This past weekend, I spent two quick days in Las Vegas. I was actually there for work, to attend a trade show on Friday and Saturday afternoons. As it works out, I had both mornings free and of course I used it as an opportunity to check a few more courses off my list!
I only played once on Friday, so let’s get started…
Stallion Mountain Golf Club • Las Vegas, NV • 10/28/16
It was a pretty easy choice to play here on this trip. Not only was it one of the next logical mid-level courses to play as I work my way down the list in this area. It was also one of the better deals to be found this time of year. In this, the fall shoulder season after Vegas courses reopen from their overseeding, the prices definitely go up. Good deals can be hard to find.
Fortunately, Stallion Mountain has a hot deal time on GolfNow just about every morning, which made it a no-brainer to play one of the two mornings I was in town. I booked the 7:54 time on Friday morning at 7:54 for $42.
It wasn’t too busy out there, but they had me wait until my tee time so they could pair me with two other singles. There was a big gap in front of us by the time we teed off, so we never had to wait on any shots and were finished in just over three hours.
The facility was originally opened in 1991 and was called Sunrise Golf Club (not to be confused with nearby and recently reopened The Club at Sunrise). They actually had 54 holes, but later opted to use the valuable land for residential development. Not too long ago, I believe it was 27 holes. Today, however, it has been whittled down to only the 18 holes that comprise the course today. The original design was done by Jim Colbert and Jeff Brauer, but it was updated in 2004 by Schmidt-Curley.
I found the layout to be pretty straightforward and not overly interesting outside of a couple of nice holes. It felt like a pretty standard residential Vegas course, running through a community with flat overall terrain and fairly forgiving features. It reminded me a lot of Palm Valley, Aliante or the now-defunct Silverstone. It’s just another in that basic mold. It probably didn’t help that the skies were gloomy and it was hard to get any decent pictures.
The holes that did stand out to me were a few of the water holes. The hazards definitely add some much-needed challenge and intrigue when they come into play. The 8th is a nice par-4 that has a slight dogleg left with an intimidating approach shot over the pond.
The signature hole at Stallion Mountain is easily the par-3 17th which requires a tee shot directly over water. The water in front of the green is lined with some big desert boulders and the green itself has kind of a unique triangular shape. It’s a nice hole on an otherwise rather forgettable course.
I will say the club has great practice facilities and a nice, big clubhouse, but again that’s pretty standard fare in Vegas.
The post-overseed conditions were good overall and should continue to improve in the coming weeks. The tee boxes were good. The fairways had great coverage and provided fluffy lies to hit from. They were still a bit too shaggy and did not provide much roll-out on drives, though. The rough was just starting to go dormant. A little clumpy in places on a damp morning, with lots of grass clippings around, but it was cut down and not too much of a factor. I was in two bunkers and they had nice sand. Not too soft—a little crusty on top with a decent layer of sand underneath. Just the way I like it. The greens were soft and rather slow, with somewhat bumpy surfaces as the new grass continues to fill out.
Stallion Mountain is a fine mid-level option in the Vegas area, but it won’t stand out too much amidst a lot of similar style courses around here. Just like some of those others I mentioned, it’s a solid layout with generally good conditioning and nice facilities. It’s worth checking out with a good deal (especially this time of year if you can get one of those morning hot deals). Otherwise, there are many other local courses I would pick over Stallion Mountain if the prices were equal.
Some pictures from Stallion Mountain Golf Club (10/28/16):
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