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Course Review - Bear's Best Las Vegas


GolfSpy Barbajo

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One thing about golfing in Vegas – it's sure to be scenic!

 

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There are a bunch of the old “Rat Pack” day courses in Vegas, such as Las Vegas National and the old Las Vegas Golf Club. 

 

And then there are the newer “destination” courses. We reviewed TPC Vegas earlier (link here) and there are a a truckload of others, including Rio Secco, the Pauite resort and Royal Links.

 

Bear's Best Las Vegas (link here) ranks right up there with the best of them.

 

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Bear's Best is a Jack Nicklaus All-Star course. Its 18 holes are modeled after 18 of Jack's favorite holes from his courses west of the Mississippi River and, according the course PR machine, the focus at Bear's Best Las Vegas is to help golfers “experience these classic hole designs in the finest detail – right down to the trees that come into play on the original hole.”

 

If you read our review of TPC Vegas, you know how much “fun” is valued in a golf experience. Bear's Best is FUN!  Challenging, to be sure, but FUN!  Each hole is a unique experience and fits into the landscape beautifully. 

 

Some courses look like they don't fit the landscape at all – sorta like they just landed from Mars. The remarkable thing about Bear's Best is – even though these holes are re-creations from other Nicklaus courses, the holes look like they belong on the terrain. 

 

And that's intentional. In the yardage guide is this note from Jack:

 

“We selected the design for each hole based upon how well its topography matched an original location and how accurately the design strategy and shot values of that original hole could be duplicated. I insisted that each hole we chose to replicate be as faithful as possible to the prototype.”

 

Bear's Best isn't a particularly “hilly” course, but there are plenty of uphill and downhill shots to consider. And it's not really walkable – the holes are spread out over the desert terrain so the course doesn't offer a walking option. 

 

The cars have a very sophisticated GPS system that give you detailed overviews of each hole and a drive distance calculator so you know how far you nailed your best tee shots. There's also a Jack-narrated flyover of each hole that plays once you reach the next teebox, telling you which course and hole the current hole is modeled after and providing you with playing tips for the hole. 

 

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A side note – course GM Jim Stanfill told me Jack read the hole descriptions from a script the course had prepared. Jack, being Jack, reworked some of the scripts if even the most minor detail was off. 

 

Jack's a perfectionist.

 

As with any higher-end course, service is exemplary. My bag was taken care of quickly, allowing me to check in and get golf-ready. The range was acceptable – all the balls you could hit with plenty of target greens, and a sweet view of the mountains! 

 

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I teamed up with a gentleman from San Francisco whose wife was in Vegas for an orthodontists' convention, and a couple of younger guys from Houston in for a bachelor party. Oddly, they looked well rested.

 

We chose to play from the Green tees – 6,628 yards with a rating of 72.1 and a slope of 131. From that distance, Bear's Best is a bear of a test.

 

In our review of TPC Vegas (click here), we discussed how that course had a “handshake” of a first hole. Not Bear's Best. This was more of a “headsmack.”

 

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#1 is a 370 yard par 4, with a small lake on the entire left side. It's modeled after #6 at PGA West in La Quinta, CA. The tee shot is a little downhill, with water everywhere on the left and hilly, rocky bramble on the right (don't go there, trust me!). The approach curls to the left to an elongated, elevated, well-bunkered green.  It's plenty wide but not very deep. Short is sand, too far left is water, too long is desert and too right is – well, not horrible.

 

Headsmack!

 

#2 is a 482-yard par 5. It sounds reachable but you better be able to pinpoint a long iron or hybrid. There's no bailout left or right on the green, with no fewer than 8 bunkers just waiting for your testosterone-laced approach. 

 

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One of the more interesting aspects of desert golf is the forced carry to the fairway. #3 is modeled after the 8th hole at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, AZ. You have to fly nearly 125 yards of desert to reach what looks like a nice, wide fairway. However, there's a fairway bunker on the right that requires 215 yards to clear and a waste bunker on the left running the entire length of the hole's 401 yards. What looks like a nice, wide fairway narrows up in a hurry.

 

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The par 3's at Bear's Beat Las Vegas are among the most interesting holes on the course. #4 plays 195 yards downhill and is modeled after #7 at the Old Works Golf Club in Anaconda, MT. That course is known for its unique black sand in all the bunkers, and Bear's Best actually trucked in the same exact sand from Montana when building the course.  

It's visually pretty stunning.

 

There's a large black sand bunker framing the green in front and on both sides. The green itself slopes from back to front. The flag this day was in front, and offered up the first birdie of the day.

 

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When looking over the scored, #6 seems like the one you can't wait for. Short compared to the rest of the front 9 at only 352 yards, but once you step to the tee you think “uh-oh.” 

 

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It's a dogleg left, with elevated tees overlooking a fairway split by a huge waste bunker. That bunker expands to the entire left hand side of the fairway and curling in front of an elevated green.

 

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This hole is modeled after #1 at the Palmilla Golf Club in Los Cabos, Mexico. More proof Jack does not believe in the “handshake” first hole.

 

#8 is modeled after #15 at Castle Pines in Colorado. It's a long (552 yards) par 5 that's straight downhill. There are actual Castle Pine trees lining both sides of the fairway, which looks very unsettling in the desert of Nevada. 

 

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The fairway looks nice and wide but it narrows up considerably at around the 250 yard landing area, a nice illusion that you really can't see from the tee. Your second shot also looks wide open but there's a creek bisecting the fairway about 130 yards out from the green, so your drive will tell you whether to try to clear the creek or not. Oh, and the wind is usually against you.

