I recently planned a trip to Las Vegas with some of my favorite golf partners.  We thought we could find some warmer weather by flying south in the last week of February.  Wow, not so fast.  It was cold and windy.  We could have blamed it on unusual weather this year, but the same thing happened to us in 2020, right before the pandemic, on a trip to Mesquite (1 hour outside Vegas).  So, when it comes to the Las Vegas area, if you are looking for warm golf, best wait until at least the middle of March.  Just sayin.

Looking back, I guess I should have taken my own advice about planning The Perfect Buddy Trip which mentions you should do weather research!!

In spite of that, we had a pretty darn good trip.  During the trip we played the classic two man / one best ball with the second ball used only as a tie breaker.  We played gross scores but it works with net scoring just as well.  In this game, the team with the lowest score by either teammate wins the hole.  If the two teams tie for lowest score, they use the second ball to break the tie.  For example, if my team had a par/ bogey, and the other team had a par / double bogey, we would win the hole on the second ball. Have a plan for what the team who wins the most holes will get; such as  a pot of money determined before the game starts, drinks following the round, or even better – dinner that night!

On our third day, it was really windy when we started, so we added a new element.  We played a Shamble format where each team picks their best drive as the first shot and then plays their own ball to conclude the hole. It worked really well under the conditions and made it much more fair.

We golfed three well regarded golf courses in the Vegas area and would rate them as follows:

	Arroyo Golf Club  at Red Rocks  $175 – A beautiful setting up against the Red Rock Hills.  It is a 6,883 yard Arnold Palmer Signature Course with Par 72 links style layout with Bermuda grass fairways and Bentgrass greens.  It’s a meandering course that is bordered by numerous upscale homes.  Maybe too many homes – makes you feel a bit cramped. Red Rocks is a Private / Public facility with a separate club house for the Arroyo public course.  It is a good track with challenging but fair greens. 15 mins north of the strip. We rate it an 8.
	Revere Golf Club $195 – Revere is in Henderson 20 minutes south of the Strip.  A very hilly beautiful course. The 7,143 -yards, par-72 layout will test your game with risk/reward scenarios, A lot of variety in the holes with amazing views of the Strip from several tee boxes.  Some holes look like there is very little room to get your drive in play, but if you look at the overview on the cart screen you can figure it out.  Tee boxes were a bit haggard and not flat, but other than that, the course was in wonderful condition.  It’s probably more susceptible to weather impacts because of its location. We rate the course also an 8. We had a great convo with the Starter, Mark A.  He has the life – live and golf Vegas in the winter and fish all summer from his home in Alaska! You can see that we started out on a chilly morning!
	Angel Park Golf Club $124 – Angel Park Golf Club features 36 holes of championship golf designed by Arnold Palmer.  Palm and Mountain Courses are the options, and we played the Mountain Course.  The course was in generally good condition but not as well maintained as the other two.  We had a very enjoyable time here, but must say that the greens are designed a bit too aggressive.  Massive undulations and super-fast conditions made some of them feel unfair.  Being above the hole even just a few feet meant you would often roll off the green if you missed the putt at any speed.  Other than that, we had a good experience.  We rated it a 5.
	Our group stayed in an AirBnB just west of the strip.  It was suitable for our needs, but like so often, the pictures make it look a little nicer than it really is. Take the time to study reviews to avoid surprises.  And remember, if you pick based on saving a few bucks, you need to manage your expectations because you usually get what you pay for!! The main thing for a boys’ golf trip are that you each have your own bedroom.  After that, everything else is a bonus!

Da boys….