Course Review - TPC Vegas

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

TPC Vegas - Golf can be Fun! 

 

Why do we average, recreational golfers play golf?  There are lots of reasons – challenge, competition, socializing, and exercise; but for me it all can be boiled down into one word:

 

Fun. 

 

My personal goal is to bag the legal limit of fun and then some before it's time to leave this planet.  And when it comes to golf courses, there's fun and then there's FUN!

 

TPC Las Vegas is FUN!

 

You'd think with the TPC moniker TPC Vegas would be an outrageously difficult track that would be virtually unplayable for the average Joe.  Well, it's not what you'd call an easy course (you better bring your putter!), in fact, it's quite challenging.  But it's not the type of course that'll make you want to set your clubs on fire halfway through, either.

 

TPC Vegas opened 18 years ago as a Bobby Weed/Raymond Floyd designed Par 71, 7,080-yard course.  Among the accolades:

 

-       Best Upscale Resort Course by Vegas Golfer

-       4-Star rating in Golf Digest's “Best Places To Play

-       Top 10 Best Golf Resorts in the US by Conde Nast Traveler

-       Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary

-       Hosted PGA Tour Shriner's Hospital for Children Open 2001-226

-       Hosted Champion's Tour Las Vegas Senior Classic 1997-1999

-       Members include Kevin Na, Ryan Moore, Bob May and Charlie Hoffman, who owns a home on the course.

 

TPC Vegas is about a 15-20 minute drive from the Vegas Strip, and offers beautiful views of the mountains in Red Rock National Park.  The views throughout the 18 holes range from the sublime to the stunning, with holes 12 thru 15 winding through a series of canyons filled with rocks, tumbleweeds and Titleist ProV's.

 

As you'd expect in Vegas, service is top-shelf.  There's always someone at the Bag Drop ready to help you with your bag and load up your cart (cash for tips is considered de rigueur).

 

 

You'll get a small bag of range balls with your round. If you just want to use the range, that bag will set you back $15.00 (a little steep for roughly 30 balls, but hey, it's Vegas, baby). I stopped in a day before our round to work out the end-of-season kinks. Fortunately, the other golfers on the range were getting ready to play and left unused balls on the range, so I got my $15 worth, and then some.

 

My “day job” sponsored an outing for the sales team (we were in Vegas for a sales meeting. Honest), and the Events Team at TPC Vegas treated us well. Each cart was loaded with a cooler filled with bottled water (a must for desert golf), as well as coolers with boxed lunches. The extra coolers made for a cramped cart, and they did go a-tumbling down the fairway after at least 2 sharp left turns, but the lunch was edible and plentiful.

 

Like most good courses, TPC Vegas starts you off with a “handshake” hole. We played the “Blended” tees, a combination of the Blue and White tees measuring 6,336 yards, with a rating of 68.7 and a slope of 128.  Hole #1 is called “Ease-In,” a straight 360-yard par 4 with a wide fairway leading to a crowned green. There's a hill running the length of the hole on the left, and a smaller hill with houses on the right.  Nice, easy hole, makes you feel right at home.

 

 

The course bears its teeth on #2.

 

From the Blended Tees, “Canyon” is a 151 yard par 3 downhiller.  Whatever you do, don't be short or left.  There's nothing but desert, rattlesnakes and more ProV's. The greens keeper must have had a bad night, because the pin was nestled in the upper right hand part of the green, which slopes steeply from back to front. 

 

 

 

A quick word about the greens: they are fast.  Not Italian-marble tile fast; more like Home Depot-linoleum fast.  And as I later learned, putts tend to break toward the Vegas Strip.  Wish I'd have know that…

 

There are two man-sized par 5's on the front: the 518-yard 4^th and the 590-yard 6^th.  The 4^th is downhill, with waste bunkers on the right and OB on the left.  It may be reachable for the gorillas out there, as long as you don't miss.  Not a lot of room around the green for slight errors in dispersion.

 

The 6^th is a beast, no two ways about it. It's long and mostly straight, with a little right turn at the end. The green is large and well-bunkered and, now that I know, breaks toward The Strip. 

 

 

The par 3's at TPC Vegas are rugged. In addition to #2, the 169-yard 7^th, called "Dry Run," requires a mid-iron to one of the smaller greens on the course (the greens are Pebble Beach small, but they're pretty small considering the length of the course). There's desert bramble all along the left (more ProV's) and bunkers to the left and right of the green.  Felt like Danny Ocean walking off with a par.

 

The Front 9 ends with two par 4's.  #8 “Desert Wash” plays 433-yards from the Blues, usually in to the wind.  Fortunately, the Blended tees use  the Whites here, so it's a more manageable 376-yards.  Easy, as long as you don't go left. 

