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Las Vegas started its connection with professional golf in 1953 at the Wilber Clark's Desert Inn Hotel and Golf Course, when the winner was paid with a wheelbarrow full
of silver dollars. That was a lot of money back then - the richest pay out on the tour! The tournament was called the "Tournament of Champions" ( TOC ), and was the
original forerunner of today's final tour event. Since then, Las Vegas has become deeply connected to tour golf. It was the only city in the U.S. to host the three
major tours - The PGA, SPGA, and the LPGA - in the same year and with those tournaments returning to be played every year. In 1996, the Las Vegas area added
the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge - and has returned every year since. In 2000, the LPGA decided to drop their connection to Las Vegas with the closing of the Desert Inn Country Club. A dumb decision in
my opinion, the players loved it, the town loved it, and there are plenty of courses to set up the tournament. And it now
looks like the Senior PGA will be loosing it's tournament here - trouble finding a sponsor for the event. Such a shame, to
miss watching up close all the players I watched start up in the PGA. Just a note, I have not missed a tour event in the last
15 years, and I am sure going to miss the variety of golf that the three tours offered.
There are 64 golf courses here for your pleasure all within the Las Vegas area: 32 public, resort and semi-private courses,
16 private courses (of which you can play 15), 3 par 3 courses, 2 specialty driving ranges, plus 13 courses within 1 hour or
less drive. Not listed or described on this site, there are 12 other courses that we play less than 2 hours drive in the Saint
George, Utah area. There are 5 more courses under construction due to open in 2002 - PLUS 21 courses in various
planning stages. So, by the end of this year, we will have 68 courses in the valley area to choose from. That may seem like
a lot of courses for this city - or any city -, but with almost 1.4 million residents (growing at the rate of 90-100,000/yr) with
an estimate of over 125,000 golfers in the Vegas Valley, and 30 million visitors per year with 600,000 of those playing golf,
we feel it is still not enough ( but then again - is there ever enough golf courses? ). The green fees range from $27 to $500 -
yes, that is correct - $500. (What a price range - but remember, this is a resort town). One note about our prices for golf
here - they are expensive! So get it out of your head that you will pay that $15-$25 per round for your golf that you are used
to. In the Fall, Winter and Spring, there are only about 10-15 courses that are less than $100. In the Summer - when the
heat is beating the heck out of you - there are few courses that are over $100. Within this site, each course has a years
worth of rates shown so you can plan when to visit for the best rates if you desire. I also have a special "Rates Summary"
page that lists the current fees in ascending order for all the courses.
Our weather, for the most part, allows golfing to be enjoyed all year round. With an average of 320+ days of sunshine,
rainfall of 4.13"/year, averaging 14 days or less of freezing temperature (and rarely - rarely any snow), you probably will be able to play - whenever you are planning to visit.
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