Las Vegas

Accommodations:

The Regent Las Vegas

Location:

TPC at The Canyons
Bobby Weed and Raymond Floyd put their heads together on this one and the course was ready to play in 1996.  Now it’s home to the Senior PGA Tour’s Las Vegas Senior Classic.  You will experience wide fairway landing areas and slightly undulating greens.  This course features a multitude of trees, elevation changes, steep ravines and a canyon lake.  One of my favorite holes is #14, a 365-yard, par 4 with a green that's propped up behind a cavernous desert gorge.  Here’s a chance to play a TPC course and see how you compare to the professionals.

ANGEL PARK GOLF CLUB: This is a place you could spend all day. Voted the Best of Las Vegas, Angel Park has two Arnold Palmer designed course and you will be overwhelmed by the great course conditions and the service.  The 36-holes championship holes are beautiful challenges, but they also feature a Par 3 course called Cloud that features "The Postage Stamp" hole from Royal Troon, the "Island Green" from TPC at Sawgrass and the "Valley of Sin" from St. Andrews and  an 18-hole, natural-grass putting course called 7th Heaven featuring sand bunkers, water hazards and some of the most undulated greens you'll ever see.

Angel Park, Mountain Course
 The Mountain Course winds through the rolling terrain and skirts dense stands of native vegetation.  At an elevation of 2,800 feet, this track features spectacular views of the Spring Mountains, Red Rock Mountains and the Las Vegas skyline.  The Mountain course plays havoc with approach shots. Undulating greens and uphill approaches are the keys to master for a good score here. Most of the greens are elevated and mounded. Reading the greens on the Mountain is tricky.The 428-yard par-4 No. 10 hole defines the Mountain course. It requires an accurate tee shot, a second shot over the cart path and over a strip of desert landscaping onto a very uneven green. And don't think the course is going to get easy as you near the clubhouse, No. 17 has a split fairway and long hitters will probably come up short of the green on their second shot.  No. 17 measures out to 557 yards and if you hit the tee shot too far, it will fly off the first fairway, leaving you with a shot out of the rough. Keep it in the fairway and a fairway wood is certainly needed for the second shot. Oh yeah, be careful of the bunkers guarding the right side of the first fairway and the end of the first fairway.

Angel Park, Palm Course
The Palm Course demands distance off the tees and finesse around the greens.  Palmer did create wide receptive fairways so the course is not too overwhelming.  The Palm course was remodeled in 1993 by Bob Cupp and John Fought. Part of the remodeling was to make room for the Cloud Nine par-3 course which Cupp and Fought designed. The highlight of the Palm course is the five par-3s with the average length being between 175 and 220 yards.  The par-5, No. 6 hole on the Palm course is a double dogleg 525-yard hole with a split fairway. Playing this hole from the tips requires even the big hitters to lay up. And if you decide to go for the green on the second shot, bunkers sit in front and behind the green.  This track’s most challenging hole is #12, a 220-yard, par 3, featuring sand bunkers guarding the front of the green.  Use plenty of club.

Badlands
What a couple of guys working on this golf complex … Johnny Miller’s design and consultation from Chi Chi Rodriguez.  Only 95 acres on this course are planted with grass.  The main focus of the design centers on the natural scenery of the desert.  The fairways afford generous landing area, if you choose the right club.  A lake comes into play on only one hole.  Is that good or bad?  What is good is an accurate measurement coming from the on-cart Sky Caddy.  This yardage system is accurate to within a half yard.

Paiute Resort, Snow Mountain
The first course for this complex was the only interruption of tranquility for miles around.  Pete Dye created wide rye grass, non-parallel fairways and, of course, utilized his trademark railroad ties and pot bunker designs.  This desert, link-style course is dotted with water hazards.  Ponds come into play on seven holes, including the signature hole, #16, a 198-yard, par3, requiring a tee shot over water to a small well-bunkered green.  The 18th hole was featured in the USGA Golf Journal as A Great Golf Hole.  There's a vague resemblance to the redesigned 18th at the Blue Monster at Doral, but you have to deal with the desert wind on this one.

Paiute Resort, Sun Mountain
The sister course of this complex was opened in 1996 and also designed by Pete Dye.  The only Dye courses in the state.  The fairways are framed by Yucca and Joshua trees surrounded by hundreds of desert wildflowers.  Four lakes come into play on four holes and the signature hole is similar to Snow Mountain's.  #4 on this course is a 206-yard, par 3, which has water along the right side and a two-tiered green.  Maybe you can play this one better than the other one.