Got in a late twilight round on the way home from a Vegas work trip yesterday and decided to see what Primm Valley GC was all about after driving past it countless times in my life. First off, kudos t... Continue »

Got in a late twilight round on the way home from a Vegas work trip yesterday and decided to see what Primm Valley GC was all about after driving past it countless times in my life. First off, kudos to the pro shop who told me as a walk-in that it would be far cheaper for me to make a quick booking on teeoff.com ($55) than just through the course ($89) - that's pretty quality and honest service right there. And it was much appreciated. First thing you notice once you get on the grounds is how you're kind of lost in the woods yet surrounded by desert. It's visually quite cool to be in the middle of this little oasis. For me it was a bit like Classic Club with less teeth. Layout for the Lakes course is super fun with a great variety of holes long and shorter, plenty of water features that are really aesthetically pleasing, elevations that you don't expect to see, and a really fun routing that keeps you interested throughout the round. Conditions are above average all the way around, but there are some aspects that keep the course from getting an even higher rating. The tee boxes are actually a lot shaggier than one would expect, but they're flat and well placed. The bunkers were in good shape all around the course. Fairways were generally well covered and pretty green, but there were a few patches of thin lies and dried out areas, which is of course to be expected when you're right next to a massive solar farm that takes advantage of how much hot sun there is there at all times! I was definitely getting some good roll on those fairways that often left me just into the first cut of rough off the tee, and that rough was pretty thick and in good shape. It's just a few inches short of difficult, but currently of moderate resistance. The greens were in great shape. They rolled very true but it was pretty difficult to keep balls with any speed to them on the greens. A few of the holes had some patchwork areas on the greens which was visually more of a problem than anything else. But on good shots that landed softly, they were pretty fun to play. I would really like to play the Desert course next time I'm around that area. And if you're ever in that area midweek with some time, stop by. I actually cruised through the entire 18 in just three hours, and that was after being held up the last 3-4 holes by a twosome in front of me. Pretty fun little round all in all.