 

The oblong green slopes both back to front and left to right, with large bunkers in front and behind.

 

#9 is similar to #6 in that it's a dogleg left with a waste bunker running through the fairway and all the way down the left side and then back in front of the green (can you tell Jack's a fader?). There's a nasty fairway bunker on the left in the 200-to-240 yard range, and the hole plays slightly downhill. 

 

The hole measures 393 yards from the Green tees and a well-placed drive will leave you a mid-to-short iron to an elevated green. It's a fun golf hole.

 

The back 9 starts off with a bang, and my favorite hole on the course. Modeled after the 10th at PGA West, it's 392 yards slightly downhill, and features a split fairway with a really large and really deep fairway bunker right in the middle. There's more room to the left of the bunker, but it leaves you with a monster-long approach to a very narrow green.  There's less room on the right, but it's a shorter way home. If you split the difference, you're in the bunker from hell. 

 

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If you play Bear's Best this is a photo-op hole – with a great view of the Vegas strip looking back from the teebox.  

 

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Next you go from a long par 4 to a driveable par 4 – 283 yards and modeled after #2 at The Old Works Golf Club in Montana. It's a fader's delight, with the fairway bending ever so slightly to the right and another oblong green, protected by 3 nasty black sand bunkers. 

 

Jack gets really diabolical on #12, modeled after #14 at Bear Creek Country Club in California. It's an uphill par 5 playing 497 yards. 

 

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Stay right on your second shot as there's a series of deep grass bunkers along the left hand side of the fairway, and it wouldn't be Bear's Best if there weren't a host of bunkers surrounding the green.

 

#'s 14 and 16 are very similar holes – both long, downhill par 4's. #14 is modeled after #1 at the Sunset Course at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, NM.  It's 418 yards with some more Nicklaus illusions. The fairway looks nice and wide, but there's a slightly hidden set of fairway bunkers on the right in the 200-250 yard range, and what could best be described as a “desert fescue” clump on the left. The net result is a pinching of what looks like a nice, wide fairway into maybe a 30-yard wide landing area.  Your approach is to a slightly elevated green that again slopes back to front. 

 

#16 is modeled after #4 at Desert Mountain – downhill and 392 yards long. There's an inviting looking bunker right in the middle of fairway, requiring at least 240 yards of carry to clear. The approach is over yet another waste bunker to a triangular green surrounded by 4 bunkers and surrounded by hills. 

 

The finishing holes are Bear tough. #17 is another Desert Mountain hole – 516-yard par 5. Another waste bunker runs the left side of the fairway and the green in elevated, long, narrow and bunkered. 

 

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I was in the bunker to the left of the green – which was at least 12 feet below green-level. 

 

# 18 is supposedly modeled after #18 at the resort course at PGA West. Personally, I think it was modeled after the Bataan Death March. 

 

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It's 439 yards from the Green tees, with water on the right all the way to the green and a waste bunker running the entire length. It's red-staked so that when you do put your drive in the water, you have to drop in the waste bunker. And when you hit your second shot in the water, you have to drop in the waste bunker again. 

 

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The hole fades to the right to an elevated, sloping green. Miss short or right and you're back in the water. Miss left and there are more Nicklaus bunkers. If you want to get to the 19th hole, the 18th hole at Bear's Beast is going to make you earn it.

 

Bear's Best is a terrific test of golf. As an 8 handicap, the Green tees were a challenge, but I'd love to play it again after gaining a little local knowledge. Bear's Best shows you one thing, but playing the course you see subtleties everywhere.  It's a course that needs to be played backwards - figure out from where you'd like to hit your approach and then hit your tee shot there. In other words, think.

 

Greens fees are not inexpensive, with a standard weekend rate of $249.00. December rates are lower - $159 before noon seven days a week. And there's always GolfNow.

 

If you're going to Vegas for golf, Bear's Best should be on your rota if the budget allows.  And if you play it once, you will want to play it again, just to see if you learned anything. 

 

What's in the bag:
 
Driver:  :titelist-small:TSR3; :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR Carbon
FW Wood: :wilson_staff_small: DynaPWR 3-wood; :titleist-small: TSR 2+
Hybrids:  PXG Gen4 18-degree
Utility Irons: :srixon-small: ZX MkII 20* 
Irons:;  :Sub70:699/699 Pro V2 Combo; :wilson_staff_small: D9 Forged;  :macgregor-small:MT86 (coming soon!); :macgregor-small: VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; 

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: RTX6 Zipcore
Putter: :cleveland-small: HB Soft Milled 10.5;  :scotty-small: Newport Special Select;  :edel-golf-1:  Willamette,  :bettinardi-small: BB8; :wilson-small: 8802; MATI Monto

Ball: :bridgestone-small: Tour B RXS; :srixon-small: Z-STAR Diamond; :wilson_staff_small: Triad

Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: :ShotScope:


 
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Nice write up. I might have to give it a try one of these days. I think I have a business trip to Vegas in late Jan.

 

I have played several Nicklaus courses including his course at PGA West. That was a long time ago. What I remember about it was elevated fairways with the rough at a slightly lower level so if you missed the fairway, the ball rolled down to the rough about 2-3 feet. It also gave you some ugly lies if you didn't make it all the way down.

 

I also played the Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain in Crossville TN. (Home of Snedeker) Loved that course. I am going to have to play the Old Works course in Anaconda, Montana. I have not played it and it's only a 6 hour drive!

 

Thanks again for your great write ups.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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