© Copyright 2002-2019, Western Golf Alliance, LLC. All rights reserved
The "Gray" Course
Three time champion Brian Gray is a SoCal doctor - and the son of a SoCal doctor - so he knows his way around a golf course. He’s proven he is an expert at desert golf, winning the WGA Open in both Las Vegas and Palm Springs, plus the inaugural Open at off-the-beaten-track courses in Oregon. As a result, this fantasy course is dominated by southwest desert golf at its finest.
Par: Out = 36; In = 36; Total = 72
Yardage: Out = 3,201; In = 3,065; Total = 6,266
Rating = 72.8
Slope = 139
#1 - Wolf Creek #1: Par 5, 504 yards, 9 handicap: When you’ve seen the pictures of Wolf Creek, you may think it can’t possibly be as intimidating as it looks. Well, the first tee sets you straight - this course is all it’s cracked up to be. If you were a pro playing the tips, you’d actually have to fade the drive around the clubhouse! But for you, you’ll simply have to hit the ball down a huge hill into a fairway wedged between two rocky outcroppings, then negotiate two shots back uphill, avoiding massive rocks and ponds. Hitting three straight shots, while taking an extra club on your approach, will produce a chance for birdie, but the point will be made that this course is unlikely any other you’ve played before.
#2 - Wolf Creek #2: Par 4, 429 yards, 1 handicap: The second hole is the hardest hole on the course … heck, it might be the hardest hole in the western U.S.! From the tee box, the 2nd at Wolf Creek looks more like the backdrop for a Road Runner cartoon than a golf course. The drive is pretty self-explanatory: From the top of a mesa barely big enough to fit four golfers, hit a forced carry over a desert canyon to a narrow strip of grass 100 feet below and 240 yards away. Advice for the first timers: Soak in the panoramic view, crack a joke about a falling anvil, and bring an extra ball to the tee. Or two.
#3 - Silverrock #8: Par 3, 140 yards, 15 handicap: This is a ‘love it or hate it’ hole - some think it's a gimmick, while others appreciate its uniqueness. In truth, it’s a pretty straightforward, flat par 3, requiring a mid to short iron. The water left isn’t in play, though the large bunker is. But on the right, the green is fronted by two twin palm trees, and to the back is a visually significant rock outcropping, neither of which should be a problem. However … players avoiding the trees end up pulling it left in the bunker, or flying long into the rocks only to see their ball bound 100 yards in some random direction. This should be an easy par, maybe a birdie, but often gets ugly purely because of a mental mistake.
#4 - PGA West TPC Stadium #16: Par 5, 517 yards, 16 handicap: This is a par 5 with several distractions that cause golfers to make bad decisions. In this case, the primary distraction is the biggest, deepest greenside bunker you’ll ever see. They named the hole “San Andreas Fault” because of this chasm of a bunker, 40 feet below the putting surface. By bending the hole left, it draws players to start looking at the bunker from the tee, and overcompensating right. Take this hole shot by shot, and you’ll be fine.
#5 - Desert Willow Firecliff #17: Par 3, 192 yards, 4 handicap: This might be one of the greatest “desert” par 3 holes in America. At the end of a long, hot round, this is all you’ll have to do here: Face a long iron one-shotter to a green protected by a huge bunker in front, desert flora long and left, and a pond hard-up against the green to the right. There is no bail-out location - you just need to hit your 4 iron perfectly straight … we really, really hope you’ve been practicing that shot at the golf range!
#6 - Salishan #10: Par 4, 444 yards, 12 handicap: The backside at Salishan starts with the first ocean view on the course. The drive on this long par 4 is from an elevated tee to a wide open fairway, meaning you can both swing away and enjoy the long view to the Pacific behind the hole. From the fairway, a long iron will need to avoid some fronting bunkers and a small pond that shouldn’t really be in play, but if you get home in two a par shouldn’t be a problem at all.
#7 - Elkhorn Valley #5: Par 4, 310 yards, 10 handicap: Of all our favorite holes, this might be the most obscure, but it remains one of the greatest golf holes we’ve ever played. A short par 4, the play off the tee is to hit a mid to long iron through a chute about the width of your living room into a landing area 180 yards away. (Oh … and to the right is water, and the left is OB!) From there, the hole takes a 90 degree right turn so you can hit a wedge to a dastardly, postage-stamp sized, multi-tiered green that’s a three-putt waiting to happen. This is a beautiful, short hole through pristine woods, so don’t disturb the peace with your swearing.
#8 - Paiute Wolf #15: Par 3, 138 yards, 16 handicap: There are several famous island green par 3s. However, only at the Wolf Course at Paiute Resort can you be nearly guaranteed of meeting such a challenge in the middle of a 30+ yard wind. This hole is stunning in its beauty - a true gem-blue pond with an island green set in the middle of a desert oasis - but you had better shut out that beauty and prepare to hit the best mid-iron of your life if you want any chance of avoiding a big, scary number.
