Vegas Area Trip Report Sept 2024

[Bonneville85308]

I took a trip to the Vegas area about a week ago and played 4 new-to-me courses, figured I'd give my report since we get a lot of questions about Vegas courses here but don't have an ongoing course conditions thread.

 

Boulder Creek: Played the Coyote Run and Eldorado Valley nines. I felt like Coyote Run was a pretty easy nine, Eldorado Valley was more challenging. Desert Hawk was closed for greens aeration. My understanding is that this facility does not overseed. Late morning golfnow hotdeal tee time for around $80 appeared to be the only way to book this course as a single, since they otherwise don't let singles book online at their $130 non-resident rate, and I got a run-around when calling to book a single. Fairways had excellent grass coverage, dense/plush but dry and semi-firm so good rollout. Rough was cut fairly low and the ball would roll a little in it. A few of the par 3 tees were a bit chewed up but they get a lot of play here. Bunker sand was firm but easy to play from. Greens were in excellent condition and what I'd call average public course speed. Pace was about 4:15 with most of the waiting on the second nine. Drinking water available on the course. Range balls included. I'd definitely come back to this one. Helped that I was hitting the ball well and went birdie-birdie on the last two holes which weren't easy ones either.

 

 

Coyote Springs: Course is in the middle of nowhere about 55-60 minutes from the strip. Probably the best conditioned course of the trip. Absolutely zero to complain about besides a few saturated green aprons. Plush fairways still gave good roll despite morning irrigation. Rough was at a reasonable height but you had to watch out for some really high stuff around the bunker edges. Bunker sand was pretty good. Greens were in excellent condition, receptive, not many ball marks at all, but slower than I was expecting. I'm usually not a Nicklaus course fan, but I liked this one and thought it was challenging but fair. Great property with zero houses around it, nice views of the mountains in the distance, you get a nice feeling of isolation and calmness here. I had originally planned on playing the 5,705 yard gold tees as the whites at 6,215 are a bit long for me, but it seemed like they had a bunch of the gold tee markers moved up to the reds, so I moved back to white.  Played as probably the 6th group of the day in about 4:20. Arrive a little earlier than you usually would to a course, as the first tee is a very long cart ride from the cart staging area as is the driving range (balls included). ~$150 rate on their website. There is a small restaurant at the clubhouse but otherwise nowhere to eat in the area besides a gas station by the highway.

 

 

Arroyo at Red Rock: Fairways were very well-irrigated, plush and dense, but not much roll even in the afternoon. Ridiculous amount of unfilled fairway divots despite sand bottles on every cart. Rough was very dense and not short, but wasn't tough to hit out of. Greens had just been aerated maybe 10-12 days prior, they had recovered pretty well in terms of not throwing the ball off line, but they were slow and kinda soft. Bunker sand was good. $155 rack rate. Not sure if they have a range or not. Played mid Sunday afternoon and it was pretty empty, didn't run into anyone until the last 2 holes. Looked like it was going to thunderstorm most of the time but it didn't come further east than the mountains just west of the course. Probably wouldn't do this one again. Extreme disjointed cartball routing through a housing development with some crazy long rides between holes. They currently have everyone starting on #7, a par 3 that is relatively near the clubhouse. The holes themselves just weren't really interesting or memorable.

 

 

Revere-Concord course: I had played Lexington last winter and I liked Concord better. Concord was a few weeks from overseed closure, whereas Lexington was already closed. Fairways weren't soaked, and most were cut pretty short, so there was good rollout.  However, lots of burnt out and bare dirt spots, especially on uneven surfaces, and nobody fills in divots here. The rough was high and extremely grabby, both when the ball landed in it (it would stop immediately), and when trying to hit out of it where it would grab the clubhead. Greens were mostly in good condition, soft, maybe quicker than average public course speed once they dried out. Bunkers were a mixed bag, some total concrete and others playable. Lots of tees were really chewed up and in need of mowing. $139 prepaid rate on their website. Range was closed for overseeding the tee. Played with some really nice local octogenarians as probably the third or fourth group off in about 3:50 and I was hitting the ball well so I left happy. Fun par 3's, some potentially reachable par 5's even for a short hitter for the right tees, some green shapes/tiers that required using your head on short iron approach shots. 

 

 

Bear's Best:  Pretty good condition all around but a definite notch below Coyote Springs. Fairways weren't too soaked but the front aprons were, hit a 5-wood on one hole that hit the apron and plugged. Greens quicker than average and semi-firm. I was in 4 bunkers, 3 had good sand and the other was rock hard. $140 rate on their website, free range balls. We were the first group off as a foursome, one guy left after 9, and we finished in about 3:15. The course sold earlier this year and is supposedly going private during the next year, I'm guessing to draw membership from the residents of the extremely pricey residences surrounding it. I had mixed feelings on the course, there were maybe 6 holes I really enjoyed, 6 were "meh", and 6 I strongly disliked, particularly #18.