Towering pines, brilliant white-sand bunkers and those trademark Pete Dye railroad tie-framed bunkers - welcome to Carolina golf, Vegas-style, at Desert Pines Golf Club. This Walters Golf layout just 10 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip plays to 6,810 yards from the tips. The narrow fairways and huge, high-lipped bunkers provide the challenge on this Dye Designs layout, Bill Bowman writes.
You're looking all over the internet for that ultimate stay-and-play Las Vegas golf package. You want a great golf course, you want a great resort, and you want the two to be close together. The answer is simple: Wynn. The Wynn Golf Club at Wynn Las Vegas is a Tom Fazio/Steve Wynn design that will, simply put, knock your socks off.
When in Las Vegas, expect to gamble. But the selection of a place to play golf shouldn't be among your risks. You'll find no more sure bet than Siena Golf Club in the Summerlin area. About a 20-minute drive from the Strip in Red Rock Canyon, Siena will probably surpass expectations, Mike Bailey writes.
Tucked into the southwest corner of Vegas is one of Ted Robinson's most stunning designs: Rhodes Ranch Golf Club. Now it's easy to call a layout one of the best, but when an architect with 50-plus years in the business and more than 150 courses to his name is as proud of the course as Robinson is, it's got to be something special.
For years, TPC Las Vegas was in the rotation of courses when the PGA Tour came to Vegas, and more than a handful of PGA Tour pros still call the course home and can regularly be seen on the practice tee honing their skills. Designed by Bobby Weed with consultation from Raymond Floyd, it is a par-71 roller coaster that plays to 7,080 yards over and around canyons in the northwest section of Vegas.
As scores of golf courses have emerged in the desert in the last two decades, Painted Desert has become the polished, old-school favorite on the block. It's a great area value, and it's also located much closer to the heart of Vegas than many of the other newer courses.
Unquestionably one of the Las Vegas area's most coveted rounds, Bear's Best Las Vegas replicates 18 of the legendary golfer and designer's best holes from around the world. But what really makes the course is its striking setting at the base of the Red Rock mountains, just seven miles west of the Strip.
If you could only play one golf course on a trip to southern Nevada, Reflection Bay at Lake Las Vegas would be on a very short list of candidates. Site of the annual Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge since its 1998 opening, Reflection Bay has every element you want for a memorable golf experience - superb conditioning, great design and spectacular scenery.
Many golf courses claim to be unique, and on some level, they all are, but there really is nothing like Desert Pines Golf Club. On what other golf course in Southern Nevada will you find thousands of Carolina pine trees? Where else can you find a two-tiered, climate-controlled practice center? And how many golf courses are just 10 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip and 15 minutes from the airport?
