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 At
first glance, it doesn't appear that much work was put into
the Tournament Player's Club at the Canyons in Las Vegas.
But once you look around the manicured fairways and soft greens,
you realize it's the majority of the golf course, the native
desert landscape, that wasn't touched, that offers the real
challenge.
The canyons, endless surroundings of rugged, desert rocks and vegetation, the numerous forced carries, and elevation changes put a premium on shot-making on the 7,063-yard public course set between the towering casinos of the Strip and the peaceful mountains to the west.
Transition areas (with vegetation and long, yellow grass) are found on all the holes, except the par-3s. The first hole lets you "Ease-in" to your round, a par-4 of 349 yards (from the blue tees with a total yardage of 6,772 yards) that has one of the course's 85 well-placed bunkers on the right side of the fairway and is easily reachable from the tee.
The back side is best known for the cavernous desert gorge - 30-feet deep in places and home to all sorts of wildlife - and comes into play on most of the holes. No. 13, a 381-yard par-4, lets you decide on how much of the "Death Valley" arroyo to play over on the fairway that curves right. The canyon factors in most of the remaining holes, with water making it's only real appearance on No. 18, a downhill par-4 measuring 439 yards with the "Oasis" name coming from the lake surrounding the left side of the green that's surrounded by bunkers.
TPC at the Canyons was awarded Golf Digest's coveted four-star "Places to Play" rating in 1998.
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