 

I went left.

 

#9 “Mohave” is short – only 337-yards – and has a nice, wide fairway. The green, however, is another story. It's semi-blind, wide but not very deep.  And there are plenty of bunkers.

 

The Back 9 starts with a couple of long par 4's. #10 “Red Rocks” is a 406-yard uphill charmer with water along the left and a long waste bunker with trees to the right. And #11 is 362 yards with a downhill tee shot and an uphill approach.

 

The parade of killer par 3's continues with #12, “Natural Cave.” Like #2, it's all carry to a rather tiny, 2-tiered green. It only plays 134 yards, but there's a deep desert gorge and not much else surround the green. Hit the green or play for a double.

 

 

The gorge surrounding #12 continues through the next 3 holes. On both #13 and #14 you need to carry the gorge to reach the fairway on the other side. #13 is called “Death Valley,” and plays almost 400 yards, with that gorge running along the entire right side of the fairway. From the Blue Tees it plays as a dogleg right and you can shorten your approach considerably by cutting the corner over the gorge.

 

 

Key words there – “over the gorge.” It's Vegas, baby.  Be bold!

 

#14 is called “Gorge-ous,” clearly someone's idea of a joke. It's actually the coolest hole on the course. Again, you have to clear the gorge with your drive. Problem is, you can't see the fairway. It's a 356-yard slight dogleg right, so the key is to be long enough to clear the gorge, but not so long that you drive through the fairway or – heaven forbid, land back in the gorge as it juts in front of the green. Best thing to do – aim for the steeple with a 3-wood or hybrid, and then pray.

 

 

#15 is another long par 5 (the only one on the back 9), playing 598 yards from the Blues, but you usually have the wind at your back.  You're now heading back toward the clubhouse, so the gorge is still on your right, and it runs all the way to the green. Bailout on your approach is left, but that's where the bunkers are. The green is deep, very narrow and slopes from back to front. Don't be long.

 

#'s 17 and 18 are wonderful finishing holes. #17 “Rock Ledge” plays all of 424 yards from the Blues, but taking too big of a bite off the tee can be problematic. There's a sizable dip in the fairway around 150 yards from the green, which could leave big hitters with a blind shot in to a smallish green.

 

#18, called “Oasis,” plays 421 yards with desert bramble and water on the left. It's the kind of finishing hole that can make or break your round.  The water stretches all the way to the green, leaving nowhere to miss on the left.  The green is deep and narrow, with bunkers behind and on the right, making your downhill approach like staring down the barrel of a rifle – hit the green or face the consequences.

 

TPC Vegas is a tough course, a challenging course, but ultimately, a fun course that's eminently playable. Our group ranged from low single-digit ‘cappers to guys who play maybe three or four times a year, and the experience was enjoyable for everyone (especially the 19th hole!). Choosing the right tees is critical, of course, making the Blended Tee setup perfect for our group. 

 

The only other TPC course I've ever played is Harding Park in San Francisco, and it may be the only course I can think of that rivals TPC Vegas for a golfing good time.

 

Rates vary at TPC Vegas, but the midday rack rate is $225.00. If you check their website, you can grab early-bird or early-afternoon specials for just $75, which is a bargain. Several nearby hotels have stay-‘n-play specials, including deals at the JW Marriott (just down the street), starting at $104, including room and golf. 

[Kenny B]

Nice write-up! Very well done. I enjoyed following you around this course and Bear's Best last week.

 

Now I have to go back because I checked my bag tag and it says TPC - The Canyons. It's a collectors item now. I'll have to get a TPC - Las Vegas tag to go with my TPC - Scottsdale tag. Maybe I can get the Harding Park tag next summer on my way to SoCal.

[SPY ZINGER]

Nicely done, John!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Almost forgot -- went into the locker room after the round.  Could this really be who I think it is....

 

 

 

[GolfSpy Tim]

Nice. Meant to hit this track up on my last trip, but my buddy got directions to the wrong course for us.... oops

[Shifty]

Played this last winter, its a great place to golf.

[Jmikecpa]

Had a time booked there for Wednesday....then my travel plans changed for the week to include Beijing.   Maybe next trip....

[mr_divots]

Sounds fun. Bobby Weed designs a nice course. Spyzinger can attest to that. The local course eases you in with a nice short par 4 layup of a hole too, which makes sense.

 

Looks nicer than our TPC, which is surrounded by plastic siding-clad houses on nearly every hole. I've not yet plunked down the $150 or whatever it is to play it.