Looking for your next golf holiday destination? Read below for our list of the top five golf courses in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is awash with casinos, glitz and glamour, but there is also a plethora of golf courses to sample if you are heading to Nevada on business or a vacation.
While the offerings of the Nevada desert’s resort city can’t rival the quality venues in California, Florida and even Texas, you get value for money from some real gems. Las Vegas makes the perfect destination for combining golf with pleasure. Once you’ve packed up your clubs, there is also the opportunity to spend the evening on the card tables or roulette wheels.
We’ve picked out five top golf courses in Las Vegas—all are within relatively close proximity to the famous strip, if you are planning to tee it up.
Shadow Creek
The Tom Fazio-designed Shadow Creek oozes quality and stands out as one of the best golf courses Las Vegas has to offer. Being just a decade old and a short 15 minute drive to the north of Vegas, Shadow Creek is simply a breath-taking achievement. As is the backdrop of the Red Rock Canyon National Park. Owned by MGM Resorts International, guests of 15 Las Vegas hotels including the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand can play here. It radiates luxury beyond anything imaginable, with creeks, lakes and waterfalls adding to the special feel of the course.
Royal Links
When it comes to unique golf courses, Royal Links can lay claim to that title more than most—how could be not include it in our list of the best golf courses in Las Vegas? What you get at the Links track—just five minutes from the strip—is not unique itself, but the combination of holes truly is. That’s because Royal Links has been created by replicating holes of courses, which stage The Open in the United Kingdom on the rotation basis. So you get the Road Hole at St Andrews, Postage Stamp at Royal Troon and versions of holes at Carnoustie, Turnberry, Royal Liverpool, Prestwick, Royal Lytham, Muirfield and Royal Birkdale all combined in one special venue. You will be in good company too because Tiger Woods holds the course record.
Coyote Springs
Jack Nicklaus crafted the Coyote Springs Golf Club, located 45 minutes from downtown Las Vegas, in 2008—what he came up with is something special. If you are afraid of water then it probably isn’t for you as there are 11 lakes in play at Coyote Springs. Sat in the shadows of mountains all round, the par-72 offers a good test without being too tough. It plays between 5,349 yards and 7,471 yards depending on which tees you decide to play from—it is certainly one of the top golf courses in Las Vegas.
Spanish Trail
The golf courses at Spanish Trail Country Club have been created by renowned designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. and they are a must-play. Just four miles from the Vegas strip, three nine-hole loops are available to play with the Sunrise, Canyon and Lakes courses to choose from. Lakes, streams, waterfalls and 100-plus bunkers make it a challenge whichever 18 holes you play, not to mention the super speedy greens. You’ll need your putter to be working well!
Palm Valley
Palm Valley is the pick of three Las Vegas courses forming the Golf Summerlin group along with Highland Falls and Eagle Crest. Located on the western edge of Vegas in Sun City, Palm Valley is overlooked by La Madre Mountains and offers a test that is sometimes links and sometimes woodland with fairways lined with trees. Designers Billy Casper and Greg Nash have come up with this gem that has been nurtured superbly since its opening in 1989.
If you have enjoyed this feature on the top five golf courses in Las Vegas, discover more great golfing locations here.
See also: Big Cedar Lodge