LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Feb. 7, 2017)–If players are looking for a great golf challenge, they shouldn’t always look at the length of a course. Case in point: Las Vegas National Golf Club. At 6,721 yards, it’s far from a brute. But, add in fairways that are lined with tall and mature 60-year-old trees and you’ve got a course that’s not only beautiful, it’s downright tough. — By Bill Bowman.
Las Vegas National Golf Club was designed by Bert Stamps and opened up for play in 1961. And while it’s a par-71 design, it plays just the aforementioned 6,721 yards from the tips. Visit the official website to make your official Las Vegas National Golf Club tee times.
Now, before you start thinking this is the kind of course you may be able to put up a 59 on, think again. In fact, the course record is 62 set by David Graham and Tom Kite. And Kite’s was the most recent record, set way back in 1991.
And one of the world’s best (Tiger Woods) could manage just a one-under-par-70 en route to his first PGA Tour win, the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational.
“A big part of this course is all of those mature trees,” said Joe Kelly, director of sales and marketing. “They certainly add beauty to the course, but because of the fullness they can certainly give players tougher shots if they are trying to maneuver the ball around them.”
But it is definitely the beauty of the layout that attracts players to this layout just minutes off the Las Vegas Strip.
“There’s not one bit of feeling that you’re playing in Las Vegas,” Kelly said. “It’s more of a Midwestern or Northeastern feeling. There’s not another course in Southern Nevada that has the tree involvement.”
And that’s what makes scoring quite a challenge. “It’s definitely a course you have to find the fairway,” Kelly said. “And you’ve got to find the proper side of the fairway to get in the best position to go at the green. It’s definitely a challenging course, but it’s also a very fair course. You’re not going to be penalized for good shots but you also won’t be rewarded for bad shots.”
So reconsider your goals and look at this tree-lined masterpiece for what it is: pure golf paradise.
“It’s just a great thinking man’s course,” Kelly said.
Plus you can experience this course on a Golfboard, which is basically a surf board on the course. How sweet is that?