To be honest, I've never been a big fan of the Las Vegas Strip. I understand why people love it: the shows, the energy, the excitement, the restaurants. But the bright lights and hubbub ... it's all a bit too much for me. When visiting Nevada, I prefer to make my home base in Summerlin, a few miles from downtown, where I can see the lights of the Strip in the distance but hang my hat where it's a little more low-key.
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| Room at Red Rock Spa & Casino |
The 25,000-square-foot Spa at Red Rock offers a sleek, ultra-modern retreat, and a massive casino features state-of-the-art gaming. Several memorable restaurants are sprinkled around the property, notable T-bones Chophouse and Lounge -- featuring a 7,500-bottle wine loft -- and the one that caught my eye, a Salt Lick BBQ that is almost as good as the original in Austin, Texas.
I must admit I did bow to temptation and drive down to the Strip one evening for dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak in the Four Seasons Hotel. I ordered the slow-braised beef short ribs, and my friend Steve the 16 oz. New York strip. Both were outstanding, as were the baked mushrooms and Gruyere cheese gnocchi. We left satisfied and stuffed, and hopefully ready for some golf the next morning.
Of course for me, Las Vegas is not about gambling or dining, but rather golf, and one of the other reasons I choose Summerlin is that it gives me easy access to several of the state's best courses.
TPC Las Vegas -- former host course of the Las Vegas Invitational -- is an exercise in strategic play. Like most TPC courses built for tournament play, it's best to hit "smart" shots. Some 99 acres are grassed -- not a lot -- but this is not a target course. Located in the footsteps of the scenic Red Rock National Park, and only a few minutes from the Summerlin hotels, TPC Las Vegas is the only public PGA Tour facility in Las Vegas. As either a host or co-host to PGA TOUR and Champions Tour events for the past decade, TPC Las Vegas is highlighted by superb conditioning, a beautiful layout, excellent customer service, natural canyons and land crevices.
Also in this golf-rich area, be sure to check out the 27 holes of Johnny Miller/Chi Chi Rodriguez golf at Badlands that are yearly ranked among the top courses in Nevada.
"You've got to pick your club carefully and think your way around Badlands," says Steve Moore, director of marketing. "You don't have to hit driver on every hole ... in fact it's smart if you don't."
There are some forced carries over desert washes on the layout, but the resistance to scoring is really found on the recently renovated putting surfaces.
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| Angel Park |
But as good as the courses are in and around the Las Vegas metropolis, there are also some new and very exciting courses you'll want to play in the 90-mile radius outside of town. Though it seems like you're driving into the heart of nowhere once you turn off Interstate 15 and onto Highway 93, Coyote Springs is well worth the drive. A Jack Nicklaus design called The Chase is the first of several golf courses planned to open over the next several years, and it's a test.
At Coyote Springs, it seems as though Nicklaus reverted to his tough design days of the 1980s. There's hardly an even lie to be found in the fairways, and there is a price to pay for veering into one of the many deep, scallop-shaped bunkers. The design artfully grooms the desert edges into waste bunker transition areas; and there's much more water than expected. For me, making par was cause for celebration at Coyote Springs, as they were infrequent and hard-fought.
A little more than an hour north of Las Vegas (roughly 80 miles) on Interstate 15 heading toward Salt Lake City, the town of Mesquite offers a little cooler weather (nice in summer) due to its roughly 2,000-foot elevation. A green river valley provides welcome color, and some red rock plateaus and dramatic elevation changes give the golf courses their personality.
