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?
Not only is Bali Hai Golf Club one of the Vegas area's best upscale courses, the location on the south end of the Strip in the shadows of Mandalay Bay and across the street from McCarran International Airport is unbeatable. It's the Strip's only golf course open to the public.
When golf course architect Bob Cupp went about the business of designing the 27 holes at Silverstone Golf Club in Las Vegas, he knew he had to include design features to test the better players in the game, and that meant plenty of bunkers, doglegs and water. It also meant length: Silverstone has the longest par 5 in Nevada.
Plenty of modern golf courses in southern Nevada will dazzle with spectacular views, impeccable conditions and difficult holes, but few will give you a real sense of Las Vegas history. One exception is Las Vegas National, one of the few remnants of how life used to be in Sin City.
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