What is surprising is that Golf Magazine missed out on a few new public courses worthy of being included.
For starters -- Rochelle Ranch in Rawlins, WY is a first rate effort on par with the likes of Wild Horse. Unfortunately, because of its location -- few think Wyoming can handle solid golf layouts -- the course got lost in the sauce.
Kudos to Ken Kavanaugh for a well thought out layout and one that's very easy to find -- it's immediately off I-80 in Rawlins.
Another one that comes to mind is the work of Art Schaupeter and his layout in Windsor, CO called Highland Meadows and the unique creation by Rick Phelps with Anter Creek in Falcon, CO. Both are very affordable and offer some creative ideas that are a bit beyond a few of the choices that Golf Mag mentioned IMHO.
Noel:
The Vegas area could use exactly what you stated. It will be interesting to see what Team Nicklaus does with the mega-complex layout at Coyote Springs. There are public course options in the immediate Vegas area but you have to travel to nearby Mesquite / St. George for those options.
I happen to think that the Wolf Course at Paiute Resort is quite good -- provided one bypasses the silly re-creation of the island par-3 and if possible avoid playing in the late morning / afternoons when the wind reaches PEAK speeds!