#9 - Wolf Creek #17: Par 5, 527 yards, 6 handicap: Most golf holes present one challenge for golfers to avoid or recover from if they fail. But this par 5 actually presents a unique risk on every shot. The drive from an elevated tee must avoid a pond on the left. The second shot requires a decision for the player to pick the right or left side of the fairway split by a creek. The approach then requires a forced carry over a second pond. A player who keeps his head, judgment, and accuracy can post a good score, but one mistake can compound into a round-crippling disaster.
#10 - Bear’s Best Las Vegas #18: Par 4, 439 yards, 2 handicap: The closing hole at Bear’s Best is a battle of survival. You only need to look to the right of the fairway - while the fairway continues to bend gently right - to see the danger. A huge bunker runs the length of the fairway, extended back from the green, to about 200 yards out. However, that bunker almost serves to protect a slicing ball from the large pond even further right. You’ll be facing both of those hazards off the tee and on your approach, but keeping the ball left can also lengthen the hole to make par unlikely at best.
#11 - Lexington at Revere #7: Par 5, 459 yards, 3 handicap: This short par 5 is a thinking player’s hole. It is especially memorable due to the view off the elevated tee, and the picturesque waterfall backdrop behind the green. Due to the layout of the hole, the smart play is to take a hybrid off the tee to stay short of the first hazards, then another hybrid or long iron to the next landing area, and then finally a mid iron to the elevated green. Do that and you’ll score, but attack aggressively off the tee and you’re inviting unrecoverable trouble into the scenario without much real potential benefit.
#12 - Wolf Creek #8: Par 3, 217 yards, 5 handicap: Mark this down: This is the hardest par 3 you will EVER play. Super long and all downhill, the green is tucked into a small rock canyon with a water feature wrapping around the putting surface. While there are ways to bail out successfully on this hole, they are only valuable if you’re willing to concede a bogie. When we played this hole in the WGA Open, the AVERAGE score was 5.4 … so good luck hitting that 4 iron onto dry land here! Now that you mention it, a bogie might look pretty good here.
#13 - PGA West TPC Stadium #7: Par 4, 309 yards, 11 handicap: “The Stadium” is notorious for being so difficult that tour pros refuse to play it. Interestingly, then, is that our pick for the best hole there is a short par 4. However, short doesn’t mean easy here! The hole is lined with water down the right, and bends left-to-right its entire length. Thus the drive needs to be exceptionally straight in order to find the fairway, and then no matter what the approach will require you to challenge the water that by then is on the right and fronting the green. Don’t be a hero here: Think middle of the fairway, middle of the green, two putt.
#14 - Wolf Creek #14: Par 4, 370 yards, 4 handicap: The most photographed hole at Wolf Creek, it also appears the most “normal” from the tee. That said, this hole is brutally tough. The fairway has a ‘split fairway’ feel to it, with a lateral ridge that creates a higher side to the right … but while the hole itself doglegs left. From the fairway, the approach is VERY uphill, with a series of bunkers up the left side that will eat any shot that flies short. It is almost impossible to get through this hole without a mistake, so you’ll be happy with a bogie.
#15 - Desert Willow Firecliff #6: Par 4, 310 yards, 13 handicap: Great short par 4s seem to be defined by the hazards that surround them, and this hole fits that bill. The approach will require a forced carry to a small green almost completely surrounded by water. As a result, your drive needs to take into account how you’ll best attack that shot. If you hit driver, you’ll bring other issues into play that might make the approach impossible, but if you lay back you will lengthen that shot, increasing the difficulty. Choose wisely.
#16 - Silverrock #18: Par 5, 520 yard, 12 handicap: It’s always fun to end a round with a major risk/reward hole that can create scoring swings at the last, and this par 5 does just that. The drive needs to stay left of a creek that is running diagonal through the fairway, then the second shot must fly that same creek to now get to the right side of the split fairway. If you pulled that off, your approach must now clear the pond to the front-left of the green, while also avoiding bunkers front and right and long. Three good shots, and birdie is possible … one crooked shot, and that snowman down the stretch is going to look like a major choke job to your friends.
#17 - PGA West TPC Stadium #17: Par 3, 146 yards, 14 handicap: Island par 3s are always exciting, and this is no exception. Course designer Pete Dye was urged to recreate his famous hole at TPC Sawgrass, and this hole imitates without simply duplicating that hole. It isn’t long, and the green is large enough, so feel free to simply aim for the middle and take your par, but before you do so steel your nerves, as any time you face a hole like this you know that any mistake is a two stroke error.
#18 - Wolf Creek #18: Par 4, 295 yards, 12 handicap: The closing hole at Wolf Creek is like the final corkscrew of an amazing roller coaster ride. Off the tee, the difficulty is figuring out if your driver will reach a stream that crosses the fairway 250 yards out. But if you lay up, you will have an uphill approach to a green protected by water and rock outcroppings all around. It’s as if the course architect chose to cram every single hazard from the entire course into one short par 4, giving one final taste of everything, all disguised as if you have a legit shot at a closing birdie.
Click on the Thumbnails for Larger Photos and Captions
THE WESTERN GOLF ALLIANCE
Keeping It Long and Straight Since 2002™
