Las Vegas is one of the nation’s top golf destinations and has something for every type of golfer and every budget. It is also a great place to watch and bet on golf, eat well after golf—basically bookend every activity with golf. You get the picture. You can also get in some practice and non-traditional golf fun, even at night, with the world’s largest TopGolf facility, behind MGM Grand, while rival Atomic Golf offers its own fun at the north end near the Stratosphere. Here are some curated three-day weekends for visiting golfers.
On and Near the Strip
Many marquee courses in the greater Las Vegas area are in the suburbs, but for those whose priority is maximizing time in America’s liveliest city, there are great options on or near the Strip that minimize commuting, avoid traffic, and leave more time for après golf fun.
Golf: Wynn Golf Club is the premier on-Strip round, pricey but with an amazing location, perfect conditioning, and white glove service. The Tom Fazio design boasts a signature waterfall hole and is one of the few with forecaddies. Bali Hai Golf Club is the other course on Las Vegas Boulevard, just south of Mandalay Bay, with a tropical theme and lots of water, including a memorable island hole. And it has a tiki bar! Las Vegas National Golf Club is the most historic urban layout, dating to 1961, and has hosted PGA and LPGA Tour events, including the very first pro victory by Tiger Woods in 1996. The course sits less than 2 miles due west of Wynn Golf Club.
Stay: Staying at Wynn or Encore gives better access to advance Wynn tee times, and you can walk to the tee, making the trip logistically easier. It’s also the closest to Las Vegas National, and Bali Hai offers discounted stay and play packages with one night at Wynn and one round of golf. But you can still play Wynn for the same price staying elsewhere, and the closest to Bali Hai is Mandalay Bay. In between these, any of the center Strip hotels are convenient for all three courses.
Eat & Bet: After Bali Hai, consider nearby Town Square Las Vegas, an open-air complex that includes Tiger Woods’ Pop Stroke mini golf putting sports bar and restaurant, for more golf fun, or two dozen other eateries, including favorites such as Tommy Bahama, P.F. Changs, Bonefish Grill, and Flecha, Mark Wahlbergs’ Mexican concept. Both Wynn and Las Vegas National are near the historic Peppermill, a beloved 24-hour diner and bar with a huge menu that has been used in movies and TV shows including Casino, Showgirls and CSI Vegas. The Race & Sports book in Wynn is one of the best for watching golf, with massive wraparound screens. Closer to Bali Hai, the MGM Grand combines its huge BetMGM sports book with onsite TopGolf.
Luxury Golf Weekend
If money is no object, try the crème de la crème of Las Vegas Golf.
Golf: Shadow Creek is the main event and not only the highest ranked course in Vegas, but a perennial Top 10 on every major magazine’s Best U.S. Course list. With superb conditioning, excellent caddies and a “King for the Day,” aesthetic, it is both one of the best courses and best golf experiences you can have anywhere. At around $1200, it is also the nation’s most expensive tee time, but at least it includes round-trip limo transfers from your (MGM Resorts) hotel. Cascata, a Rees Jones design with holes set in finger canyons running up and down a mountain, is the next stop on the luxe golf train. It is also on the top 100 lists of Golf and Golfweek magazines, has caddies, and offers a private club-type experience. Wynn Golf Club, a design by Tom Fazio, who also did Shadow Creek, rounds out the high dollar trip with an unbeatable center Strip location, forecaddies and immaculate conditioning.
Stay: You have to overnight at one of the higher tier MGM Resorts to play Shadow Creek, and Aria, Bellagio or Cosmopolitan would be the closest to Wynn Golf Club. Staying a night at Wynn means changing hotels but gives access to advanced tee times on its course.
Eat & Bet: All the qualifying MGM resorts and Wynn have great sports books. At Shadow Creek you should absolutely visit the classic and surprisingly laid-back clubhouse for a traditional golf lunch or post round cocktail. To keep the luxury theme going at dinner, consider fine dining standouts such as Jean Georges Steakhouse in Aria, Spago or Le Cirque in Bellagio, Scarpetta or Jaleo in Cosmopolitan, or Mizumi, Wing Lei or Pisces in Wynn.
Great Golf Weekend at a Great Price
Especially in peak season, golf in Las Vegas can be pricey. One way to save a lot is to tee off a little later, after 11 or noon, when most courses drop rates. Another is to replay rounds at venues with multiple courses or stay and play packages with combined lodging.
Golf: The best option for quality and value is the 54-hole Las Vegas Paiute Resort, the largest facility in town with three excellent Pete Dye-designed courses. The Wolf is the most challenging, and the pick for better players, while both Snow Mountain and Sun Mountain are exceptional desert courses any golfer will love. Paiute’s Golfapalooza package lets you play two of the three courses in a single day at significant discount, while “Bounce Back” lets you return and play a second and/or third round within 7 days at 20% off. Paiute also has discounted one night/one round “stay and play” packages with MGM Resorts. Likewise, the standout 36-hole Revere Golf Club offers a “Double Down” package with significant discounts for playing two rounds within 5-days, and you can choose to play both the longer and slightly tougher Lexington or easier Concord, or the same course twice. Bali Hai, one of only two courses on Las Vegas Boulevard, has discounted “value golf packages” with lower priced partner lodging including Excalibur and Luxor, both close by.
Stay: For the Paiute Stay & Play packages, you need to overnight at Aria, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Vdara or The W. Bali Hai is most affordable with Excalibur or Luxor. Since both Paiute and Revere are in the suburbs you can also stay at more affordable hotels near golf, such as the Aliante Casino for Paiute and Sunset Station or Green Valley Ranch for Revere.
Eat & Bet: Aliante near Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort has a Boyd Gaming sportsbook, and both Green Valley Ranch and Sunet Station near Revere have newer high-tech STN sportsbooks. All the qualifying MGM resorts for Bali Hai and Paiute discount packages have large sportsbooks. For some of the locals’ favorite cheap bites, try Juan’s Flaming Fajitas & Cantina in North Las Vegas on the way back from Paiute golf or beloved fish & chip specialist The Codfather in Henderson near Revere. Green Valley Ranch is home to an outpost of stunning Pizza Rock, by award winning chef Tony Gemignani, one of the best pizzerias in the entire country and a lot of bang for the buck. But no Las Vegas dining is as famous for delivering value as buffets, and the best-priced quality options include the hidden gem Garden Court at Main Street Station for Paiute golfers, and on the Strip, the surprisingly reasonable offerings at MGM Grand.