The Badlands Golf Club, designed by golf legend Johnny Miller, debuted in late 1995, and immediately had Las Vegas golfers buzzing. The course was tough, some say tortuous, but it was nothing like anybody had seen before. Dazzling, delicious, and dastardly desert golf had arrived in Las Vegas. And right now you can book complete Badlands and Las Vegas Golf Packages with the Suncoast Hotel, beginning at just $160 per player.
By Brian Hurlburt, Golf Las Vegas Now editor
Johnny Miller, who these days is television's top golf commentator, was taken by the starkness of the land, and the area reminded him of the Badlands of South Dakota. The Badlands name stuck.
"The existing washes and arroyos provide dramatic visual appeal for the golf course at The Badlands," Miller said in 1995. "Thousands of years of watershed runoff from the mountains created a wonderful canvas for our course design. With this natural landscap, we are able to route most of the holes along the natural cliffs and through the small gorges and depressions of the property. The course features are beautiful as well as challenging to play. Clearly the finished 'painting' is something very special."
Miller is a spiritual person who takes his golf course design responsibility very seriously. He understands that when he designs a course that it will be there for generations, and he wants to create something special every time.
The Badlands opened as an 18-hole facility, but later debuted a new nine holes that many said was a bit friendlier than the original 18.
You will never forget a round at Badlands, and if you remember to do whatever it takes to keep your shots in the fairway, you will walk off with one your most memorable scores.
Las Vegas golf course tee times and links to official Las Vegas golf course websites.
Other quality Las Vegas golf courses include The Revere (sister course of Badlands), Rio Secco, Cascata, Las Vegas National, Royal Links and Bali Hai.