 The latest offering at the ever-expanding golf course mecca of Mesquite, Nevada, is the Canyons Course at the Oasis Golf Club. The new course, the sixth in the town 40 miles southwest of St. George, is actually a combination of a remodeled Vistas nine, which was built in 1995 when Arnold Palmer designed the original Oasis 18, and a brand new nine to the east that was completed this fall.
The new nine complements the old nine with similar scenery, but features more innovative holes with a challenging, yet not overbearing feel to it. The Canyons opened for play in October and gives golfers from the Wasatch Front an exciting alternative for the winter months when they can’t always play in northern Utah. Because it is shorter in length, the Canyons course may seem to be a step down from the original Oasis, now called the Palmer Course. However the two courses have comparable course and slope ratings. In fact from the blue tees, the ratings are higher at Canyons 71.2 and 129, compared to 69.3 and 128 at the Palmer course and the white, gold and red ratings are also higher at the Canyons. The Palmer course does have a fifth tee, the blacks, which has a slightly higher rating – 71.7 and 133 – than the Canyons back tee. “We are very excited about the addition of the Canyons course to the Oasis Golf Club,’’ said Oasis Director of Golf Randy Tickner. “With the new nine holes and a few redesign changes on the original nine, the Canyons course is every bit as good as the Palmer course and a real compliment to our club and its members.’’ More than half the holes at Canyons have elevated tees, which might seem impossible except for the fact that carts make it easy to drive uphill to the lofty teeing areas, which give golfers extra confidence as well as better views of the stunning scenery. Those who have played the Palmer course, will find the Canyons to be quite similar with the contrasts of the sandy-colored landscape of buttes and canyons around the verdant fairways and greens. The Canyons is more of a target course and requires golfers to use every club in the bag. Three of the first four holes on the front nine are very similar – par-4s from elevated tees that slightly dogleg to the left. If there is one drawback to the front nine it’s the lack of variety. The first six holes are all par-4s as is No. 9, with the only par-5 at No. 7 and the only par-3 at No. 8, which features a drop of about 75 feet. At those two holes, try not to be distracted by the planes landing at the nearby airport, so close you wonder if they’ll be using the fairways. The back nine offers much more variety with three par-3s and two par-5s among the holes that are some of the most unusual you’ll find anywhere. No. 14, a 379-yard par-4, gives the golfer two options – hitting short of a desert wash with an iron followed by another long iron over the wash to the green, or hitting left to a narrow strip of fairway that will give you a short approach to the green. The problem is if you miss the left sliver of fairway, you be taking a drop and a penalty, plus you run the risk of hitting one of three fairway bunkers on that side. No. 15 is the signature hole and one of the funkiest holes ever designed. The hole basically wraps around a small mountain with a lake running parallel to the fairway all the way to the green. You can’t see the green from the elevated tee, nor the lake. You might be tempted to hit over the hill toward the green, which is possible, but your ball is likely to hit the fairway and end up in the water. The smart play is to hit straight, right of the hill to a wide landing area and then hit a long iron over the water into the green, fronted by a bunker. The 163-yard par-3 13th features one of the longest greens you’ll ever play. The tee is elevated 65 feet above the green, which measures 60 yards long and just 15 yards wide. Depending on where the pin placement is, you can have as much as a three-club difference on your tee shot. The next par-3, No. 16, is the shortest hole on the course at 144 from the back and just 82 from the front. It’s nearly all carry over a lake with a large beach bunker to the right and a smaller bunker to the left.
The final hole is another par-3 from an elevated tee with most of the trouble behind and to the left. A spectacular waterfall drops 1,500 gallons of water per minute between the tee and green and a stream in front and to the left will catch errant shots. A 29,000-square foot clubhouse serves both the Canyons and Palmer courses, although the Canyons course is a few hundred yards away and requires a cart ride. The rates at the Canyons are more reasonable than you might assume, some $20-$30 less than the Palmer course. Weekday rates are $90 until Feb. 1 when they rise to $100. But they drop to $70 in the spring and twilight rates are generally half-price throughout the year. Golfers can also purchase the Mesquite Golf Pass to get great discounts at five Mesquite courses and pro shops as well as local hotels. |
No. 17 is the longest hole on the course at 553 from the back and will tempt some golfers to try to reach it in two. The fairway is the most undulating on the course and will leave golfers with uneven lies. Because the green is elevated, a lot of shots will roll back down the hill, leaving golfers with a tougher shot than if they lay up to the wide part of the fairway 100 yards away.Back to Fall 05
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