional, was the head professional at Sahalee Country Club and where I probably remember him most from is that he helped get a guy by the name of Fred Couples involved in the sport of golf many years ago.

I have gotten to know Steve through the years since that day of walking into the Las Colinas golf shop. I learned that after his history of golf in the Northwest, he moved and became a golf course owner and has become an influential person in the golf industry in Arizona. He was named to the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame in 2014 and most recently received the Ed Updegraff Award for contributions to golf in the state in 2023.

The 78-year-old Steve is as humble as you will find. He certainly earned these accolades. He has appreciated the awards but said he did not do any of that for himself. Merely for the junior golfers and his love of the game.

“A lot of people took care of me when I was growing up in golf,” Steve said. “I always want to give back. That’s just the way I am.”

Steve grew up in the Seattle area and went to Cleveland High School, but was more of a baseball player than golfer. He played baseball at Seattle University and decided to try out for golf as a sophomore to see where that might take him. He made the team that year and that’s where it all started. Hello golf, goodbye baseball.

It was about that time when he became friends with Tom Couples, Fred’s brother. It was that connection that led Steve to his working with Fred Couples as a youngster. Steve was with Fred when he first started swinging a golf club and watched him grow up at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle – and yes, even saw the young Fred Couples play barefoot. When Steve won the Ed Updegraff Award, Fred did a video chat with his relationship with Steve while growing up. Steve remembers watching Fred hit drives over the 300-yard net at the Jefferson Park driving range and could tell right away that there were big things in store for him.

Steve found out he was a pretty good player himself when he won the Payless Class in 1973 and qualified for the USGA Public Links Championship in 1973 as well as making the Hudson Cup team.

After working at Lake Padden Golf Course in Bellingham with his father and being the head professional at Sahalee, Steve decided to pack up the family and move to Arizona in 1983. He got involved in the other side of the golf business. Since then he has owned golf courses like Las Colinas, Mountainbrook, Apache Creek and Western Skies. He only owns Apache Creek now but has turned that into a must play with a challenging layout and good conditions.

“People thought I was crazy for making the move, but it all worked out,” said Steve. “We had the wife and the two kids and packed it all up. But it worked out and here we are.”

And through the years and through all of his ownership, Steve has gone out of his way to help juniors.

“They are the future,” he said. “The game needs them.”

Steve Turcotte is editor of Inside Golf Newspaper. He can be reached at sdturcotte@comcast.net.