Best known for the bright lights of The Strip, the opportunities for fun and recreation in Las Vegas extend to the numerous top-class golf courses dotted in and around the city.
(Photo: Shadow Creek Golf Course)
Not for nothing is the sprawling neon-washed city known as the entertainment capital of the world. The myriad of exciting things to see and do include some of Nevada’s finest golfing destinations, where the magic of a desert landscape has been transformed into a golfer’s oasis at the more than 50 courses nestled within easy reach of central Vegas. We’ve narrowed them down to 7 of the most achingly charming below.
Shadow Creek
Where else to start than this legendary course, sculpted from the rugged Nevada desert and lying two miles north of downtown Las Vegas? Part of MGM Resorts International, the course features manicured fairways and pristine greens, all guarded by crystal blue water and set against a backdrop of majestic mountains. Rolling terrain, thousands of pines, bursts of flowers and a network of creeks and lakes add to the scenery, which conceals any glimpse of the surrounding desert. Once only accessible by a privileged few, today it is open to guests staying in one of many MGM Resort hotels in Las Vegas.
3 Shadow Creek Drive, North Las Vegas
Cascata
(Photo: Cascata Golf Club)
Set in the picturesque foothills of the River Mountain Range, around 30 minutes by road from the Las Vegas Strip, this par-72 championship golf course provides stunning vistas every which way you turn, including lush fairways, lakes, and streams. But perhaps most impressive is the breathtaking waterfall that cascades over the steep mountainside and towers above the golf club’s practice ground. The water meanders through the practice facilities, merging into a river that roars through the heart of the Tuscan-inspired clubhouse, culminating in a tranquil stream.
1 Cascata Drive, Boulder City
Reflection Bay
Set on a luxurious lake located 25 minutes east of the Las Vegas Strip, and part of a prestigious residential resort community, this award-winning Jack Nicklaus-designed course draws upon the area’s unique topography to provide a one-of-a-kind golfing experience. The dramatic features elevations ranging from 1,410 to 1,750 feet, along with generous fairways, offers strategic bunkering and forced carries over canyons and water. Many of the course’s holes line the lake with some playing out to a peninsula surrounded by water on all sides, and others heading into the desert hills.
75 Montelago Boulevard, Henderson
TPC Summerlin
(Photo: TPC Summerlin)
After opening in 1991, this par-72 championship course rapidly gained widespread acclaim, even becoming a favourite of Tiger Woods who won his first professional event here. Set in the heart of the 22,000 acres Summerlin community, located five miles west of Las Vegas, its layout was carved from a magnificent swath of rugged desert terrain. Featuring greens with subtle undulations, the course meanders through arroyos and canyons, with striking flora, water features and an abundance of honey mesquite and pine trees contrasting dramatically with undisturbed desert washes.
1700 Village Center Circle, Las Vegas
Desert Pines Golf Club
Tucked away just minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, this course transports golfers from the enclosed casinos and all-consuming glitz to a place where you can soak up the fresh, calming scent of real pine trees. The Dye-designed course’s spectacular layout is reminiscent of golf in the Carolinas, featuring over 4,000 mature pine trees lining the fairways with green grass running from tees to pins, and white sand bunkers protecting large, undulating, bent grass greens fashioned after those at Augusta National Golf Club. Meanwhile four beautiful lakes add to the excitement and beauty of your round.
3415 East Bonanza Road, Las Vegas
Snow Mountain – Paiute Golf Resort
(Photo: Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort)
Perched just 25-minutes from Las Vegas Strip, Paiute Golf Resort boasts three spectacular championship golf courses, all designed by legendary golf architect, Pete Dye, and featuring spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges. Perhaps the best known of the three is Snow Mountain, the resort’s original course. Set among pristine desert, this course’s progressive layout offers challenging but enjoyable golfing conditions with memorable water features, wide rye grass fairways, dog leg finishing holes, bunkers and pure greens. Highlights include the stunning par-3 16th hole that requires a carry over water all the way to the rock-lined green.
10325 Nu-Wav Kaiv Boulevard, Las Vegas
DragonRidge Golf
Elevated in the McCullough Mountains, above the Las Vegas Valley Floor with unobstructed views of the Las Vegas Strip, this championship, par 72 layout course was designed an innovative way to use the natural hillsides and canyons, with a topography that allows our golfers to enjoy wide fairways and large greens. Attracting everyone from amateurs to the world’s best players, the course offers a challenge to golfers of all skill levels, winding through the luxury homesites creating sweeping elevation changes, desert arroyos, several water features, and volcanic rock to shape and contour each hole.