Stay and Play Las Vegas on a Budget? Keep Your Car on the Beltway and Away from the Strip

by Darin Bunch

This is where I learned the game of golf.

Actually, I learned a lot of games (more on one of them later) during my days as a Las Vegas newspaper editor, but at this moment, I’m talking about golf — and Angel Park in particular.

I broke 90 for the first time on the Palm Course, struggling home with three straight double-bogeys for an 85. And a couple years later, I shot my career best there, struggling home with three straight bogeys for an even-par 70. I carded my first hole-in-one on the Mountain Course, a pitching wedge that landed just beyond the hole and trickled back down the slope into the cup after I turned away, and I drove more than my share of greens, even knocking it over the Palm’s 340-yard 16th one windy day.

In many ways, Las Vegas helped me understand how to play golf instead of just flailing away like a wild man. Obviously, this town wasn’t built on restraint, but between banging balls after work on a 24-hour driving range and wearing out my OB Sports player’s card with friends, I uncovered the single-digit handicap hidden inside (which has long since disappeared like chips at a poker table) and a love for swinging hard and letting the long ball loose in a relatively straight fashion.

And there was no better place to swing freely than friendly Angel Park.

Over at The Legacy, I logged my share of memories, too, some more interesting than others — like the time I watched a friend nearly kill a bird with a worm-burning line drive or the day I was stranded on the famed Devil’s Triangle section of the course when a freak summertime deluge turned the access tunnel into roaring rapids. And I can recall nearly every shot I’ve rinsed over the years in the pond that guards the left side of the No. 17 green, ending many a bid for eagle — or birdie — on the short 5-par.

But for golfers, memories are what keep us coming back.

And they’re why, whenever I have the opportunity, I head back out Summerlin Parkway to Angel Park or hit the new Beltway (completed long after I moved away) toward Henderson for a round at The Legacy, as I did last fall, just as the desert weather turned as perfect as it can be that time of year.

Of course, if you hop on the Beltway the other direction, out toward North Las Vegas, there’s a new OB Sports course to add to your playlist — Aliante — with the added benefit of a shiny, new hotel-casino right across the street.

Food weighs heavily in my decisions.

Anyone who knows Southern Nevada knows there is only one true sandwich shop. Capriotti’s is an ever-growing institution that began with a single store (after originating in Delaware) and now has locations across the Las Vegas Valley, not to mention recent expansion into Los Angeles and the Reno-Sparks area.

Their homemade, slow-roasted, pulled turkey sandwich on the best hoagie roll you’ll find anywhere (I get mine with cheese, tomato, mayo, mustard, salt-and-pepper and vinegar-and-oil) creeps into my dreams some nights. Over Christmas week, when my wife and I returned to Las Vegas to visit family, we stopped at Capriotti’s on the way out of town and filled a trash bag full of ice with sandwiches to eat on the four-hour drive home and for lunch the next day. Once I ate two of the “large” sandwiches, each of which measure longer than my forearm, in one sitting.

So when I saw the familiar counter while strolling through Aliante Station Casino + Hotel, I knew this was where
I belonged for all future getaways.

Seeing the small poker room with a lively No-Limit Hold ’Em game running late into the evening only cemented my belief. It was like finding that perfect swing tip that takes a couple strokes off your game. No more Strip hotels filled with silicone bimbos and Rat Pack posers. These were my people — sandwich-eating, poker-playing, golf-loving good folk who liked to laugh, gamble and have a good ol’ time without all the pretentious Swingers movie nonsense that has become the norm on Las Vegas Boulevard and inside the casinos that dot the surrounding streets.

You see, that’s the beauty of Aliante Station. Unlike a lot of other “locals” casinos, visitors don’t have to sacrifice luxury for vacation lifestyle. The pool is fabulous, the rooms are sleek and comfortable, and the hotel entrance is separate from the casino for those looking to get in and out quickly without a face full of smoke or maneuvering a maze of slot machines in search of the parking garage (which is actually quite close, qualifying as yet another guest-friendly amenity).

Gary Panks knows his stuff.

I wasn’t so sure the first time I played golf at Aliante, on a cold, windy Super Bowl Sunday not long after the course had opened in 2003. Back then, the greens were rock hard, the trees were small and about the only thing the course had going for it was Panks’ solid hole designs and the surrounding mountain and desert views, much of which was scheduled to give way to homes as the residential development began to take shape.

But the architect, an accomplished desert rat from way back, must have seen the promise in the land. Nearly seven years later, his design at Aliante not only fits right into his sage-and-cactus canon, combining versatility of club selection with just the right mix of long and short holes, but it also embraces the idea of residential golf without creating that feeling of encroachment as you stand in the fairways — or search for your ball in the transition areas.

The 3-pars test a wide range of clubs, measuring 155, 194, 233 and 135 yards, and the breezes blowing off the Sheep Range can affect shots dramatically. And while many of the 4-pars top the 400-yard mark, all four 5-pars are reachable with two solid shots. Still, conservative execution is key at Aliante, where fairways tend to be domed and offline shots will often run toward the rough or, worse yet, the meandering arroyo that comes into play on 14 holes.

And it turns out those little trees grew up pretty quickly. Pear trees, Mondale pines and purple locust create a colorful canvas on which to paint the perfect round, helping this course in the middle of the desert feel a bit more like parkland and less like the rocky experience often found throughout the valley.

And that’s exactly how Panks envisioned it back near the beginning of the millennium.

“Aliante is a strong challenge that incorporates all the best design elements found in outstanding golf courses,” he said. “We created a well-balanced golf course with an appealing landscape and an eye-catching arroyo, all of which have a positive impact on the look and feel of the golf course.”

More importantly, Panks turned OB Sports’ golf trifecta into a foursome fit for any golfer looking to find a fun challenge without feeling like his wallet has been whacked by a 5-iron.

As for Angel Park and Legacy?

Well, there’s a reason you see lots of players spread across their 54 holes and why Angel Park is a perennial “Best of Las Vegas” reader favorite — it’s simply that much fun. Trickery is kept to a minimum. Just tee it up, hit it where you should and two-putt the relatively large greens. At the end of the day, you’ll have a solid score. After all, that appears to be the OB Sports service model — good times, good friends and good golf equals return business.

It’s why I come back to check in on the courses whenever I can. And from the looks of things, I’m not the only one. FG

Published in FG Magazine, March 2010

AMERICA'S MOST HONORED MAGAZINE AT ING AWARDS
It’s getting to be a habit, and we can’t seem to help ourselves. For the fourth straight year, FG racked up an impressive load of hardware at the International Network of Golf Media Awards announced at January’s PGA Merchandise Show. We scored six awards in all, besting writers and photographers from such national publications as GolfWeek and Sports Illustrated. First-place honors went to Vic Williams in Competition Writing for his piece on Tiger’s historic U.S. Open victory (July-August 2008), Joann Dost for her epic shot of Tiger’s 72nd hole putt on Open Sunday; and Calder Chism for his “Weekend Wisdom” drawing of Vic in the May-June 2008 issue. Outstanding Achievement awards went to Williams and Darin Bunch for Travel Writing. Other FG contributors who took home awards included Tony Dear and Bob Seligman. Next year, look for the clean sweep.