That's not including the millions of others who live in the greater Phoenix area. Scottsdale now boasts more than 240,000 residents. In the 1970s, a number of large-scale, master-planned communities started sprouting up - several incorporating golf, including Desert Mountain and Gainey Ranch. Thanks to an average of 314 sunny days per year, more and more people started moving into the Valley of the Sun. It wasn't incorporated into a city until 1951, when it had just 2,000 residents. Scottsdale was named after its founder Winfield Scott in 1894. So how did Scottsdale really become the top winter golf destination in America according to Golf Advisor? Let's start at the beginning.