The best courses you can play in Las Vegas

The Match between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods may have fizzled as a pay-per-view spectacle, but the venue was certainly a showcase during the Black Friday, 2018 broadcast. Shadow Creek has the reputation of being one of the most expensive courses built in America, a reported $47 million at the time. Designer Tom Fazio said that budget was necessary at Shadow Creek to perform what he now calls “total site manipulation,” creating an environment where none existed, by carving rolling hills and canyons from the flat desert floor north of Las Vegas and pumping in plenty of water. Alas, this once-in-a-lifetime dream design has been too successful, triggering many equally expensive, but inferior, imitations.

One of the great engineering feats in golf thus far in this century, Cascata climbs up and down a steep, rocky mountain hillside southeast of Las Vegas. It's authentically Nevada on the edges, the barren areas akin to Wolf Creek in Mesquite, but its turfed areas, planted with date palms, ironwoods and willows, and crossed by endless babbling brooks, is something of a salute to nearby Shadow Creek. Cascata plays mostly uphill on the front (the ninth tee is 600 feet above the clubhouse), downhill on the longer back nine.

Nestled in the heart of the Vegas strip, Wynn Golf Club has become a go-to venue for Capital One’s “The Match,” hosting the match between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in 2021, the four quarterbacks in 2022, and in 2023 the teammates battle between Steph Curry/Klay Thompson vs. Patrick Mahomes/Travis Kelce. The Tom Fazio design features dramatic elevation changes, created by moving over 400,000 cubic yards of earth. Fazio and his son, Logan, renovated the course in 2019 to make room for a casino and hotel expansion onto the property, creating eight new holes and refurbishing the other 10. The par-70 layout features six par 3s, including the picturesque 18th, with a green perched at the base of a roaring waterfall.

A former member of Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Public Courses, this Jack Nicklaus design sits along the edge of Lake Las Vegas, less than 20 miles east of the strip. The routing features a variety of hole directions, effectively using the natural landscape to create a balance of uphill and downhill shots. The five holes set along the water make for a memorable finish.

You would never know you’re less than 30 miles from the hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas Strip at this Pete Dye design, surrounded by barren desert and jagged peaks. In typical Dye fashion, there are plenty of risk-reward holes, including the split fairways at the par-5 sixth and the par-4 17th. The island green at the par-3 15th closely resembles Dye’s signature 17th at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course.

Rees Jones, known as the “Open Doctor” for his work on prominent U.S. Open venues, renovated his original design at Rio Secco in 2017. With the redesign, Jones enhanced the playability for the average golfer, creating many new tees and greens. A former member of Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Public Courses, Rio Secco provides exciting elevation changes and views of the Las Vegas Strip. And, if your round didn’t go as planned, the Butch Harmon School of Golf is on property to help.

Water comes into play on just three holes at this Pete Dye design. Instead, the defenses of the Sun Mountain course are the strategically placed bunkers (including several pot bunkers on the back nine) and undulating fairways. The edges of fairways tend to pitch toward the middle, making them play more forgiving than they appear. The course provides impressive views of the Sheep Mountain range throughout.

Perhaps the most playable of the three courses at the Las Vegas Paiute Resort, Pete Dye’s Snow Mountain offers generous landing areas and plenty of risk-reward challenges. Given the desert setting, wind will likely play a factor. The course finishes strong, offering views of Sheep Mountain on the par-3 16th, traditional Dye railroad-tie bunkers on the 17th, and a stern test with water down the entire left side on the 18th.

This Bobby Weed and Raymond Floyd design previously hosted PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions events when it was known as TPC at The Canyons. The nearby Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area provides a scenic backdrop for a course that features elevation changes and forced carries over canyons. Fairways are generally wide and forgiving, while the greens have subtle breaks influenced by the surrounding mountains. The course has six sets of tees to accommodate every level of player.

Adjacent to the airport, Bali Hai offers a unique setting in the heart of Las Vegas. For those seeking a Vegas-like experience, we’re told Jello shots and Golfboards are frequent options for guests here. Many holes are framed by white sand dunes and palm trees, which give the course a distinctly tropical feel with nearby casinos and hotels towering over Bali Hai’s trees (there are 4,000 in total). The island green at the par-3 16th often features an audience from the nearby restaurant patio.

Chimera Golf Club is a playable Ted Robinson design just outside Las Vegas in Henderson. The rolling fairways are generous on this layout that plays through a housing development. There are some incredible vistas of the Vegas Strip and Mt. Charleston, including on the first and 11th tees. In typical Vegas style, there are a variety of ways to trick up your round, like a GolfBoard rental or a three-wheel trike, as well as the opportunity to play FootGolf, a fusion between soccer and golf.

Just west of the strip, Bear’s Best Las Vegas is a Jack Nicklaus design with tremendous views of the nearby Spring Mountains. In designing the course, Nicklaus and his team referenced photos and plans from many of his previous designs to inspire the 18 holes dubbed “Bear’s Best.” Most fairways are flanked by desert, requiring quality ball-striking to score well. To enhance the round, their golf carts are equipped with Bluetooth speakers, as well as GPS and charging ports.

The Arroyo Golf Club, designed by Arnold Palmer, is located at Red Rock Country Club, which also has a separate private course. The Arroyo, however, is open to the public and meanders through the Red Rock Canyon and Summerlin community. The 6,800-yard course offers a stern test from the tips, but four other sets of tees provide more playable options for everyone.

About 30 minutes southeast of the strip, Boulder Creek has a more rural feel than many of the top public courses in the Las Vegas area. Instead of playing to narrow landing areas in a crowded housing development, the three nines at Boulder Creek offer wide fairways and expansive views of the surrounding landscape. The relatively flat course is desert golf in its gentler form and presents some intriguing shot options, including a couple of split fairways.

On the west side of Las Vegas, Angel Park offers two Arnold Palmer designs, a lighted par-3 course and an extreme putting course. The Mountain Course opened in 1990 and fittingly plays up and down a mountain, offering fantastic views of the surrounding Red Rocks and Las Vegas Strip. Though the Mountain Course is playable, it’s slightly longer and more difficult than its sibling Palm layout.

The Cloud 9 par-3 course at Angel Park complements two Arnold Palmer designs and an extreme putting course at this facility on the west side of Las Vegas. After sunset, the short course—with holes ranging from 80-130 yards—can be played under the lights, providing a unique Vegas experience. The holes were inspired by 12 of the most legendary par 3s in the world, including TPC Sawgrass’ island-green 17th and the “Postage Stamp” hole at Royal Troon.