It’s time for the last stop on our whirlwind tour of Nevada’s finest bunkers. Perhaps I should only speak for myself there. Shawn has stayed on the green on the course, but we can’t say the same for the slots. Luckily, we’re not big gamblers, so we’re only out forty bucks. All I can think, is that’s about ten Starbucks. Ugh.Background
We’re heading less than a half-hour northwest of the city to the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort. Comprised of three Pete Dye designs, the resort rests on and is the property of the Paiute Indian Tribe. This type of facility is the first of it’s kind in America for Native American land (3). Opening in 2001, Wolf Course was the last, and most commanding, of the three courses to be completed. Not surprisingly, its the 7604 yards make it the longest course in Nevada. The Wolf Course has plenty to brag about, as it holds Golf Magazine and GolfWeek’s number 9 ranking in the state of Nevada (2, 3). Furthermore, Golf Magazine ranked Wolf as one of its five “must play” courses in Sin City (4). If they insist…
As most exciting wife of the year, I take the opportunity for sightseeing, adventure, and camaraderie of this car ride and put it aside for the chance at a power nap. As I finally hit what I consider to be the “sweet spot” of sleep, I’m jarred by a noise equivalent to nails on a chalkboard: my phone alerting me to a flash flood warning in the area until 6pm. We live in Ohio; rain is a way of life, not a cause for alarm. Besides, we weathered torrential, flash flood-like conditions during our trip to Florida this spring. We’re now turning off the highway. So much for my sweet slumber. The terrain is far from that which we’ve experienced earlier this week. The valley rolls away from us, with mountains towering in every other direction. I can’t see any signs of the big city from here. Even though we are in isolation, but I don’t have the feeling of being deserted as we felt at Coyote Springs. In anticipation of the storm, it’s a humid 96°F with a 7 mph wind at our backs. We are greeted every step of the way, from dropping our clubs, to entering the clubhouse. It’s just us out there and another group. Perfect.
The Round
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| Ribbon Dancer up and down... |
Our first shots are right into the generous fairways. The second hole, a bit of a blind shot, poses a bit of a challenge for Shawn. For me, the only challenge is following my blue ball against the backdrop of blue sky. Not practical. By the third hole, I begin to notice bugs. They aren’t the little fruit fly types either. There are some dragonflies and butterflies, but there is also what I’ll refer to as Albino Wasps. I did my best to determine the actual classification of this flying insect only to come up short and feeling like I have bugs all over me. These Albino Wasps are the worst, and I am their best target. They swarm me at every stop. They could care less about Shawn. Thus my tee shot has now become reminiscent of the Ribbon Dancer commercials of my yesteryear, as I drop to tee up before quickly unreeling my swing before rushing back to the cart. The Albino Wasps are ruthless. Even though we were warned of recent snake sightings on the course, the Albino Wasps and a few rabbits are the extent of “wildlife” on this course today. |
| Teeing off on two |
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| Big 'ol scooped bunkers. |
The landscape is lush for the desert, as the rolling hills of the course are dotted with small cacti and palms. Yellow daisies grow in vast arrays among tufts of sagebrush. The course is noticeably quiet. It’s so calm and relaxing. I can’t presume it’s exactly the same when it’s a packed house out here, but most holes are guarded somewhat from the others, so I would still expect it remains pretty serene. I should note the course plays 10-20 yards shorter than the scorecard and Golfshot GPS dictate. Perhaps it’s the elevation, but we learned quickly to club down. While the fairways remain fairly generous throughout, they do have a fair amount of undulation. The undulation is more of a roll versus the choppy water-like fairways of Coyote Springs. The greens are fairly quick and certainly took some adjusting and provided their own challenge throughout the round. Six hosts a nice, short par 5, but is quickly followed with a strung-out par 4, commanding 470 yards from Shawn’s tees.
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| Aerial of 14 from the Golfshot GPS App |
I am certainly partial to the western US, but Paiute is a beautiful setting regardless. The bunkers are my favorite kind. Unfortunately, that doesn’t infer they are the type my ball is shy of. I admire them for their looks: it’s as if someone wielded a Bigfoot-sized ice cream scoop to create them. They just ripple around nearly every green and fairway, catching my line of fire. Water comes into play on a few holes, with a large pond running alongside the right of twelve and eighteen, as they jog around it. Fourteen was probably the toughest challenge for both of us, as it has a severe dogleg right. Shawn spent some time on the tee box deliberating. He quipped, “I don’t even know what to do on this,” before launching his shot. “It isn’t quite what I wanted, but at least it’s not lost,” he remarked. I lucked out as well, landing in the middle of the fairway at the bend.
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| The view from fifteen's tee shot. The tee is more elevated than it appears. |
The most scenic hole on this course is without a doubt is fifteen’s island green. Shawn was able to land two different tee shots on the sloping green, and I was able to skip three right on and into the water. I can only sacrifice a sleeve of balls before I reserve myself to taking pictures of the hole instead. I clearly spent all my good island green luck on the island green 17 at Eagle Eye—or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I’m sure I’ll get my act together before we make it to Sawgrass.
Reflecting Back
We had a great finish to our round, with still no rain in sight. So much for a flash flood. We were carted right back to the car with our clubs by a gentleman who, as it would turn out, is from Indiana. He could sympathize with our lack of fear for rain, but he did share news of a terrible storm they experienced last fall. It rained so much that all three courses were shut down for at least a couple months. The Wolf Course was the last to reopen in January. That island green on 15 ceased to exist, as it was completely under water. We instantly had an even greater appreciation for how well the course played and was maintained, considering the immense amount of restoration completed this winter.
We certainly agree with Golf Magazine that Paiute’s Wolf Course is a must play course if you’re in Las Vegas. We wouldn’t mind coming back to tackle the other two courses either, as they look pretty remarkable as well from what we could see. The facilities, course, and staff are all fantastic, and we greatly enjoyed our round. It was a great ending to a great trip!
Click below to enjoy pictures of our howling good time!
Links
LasVegas Paiute, Wolf Course Website
1 Paiute - Golf Club
Resort Las Vegas Nevada Pete Dye Design Golf Courses. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.lvpaiutegolf.com/golfhistory.html
2
Best
Public Golf Courses in Nevada. (2012, July 22). Golf Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.golf.com/courses-and-travel/best-public-golf-courses-nevada-2012
3
Golfweek Staff. Golfweek's
Best: State-by-State Courses You Can Play (2014, March 19). Golfweek.
Retrieved from: http://golfweek.com/news/2014/mar/19/golf-courses-golfweeks-best-state-by-state-2014/
4
Must-Play Golf Courses in Las Vegas
(2013, May 21). Golf Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.golf.com/courses-and-travel/best-golf-courses-las-vegas-nevada
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