Las Vegas: Mesquite's No Mistake

by Ken Van Vechten

On the Way to Utah, a Wolf in Golfer's Clothing

Playing on the edge can be quite rewarding. And in this case there is minimal risk since the edge in question is the Nevada-Arizona border.

Mesquite, Nevada, the gap in the road that for so long was but a fueling-up spot for those transiting from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, has developed into a golfing Mecca-ette, if not a full-blown, get-there-at-least-once-in-your-life destination retreat like Bandon or Hilton Head. Home to one of the most successful John Q. tournaments in the country — the Mesquite Amateur — the little town that could and did now presents a load of tracks offering varying degrees of memorability, intrigue and playability … and one that seriously competes for the lead role in a region that serves up plays like, oh, Shadow Creek, Reflection Bay, Cascata and Las Vegas Paiute Resort.

The top dog, so to say, is Wolf Creek Golf Club, a mind-blowing contrivance of topography and agronomy. Southern Nevada is loaded with courses that possess rugged landscapes and elevator shaft elevation changes. Wolf Creek is the only one, however, serving up 18 entire holes where the guy sowing grass seed didn’t let terrain deter his dispersion pattern. If a short par 4 needs to turn 90 degrees into a box canyon, so be it, because as it comes to pass, big hitters get the chance to hit blind over a red rock mesa for the ultimate in foolhardiness or machismo (that would be lucky number 13).

Not getting the picture? Take a big sheet of heavy paper. Crumple it into a ball and then loosen, slightly. Color the crevasses and some number of the peaks green, splash in some blue, and give the rest over to desert brown.

Wolf Creek.

The accolades accorded the course are deserved. It is stunning, harder than diamond — slope of 154 and rating of 75.4 on a par of 72 from tips that measure less than 7,000 yards — and showpiece living room-pristine when it comes to conditioning. Some will declare it unplayable or tricked up, largely because they think everything a golf course has should be rolled out in 20-20 clarity. Cry me a river, boys.

Number 3: A nearly vertical no-see-’em par 3 of 227 yards requiring at least two additional clubs, and with pit-like traps short and no quarter deep.

Number 5: A short, drive-from-the-peak, down-left-and-up par 5, the corner of which can be carried though the creek looks insurmountable; just don’t cut off too much of the left side while trying to avoid driving through the fairway to the right.

Number 16: A mid-short 4 played along a knife-edge ridge with a landing area that’s much more friendly in retrospect.

Blind tee shots, doglegs that bend before a ball on an ill-conceived line of flight can alight, visual trickery, pausing to think that driver might not be the best choice — all are as much a part of good design as the cape hole and Redan.

As happens, perfect harmony does not rule the den. An over-exuberant marshal who decided to move everyone’s start up because another group failed to show rushed me to the first tee. The range is iron-only, though it’s not like I had a chance to actually try it. The Himalayan lay of the land requires gas-powered carts, which are loud and cough stench. And a second round plays easier than the first because knowledge of the turning, cascading holes and tiered, sweeping greens knocks strokes off the tally. Of course, the latter won’t be a problem because Wolf Creeks howls replay; it is that good.

Falcon Ridge, Mesquite’s newest-from-the-ground-up 18 holer, fancies itself Wolf Jr. The course plays through, over and around a series of less rugged ridges that more often than not serve as platforms for housing. And while Wolf Creek is a core course, Falcon Ridge suffers at times from the urban uses with which it must share the land.

Like a bird taking flight, the course is a slow starter, opening with a short par 5 that seems to play easier than its third-hardest rating, a short, scenic par 3 over a lake and into a box canyon and a short, very reachable par 4. Seven is the most difficult hole on the front owing to a combination of a 200-yard carry, often into the wind, to reach the short-flat-mown fairway and it being a true three-swing par 5, which in avid-amateur parlance means three equal chances to screw something up. I like No. 6, a Nordic ski jump of a hole that drops steeply, flattens out and rises to a wide, narrow green set into a ledge, and like the poor sap who opened Wide World of Sports for eons, don’t go off the side unless rocky hillside or lake is desired. All in all it’s a stalwart hole that puts everything on a radar-like drive owing to the extra hang time and possible crosswind.

