Have I bored you enough with my posts about Las Vegas and the courses I have played? Hang tight with me for just a little while longer because this should be my last post on the courses I have played in Las Vegas. Here goes, stay with me now.
We packed up the car and headed out for the fourth PGCC Coaches Clinic and Tournament, once again traversing the vast nothingness of the California High Desert. This was going to be a bit different conference in that we were to stay at a different hotel and we were not returning to Stallion Mountain. The courses for this event were in Boulder City and the courses were the new course outside of Boulder City, Boulder Creek which had just opened about a month before we got there and Boulder City Municipal. I don't know why the change was, but I really enjoyed playing the two courses.
Boulder Creek had three nines, but one of the nines was not open because it was still under construction. The two nines that we did play were great tracks with some interesting holes. All in all, the two nines were fair as far as their architecture, but being very new the greens were like concrete and when you hit into them the ball would bounce into the air as if you had hit the ball onto the concrete of a parking lot. That was an interesting part of playing there. The course was well bunkered and there were many sand collection areas. Yes, there was water, but the lakes were placed in areas that you could navigate them. They were not punitive but came into play in a very logical way. I would play Boulder Creek again and it rates high on my courses to play again should I ever be in Las Vegas again.
When I saw the list of courses we were to play in this my fourth PGCC Coaches/Clinic I was taken aback a bit and kind of disappointed. There was a municipal course on the course rotation that year, Boulder City Municipal Golf Course. All of The PGCC events played courses that were upscale, and I was kind of wondered why we would be playing a muni and not an upscale course.
I am actually a very boring person, or so I am told. I don't get very many surprises in my life. Boulder City Golf Course was a true surprise. I had dismissed it as another muni golf course, probably not worth playing. I was WRONG. This course is truly a hidden gem. It was a lot of fun to play and I was totally amazed at how this course in the desert was so lush. The layout was interesting and the greens were fast. Set in a what seemed to be a housing development, the fairways were pretty tight. The rough was, what can I say, tallish and lush. I want to play this course again should I ever return to the Las Vegas area. Probably never again, but never say never.
Let's fast forward several years. Did you read my post "Detail A Car-Buy A Timeshare"? Please go back and read it as it lays the groundwork for these next few comments. At any rate, my wife and I found ourselves in Las Vegas. I have a good friend that lives in Las Vegas that I used to play golf with so we decided to hook up for a round of golf. We decided that The Paiute Golf Resort Wolf Course would be a great place to play a round of golf with myself and my wife.
We totally enjoyed this course. Being in the middle of nowhere in the desert, I was totally taken aback as to how lush and green the course was. It was in perfect condition, with the greens running fast and true. The layout was what I thought fair with no forced carries. There was one thing I thought was a gimmick as I think this particular feature on a golf course is. They had an island green. I am not a fan of island greens for a number of reasons. Overall, I rate this course very highly and do want to play it again, just move it away from Las Vegas.
I will never go back to Las Vegas. Those were famous last words that I have uttered. Yep, I was wrong again. My third daughter was pregnant and a revealing party was planned. The location of the party was-you guessed it-Las Vegas. My youngest daughter was graduating from masseuse school on the same weekend, so it was planned that the family that was stretched out from Missouri to Spokane, Washington to Bakersfield, California and Merced California would gather in Las Vegas for two celebration events. So I hopped a plane to Las Vegas and booked a one room suite at the time share. The parties were on two separate days, so what was I to do with my down time?
My youngest daughter lives in Las Vegas so I was looking forward to spending some time with her. Did I mention she plays golf? I got off the plane at 7:30 AM after the flight from Fresno that left at 6:00. I had been up since 3:30 in order to catch the 6:00 flight so I was fairly tired when I got to Las Vegas. My daughter and I had breakfast and guess where we went from there. It wasn't bowling, my friend. She has connection in the Las Vegas golf world so we got a great rate at Bear's Best. Of course-no pun intended-I was going to play golf, especially with my daughter. I should mention here that she is a pretty good stick and drives the ball about 270, enough said.
We got to play Bear's Best just out of town set in the rolling hills just out of Las Vegas. This was an upscale experience. There was the pyramid of practice balls on the range and the place was impeccable. This was Vegas, especially seeing the scantily clad escorts that were riding on the carts and hanging on to some of the players. This ain't Kansas, Toto. So, what about the course?
As I sat outside of the clubhouse, I kind of got the same feeling about this course as I did when I played Royal Links. This was a Las Vegas imitation. Bear's Best is a collection of holes inspired by Jack Nicklaus. It winds through the contours of the foothills it is designed, but the lies are mostly level and the greens are huge. They putted fairly truly as well and I would play the course again, even though it is totally overpriced. I'm not a fan of imitation golf courses but hey, let's play some golf. That is, if I don't fall asleep which I almost did three times. As I flew out of Las Vegas and the wheels of the airplane escaped the bonds of earth, I once again vowed never to return to Las Vegas.
My wife's son was going to be in Phoenix for a couple of weeks. I didn't blame her for wanting to visit him when he was there. She asked me if we could drive to Phoenix, stopover at the midway point for a couple of nights and drive from there to meet her son in Phoenix. I give you three-no one-guesses as to where the halfway point would be. Yep you guessed it, Las Vegas. At least we have our time share there and it was open the few days we wanted to go. There would be time to squeeze in a round of golf with my friend who lives in Las Vegas and my daughter. I don't think vowing not to go to Las Vegas again is not a vow, but a curse. Every time I seem to vow that I will never grace the Las Vegas area again, I seem to return. I will never say again that I will never go to Las Vegas again.
Here's the question. Where in Las Vegas can we play without spending an arm and a leg? We found a course that was reasonably priced, under $50 with cart and that was The Legacy in Henderson, Nevada just a short drive from the strip. The Legacy was sold and the new owner wanted to close it and turn the property into a housing development. The land around the course was already a full built housing development with a homeowner's association. In the HOA contract it stated specifically that the golf course would stay a golf course and could not be developed, contrary to what the new owner wanted to do with the land. The HOA took the new landowner to court and won, the new owner could not develop the course. In retribution, the new owner said fine you could have your course, but that doesn't mean I have to maintain it. You can see where this is going.
The tees and greens were fine, but the fairways were in many cases just dirt. Despite the condition of the course, I liked it. From what I understand, the HOA and the new owner have come to a bit of an agreement and he is putting more money into the course as far as maintenance. The greens were OK, but had a lot of bare spots and some crabgrass. There is a unique feature of this course and it is that the tenth tee has the four suits of a deck of cards as teeing grounds. I would play this course again.
Well, in the last two of my posts I have shared with you the courses I have played in Las Vegas. We have a timeshare in Palm Springs. We enjoy Palm Springs and the courses there much more. Hmmmm...is there a post in there somewhere. Yes there is in the future. My opinion of Las Vegas is unchanged. I will never go back to Las Vegas again- uh, maybe.
Have you checked out my website? It is a directory of public golf courses you can play. Take a minute and click on http://the-golf-course-travel-bag.com and check it out.
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