So I got to play a few times this week in Las Vegas, mostly at night on the lit up Callaway nine hole course, but I got out one afternoon and played Bali Hai too.
Thankfully I got a decent rate, something like $250 off what they charge for morning plays. When I got to the course, it was pretty empty (should have figured that though, for what they charge most people). I had heard some things about the course, and also knew it had hosted the Big Break once, a show on the Golf Channel for those who haven't heard of it before.
Pretty much, I didn't have any real high expectations of the course. I mean, I figured it would be a typcial Vegas type course, very over the top and a lot of eye candy. Truth be told, it really was a lot of eye candy, but it was also a very good and fun golf course. And I wont lie, it was fun looking at some of the huge resorts while playing, as the course is literally right on the strip.
The course had some pretty good holes too. The third hole was a favorite of mine, with a stream running along the right side of the entire hole, protecting the best angle into the green. The green had a huge ridge that left me with the hardest thirty foot putt I had had in a long while. I think I played ten feet of break and barely tapped the thing.
The seventh was another cool hole, a double dogleg par-5 that challenges the longer player to give it a go. I tried going for it, but got caught up in the fairway bunker off the tee and made a quick six. The layup shot is a good too, as a big bunker disects the fairway and challenges the player to gain the best angle into the green, which had some fun slopes in it that are, at least for me, hard to negotiate.
There was another real cool hole, the fifteenth which reminded me immediately of some of the pictures I have seen of #5 (6?) at Cypress Point. Obviously the hole isn't near that quality but there was an absolutely mammoth looking left fairway bunker that needed to be carried to hit the kicker slope that would afford the player to have a go at the hole in two. The green was fun, as it was relatively flat in front but then had a ridge in the middle that dove three feet sloping away, which makes back pins interesing.
So overall, it was a fun course. It wasn't anywhere near one of my favorites I've ever played or the best architecturally, but it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. The guy in the pro shop even let me go out and play a few extra holes because I got done early, and that was pretty cool.
So, I guess if anyone is in the Las Vegas area, and can figure out a good rate here, then its worth a play.
Its not great, but it was a lot better than my expectations and I really enjoyed my time.
Cheers.