The inward nine is stellar, in parts, and that’s ultimately the frustration with this 6,500-plus-yard, par-71 course — a handful of head-scratch shots and throwaway holes.

As noted with Wolf Creek, I don’t mind a blind or unframed shot. I do mind two in a row as happens on the par-5 16th, where it is best to bat several shots at some unknown spot on the faraway hill until you get to the big round green thing at the end of the fairway. The downhill, double-lake, boomerang shaped par-5 12th takes driver out of the hands of big hitters. Seventeen is a heroically long par 3 with a devilish green fronted by a huge amoeboid bunker, and the entire effect is ruined by an amphitheater of attached homes encasing most of the parachute-drop hole.

Fair is fair, and numbers 10, 13, 14 and 18 are exemplars, and the 300 yardish 11th is textbook when it comes to the short par 4. A rising, dogleg left with a carry over water and rock in the 240- to 280-yard range depending on tee, consider having a go if the wind’s up from behind and the hole is front-right as the green moves away to the back and there’s no room to miss short, left or beyond. Hole-high and right isn’t instant salvation as the chipping area is closely mown, and the off-the-tee alternative isn’t simply slap and forget; the lay up requires execution. Add it all up and it’s a short 4 that works.

Where Wolf Creek and Falcon Ridge go for the visceral, Mesquite’s granddad course came to being before technology, technique and budget allowed such imaginative doings. Palms Golf Club doesn’t suffer from its old-school pedigree, however, and as with many a wizened member of any family, eccentricities are expected and gladly accepted.

Palms’ front nine is classic Midwestern parkland-style. With a par of 35 and 3,523 yards, the opening half is long, and there’s no distance-cheating elevation changes, but bombers can air it out as other than the occasional patch of water or white stake, there’s nothing much to fear. On a recent excursion, the greens were the best in town — though the course really isn’t in Mesquite, in fact, it’s not even in Nevada, rather just over the border in the far northwestern corner of Arizona — and rolled beautifully.

The other side of Palms appears, logically enough, on the par-5 10th, the first hole with any topography whatsoever and the start of the picture postcard part of the course that plays atop and then at the foot of a bluff paralleling the floodplain of the Virgin River. The bluff-to-floodplain 545-yard 15th is a fair challenge, scenic and reachable, and the preceding all-carry 190-yard par 3 combines views and a well-struck long-iron requirement. The play on the back is wholly different, with trees and lost-ball opportunities working against 250 fewer yards and a par of 36, but as with the outward nine, my first impressions of Palms, formed during earlier coverage of the RE/MAX tournament in the fall, were wrong.

Sure, it’s not Rio Secco or TPC at the Canyons. It never tries to be. It’s fair, fun, with tip-top greens; it’s a camaraderie type of place.

I’d say it is the perfect afternoon double to a Wolf Creek morn, or a first-light warm up to Falcon Ridge.

 

You see, there’s never risk to 36, even on the edge. FG

Golf Mesquite, Nevada

www.golfmesquitenevada.com  |  866.720.7111

www.golfworkcreek.com  |  866.252.4653

Wolf Creek

Par: 72

Number 3: A nearly vertical no-see-‘em par 3 of 227 yards requiring at least two additional clubs, and with pit-like traps short and no quarter deep.

Number 5: A short, drive-from-the-peak, down-left-and-up par 5, the corner of which can be carried though the creek looks insurmountable; just don’t cut off too much of the left side while trying to avoid driving through the fairway to the right.

Number 16: A mid-short 4 played along a knife-edge ridge with a landing area that’s much more friendly in retrospect.

Long Drive Heaven
Every October the world’s biggest hitters come to the Palms in Mesquite for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships, but you won’t sniff a steroid user in the bunch. These guys are former baseball players and just everyday joes (and janes) who’ve discovered they can rip a golf ball over 350 yards. Make plans now — it’s a great time of year to tee it up yourself, too.

