One of my favorite golf courses in the entire Las Vegas area is Boulder Creek Golf Club out in Boulder City, Nevada. It's about a 25-30 minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip and is out in the middle of the dry lake beds. While some might think the distance from the strip is a negative, I view it as a positive. And after you have been to this great layout, I'm sure you will agree.
Boulder Creek Golf Club has 3 different nine-hole layouts, which not only add to the variety of the golf course, but help with pace of play as well. A large practice facility has both grass and artificial driving range stalls. There are also multiple putting greens on which to hone your skills. A large green by the range for putting and chipping, and an individual putting green by the first tee of each nine are more than enough to give you a feel for the subtle breaks of these greens.
My favorite (and the most popular) nine-hole layout would be the Desert Hawk. It starts out with a 90 degree dogleg left par 4. Off the tee there is a large lake to hit your drive over, as well as a humongous bunker that stretches down the entire left side of the hole that just begs you to try and carry it. From the back tee it is about a 290-yard carry and so I decided to swing as hard as I could and try to cut the dogleg in half. Luckily for me I blocked it about 30-40 yards right and it ended up in the middle of the fairway and set me up for an easy routine par. As any Las Vegas visitor would know; sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
What really stands out at Boulder Creek is the number of risk-reward shots you come across. Usually when taking the risk, a well executed shot will reward you handsomely, which is exactly how it should be. A couple good examples of this are the 5th and 9th holes on Desert Hawk. The 5th hole is a short, reachable par 5. If you hit a good tee shot you should have between 200-230 yards to the hole. Normally this would be an easy long iron or fairway wood to try to roll the ball up to the green and make an eagle or birdie. However, in front of the extremely shallow green is a large drop-off into the desert hazard and behind the green is a large bunker. The only safe place to miss is 20 yards right of the green. For once in my life I truly do recommend the safe conservative play to the right. All it takes is a solid chip and putt and you can make a birdie anyway.
The ninth hole on Desert Hawk might be my biggest nemesis in the entire city. Directly in front of you is a large lake that can be reached with a 180-yard shot. To the right is out of bounds and to the left is a small sliver of fairway and a fairway bunker to collect any shot hit over 250 yards. Normally, laying up would seem like a good idea, but any lay-up shot short of the lake or fairway bunker will leave you with at least 225 yards to the well-guarded green. So the way to go on this hole is to just grip it and rip it. The 270 yard carry over the lake seems intimidating but there is usually a prevailing wind and you are also elevated a small amount. I have played this hole many times but have only successfully carried the lake once. And with that successful carry came an extremely easy flip wedge to the green and one of the more satisfying birdies I have ever made.
The great thing about Boulder Creek is that it is so secluded from the rest of the city. It gives you a good feel for what it is like to play a true desert golf course. It doesn’t have any of the forced carries and huge elevation changes that you can find at some other tricked up golf courses, but it does have good solid golf holes that will reward you for well struck shots. The conditions are always good but not as good as the price. I will confidently say that Boulder Creek Golf Club is the best value in the city. If you haven't been out there, make the drive. I’m sure you will not be disappointed.
