There are many amazing golf choices in Las Vegas and I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing quite a few. For non-residents the cost of a round of golf in Las Vegas can be quite painful, upwards of $300-$500. There are great values to be found in the area though. With great weather most of the year, conditioning is usually quite good even on courses which are not as expensive. Today’s review features one of the lesser known and better values in Vegas golf, Rhodes Ranch Golf Club.
Rhodes Ranch Golf Club – Aerial photo © by Tony Korologos – click to zoom
Rhodes Ranch Overview
Rhodes Ranch is roughly a 30 minute drive southwest (depending on crazy Vegas traffic) from the Las Vegas Strip. From the south end of the Strip it could even be as short as 15-20 minutes.
Rhodes Ranch opened in 1997. The course occupies over 160 acres which feature very undulating topography. Those undulations were masterfully used by course architect Ted Robinson Sr., to produce fun challenges and interesting shot options for the player.
The course measures 6,909 from the tips, not terribly long. Length is great, but the course plays better with a more strategic approach. There are many risk/reward opportunities and holes which one can take conservative approaches or opt for more aggressive play. Much of the course is lined by tall, mature palm trees.
First hole heads toward the Las Vegas Strip – click to zoom
Tee
Tee shots at Rhodes Ranch are visually pleasing and not extremely threatening, barring a few forced carries. Landing areas are usually obvious, some tempting the player to cut the corner of doglegs.
Errant tee shots will be rewarded with odd lies on the rolling hills which frame the fairways and may be stymied by adjacent palm trees. Poor tee shots will find the Nevada desert. In both errant tee shot cases, players are able to recover without sending their scorecards into oblivion.
Fairway
The fairways at Rhodes Ranch are wide and inviting, with undulations which can produce challenging lies. Some undulations require some strategy in shot placement for the player, who must pick a proper landing spot in order for the shot to finish in a flat area or a position with a good look at the green.
There are fairway bunkers, arroyos, and a few other challenges which can be penal to poor shots, but not scorecard busters.
One of the best parts about the fairways at Rhodes Ranch is the conditioning and maintenance. See in the photo below how perfect the grass is. Having walked the grounds for the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club many times, I can say without hesitation that the fairways at Rhodes are a very close second. When I asked regulars who play the course often about the conditioning, they told me the course is perfectly maintained year-round.
Look at how perfect the fairways at Rhodes Ranch are!
Green
The green complexes are very scenic. Many feature beautiful landscaping, palm trees, and are framed by fine bunkering.
Putting the greens at Rhodes Ranch was just as fun as playing the perfectly groomed fairways. The conditioning was fantastic and they rolled true, albeit slower than the mountainside greens I’m accustomed to.
The greens were smooth, yet completely receptive to golf shots from even long irons.
Rhodes Ranch Scenic 3rd Hole – click to zoom – © Tony Korologos
Facilities
The clubhouse at Rhodes Ranch is impressive. On one side is a fully stocked pro shop with lots of great gear and apparel. On the other side is the restaurant, a great place to have a beer or other cold beverage after the round. In my case, make that two.
The practice facilities are top notch, with a large desert driving range and a very large practice green which could accommodate dozens of players.
Value
For a non-resident player during a primetime slot, rates at Rhodes Ranch hover around $100. That’s very reasonable for Vegas. If players are willing to brave the heat, twilight rates can cut that cost in half. Resident rates hover around $60 with twilight rates in the $30’s.
Rhodes Ranch Golf Club Las Vegas
Staff
From the moment I pulled up to the bag drop to the time I finished off my 2nd frosty beverage in the restaurant, the service level at Rhodes Ranch was excellent. All staff courteous, attentive, and helpful. A special mention goes to the great service of assistant pro Jeff Bricker in the pro shop.
Conclusion
Before booking a round of Vegas golf at the Wynn Golf Club, Bali Hai, Rio Secco, or Cascata, consider Rhodes Ranch. The course is fun to play, manicured brilliantly, and will not beat you up. Plus, you could play this fun course several times for the cost of playing the expensive Vegas courses once.
This past Friday the Hooked On Golf Blog World Tour made a stop at Rhodes Ranch Golf Club, a short drive southwest of the Las Vegas strip. I’d been to the property before, but had not had a chance to play it until this visit. While there I visited my friend Jeff Bricker, assistant pro and former Utah local.
Rhodes Ranch – Par-3 3rd Hole
Naturally I shot a ton of photos and I will be posting a course review soon. First impressions are that the course conditions are so good I’d compare them with Augusta National. Seriously! The fairway grass was so perfect and precisely cut, I actually took a photo of it:
Augusta National? Nope. Rhodes Ranch!
enjoyed my round playing on such a finely cared for golf course and the layout was very fun. If not for two doubles on the card, I would have been close to even par on the day. I need redemption!
Following the round I powered up my UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and did some photos and video of the course from above. I prefer to use the term UAV because “drone” has gotten a bad name. It isn’t an invasion of privacy and it isn’t going to blow you up. It is just taking pictures of the golf course!
Rhodes Ranch Golf Club – Aerial view of clubhouse and holes – click for more
Rhodes Ranch Photo Gallery
I’m very happy to have gotten some new pictures of Rhodes Ranch. I had some very poor quality, dark images in the Hooked On Golf Blog Rhodes Ranch Gallery, presumably back in the (literal) dark ages when I didn’t know how to take a photo.
I’ve now deleted all the old crappy photos, and put a few new ones up. I’m still processing some of the images, so check back for more later.
Vdara Las Vegas - Click for more images
May 22nd of this year was the happiest day I’ve ever had. It was the date I married the best lady in the world. After the wedding, which was a great event, we hopped on a plane and flew to Vegas to spend our honeymoon at the Vdara Hotel & Spa. My lady and I had Googled and researched every possible place to stay in Vegas: Wynn, Bellagio, Venetian and more. We decided on Vdara for a few reasons, which I’ll highlight below.
No Smoke
I’m not a smoker. In fact, I’m anti-smoker. Can’t stand cigarette smoke. Vdara is 100% smoke free. The rooms don’t stink. The lobby doesn’t stink. The restaurants don’t stink. The casino, well you’d better read below.
No Casino
Vdara is a hotel and spa. There is no casino.
Before you come to any conclusions about me, rest assured I can gamble with the best of them. I’ve spent many a night in Vegas, winning and losing thousands of bucks. But on this particular trip it wasn’t about gambling. For my new lady and I it was about getting away, relaxing, decompressing and celebrating our new marriage.
That being said, had we wanted to gamble, the Bellagio was about a five minute walk from Vdara. Other resorts near Vdara include New York New York, Aria, Tropicana, Paris, Planet Hollywood and Mandalay Bay.
Location – City Center
As mentioned above, Vdara is close to many attractions and resorts. But Vdara is located IN a place called CityCenter (pictured below). Previous to this trip I’d seen CityCenter under construction in about 2008 and it looked massive then. It is an amazing place.
CityCenter in Las Vegas - click for more images
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I just finished uploading a ton of pictures to the Travel Gallery from a recent stay I had at the Wynn Las Vegas.
See the whole Wynn Las Vegas gallery here.
10,000
With that last batch of photos, the HOG Photo Gallery now sits at 10,091 photos and counting!
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