Multi-Coursing Mesquite

Mesquite offers a six-pack of full-size plays — a seventh, short, nine-hole track recently opened and is just now coming back from flood damage — so if you’re actually able to get to Vegas and keep on going, make it a multi-day trip and load up on the offerings. Also in the mix:

Oasis Golf Club – The Canyons
Mesquite veterans will recall the front nine of this course as the old Vistas track, a regrettable assemblage of holes with so-so conditioning that appear to exist solely to have provided the developer the opportunity to sell course-fronting homes. The best are the 430-yard par-4 No. 1 — a tough driving hole that plays into a canyon — and a compelling dry waterfall of a par 3 at 180 yards (the 8th).
A new nine recently opened has better visual appeal but without a single par 4 that allows driver and houses in the works that are going to be right in the wheelhouse for a lot of players, the intent behind this second nine is as transparent as the first. Sixteen is an attractive, short par 3 over a lake and No. 17 is a strong par 5 that gains style points for the natural outcropping of rock framing an extremely elevated green that will leave a lot of players short and facing a tough little pitch.

Oasis Golf Club – The Palmer
The Palmer (as in Arnold) course at Oasis is several score orders of magnitude better than the Canyons. Yes, houses appear in abundance a good portion of the way around. But in most cases —  most — they are at bay, and only the most debased pull-snap-duck-Thurman Munson will find tile.
The opening and closing holes are standard, hole-in-a-development in look, but several are strong plays, including the tough 220-yard 3rd, and the 390-yard 18th that becomes other than a throwaway closer because of a frisky elevated tee and wraparound lake to the right. The heart of the course ambles through terrain very similar to Wolf Creek in feel if not scope. Water, canyon and desert, forced carries and true opportunities for decision on many holes — it is a worthy play.

Casablanca Golf Club
Sister property to Palms by virtue of both ownership and location — it sits on the edge of the river though lacking the bluff. Casablanca plays as a nested out-and-back loop, with a mix of interesting, downright hard and resort-grade holes with solid 3-pars, several reachable 4s and 5s and a gorgeous 17th that plays 450 yards through verdant wetlands. If the breeze is up beware because most of the holes play either up- or downwind, and with water from 7 through 11, multiple dunkings are possible.
Overall, Casablanca’s greens might be its strongest point — fast but not ridiculous so and they roll true; trust the watershed. Stop for a commendable lunch on the clubhouse veranda and watch the action coming in on 18 and the changing colors on the mountains beyond.

Stuff 2 Do in Mesquite, Nev.

You gotta sleep
Mesquite is not Palm Desert when it comes to bunking for the night. The best of the casino-resorts is Casablanca, and new rooms are coming. Eureka has big, standard rooms. The casino is across a big parking lot and it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Casablanca, but it has served well on multi-day stays. Virgin River and Oasis offer older, motel-style accommodations. The independent Falcon Ridge Hotel is new, clean, not without faults — balky phone system, tiny tub/shower combo, understaffing — and the “petite suites,” actually standard hotel rooms with a large sitting area, are the ticket. The best news is that every room in this town is within five minutes of a first tee.

You gotta eat
The bad news for golfing gourmands is that Mesquite’s food scene lags far behind its golf scene. The best bets are the gourmet or steak places at Eureka, Casablanca and Oasis. A couple Mexican restaurants I’ve tried have been simply awful, and most everything else is either a local coffee shop or lower-market chain. The casino cafes serve up the usual gambling-town ham-and-egg-style deals, and golf courses are good bets for lunch.

You gotta take a drive
St. George, Utah, is a 30-40 minute drive up Interstate 15, and some of the courses there are nothing short of spectacular — the Ledges, Coral Canyon, Entrada at Snow Canyon. The latter is a stellar Johnny Miller design that strays into Hawaii-like lava beds on the back nine. It has made FG’s Signature Series list in the past and no doubt will do so again. Stay-and-play packages can be booked through Golf Mesquite combining play in both towns.