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Top Golf Courses in Las Vegas


There’s nothing like experiencing Las Vegas as a high roller. The casinos, the fine dining, the entertainment — it’s that much better if you can do it first class. Golf is no exception, and the top Golf Courses in Las Vegas has some amazing choice offerings in high-end golf.

Most of the time, the green fees for these courses are $200 and up. But hey, that’s just a few minutes at the blackjack table for some, right? If you get lucky at the tables and have some extra money in your pocket, you can upgrade your golf to one of the best courses in town, and they will certainly deliver. This is, after all, a city that knows how to cater to those with a little cash.

When it comes to glitzy golf, all discussions still start with the bucket-list and still-mysterious Shadow Creek Golf Club, created by Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio. It still costs five large bills to play (not including caddie) and it’s likely that you won’t see many other golfers on the course (if any). A playground for celebrities and high rollers, guests of the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and a few other high end Vegas casino resorts, can get access for the right price.

The course is perennially ranked by major golf publications as one of the top golf courses in Las Vegas and in the top 20 in the country. The experience begins with a limo ride to the course. Once there, you won’t find desert golf, but rather thousands of imported trees, and streams, lakes, elevation changes, beautiful doglegs and perfect conditions, including pristine bentgrass greens.

And speaking of Mandalay Bay, right next to it is the only remaining golf course on the Las Vegas Strip, Bali Hai Golf Club. It still offers wall-to-wall lush conditions, including bentgrass greens, with plenty of water features, crystal white-sand bunkers and more than 2,500 palm trees in a South Pacific tropical setting. During season, green fees are upwards of $275, but in the summer you can probably play it for half that price (this is true for most courses in the desert).

And then there’s the Rees Jones-designed Cascata, which sits at more than 3,000 feet in a mountain setting in Boulder City near Las Vegas. Cascata means “waterfall” in Italian, and the dominant element of this experience is the 418-foot waterfall that starts on the mountain behind the range and meanders through the course and splits the magnificent 37,000-square-foot Tuscan-style clubhouse. With a little more desert presence golf than the other two, each hole is almost entirely secluded, and like the other two, you may not see another golfer on the course. Green fees here are around $400 during peak season, and guests at Caesar’s Palace can gain access.

As for other top golf courses in Las Vegas that won’t disappoint, you could check out Rio Secco Golf Club, a challenging layout was recently renovated and boasts great views of the Strip. It’s also home to the Butch Harmon Academy of Golf, so it’s a pretty choice place to take a lesson. You might even run into a celebrity or two while you’re there.

Just north of the Strip, the Summerlin area is a hotbed of some of the top golf courses in Las Vegas, led by two TPC layouts. TPC Las Vegas is a Bobby Weed design (in concert with World Golf Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd) with great views of the Strip and Red Rock Canyon. While TPC Las Vegas is open to the public and has stay-and-play packages with local resorts, TPC Summerlin is private and home of the Shriners for Children Open on the PGA Tour. The course is one of the most stunning in Las Vegas, featuring a terrific finishing stretch, well worth it if you have connections through the TPC Network or a member.

Perhaps the most affordable of the destination’s elite courses is Las Vegas Paiute Resort, which is home to three really interesting Pete Dye layouts that are always in terrific shape and fun to play. Royal Links Golf Club (image above) is a cool 18-hole layout with great service and amenities that features tribute holes to courses of The Open across the pond.

If you’re a fan of Jack Nicklaus, check out Bear’s Best, a terrific collection of replica holes from his designs around the world. And for more Nicklaus, head a little north of Vegas to Coyote Springs, a pretty lavish Nicklaus design, complete with devilish greens, waterfalls and perfect conditions, well worth the hour drive to get there. Or, closer by Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas recently reopened after a period of closure, and will dazzle with opulent lakefront holes.

The top golf courses in Las Vegas won’t go easy on your wallet, but you could potentially save some money by playing midweek or looking for last-minute or off-season.

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