Played 2/5/2015 at 11:10 -- temp mid 60's with just a touch of wind. Conditions were pretty much perfect for a day of golf. Played with JohnnyGK and Rob 1563, along with visitor Manny (but not that... Continue »

Played 2/5/2015 at 11:10 -- temp mid 60's with just a touch of wind. Conditions were pretty much perfect for a day of golf. Played with JohnnyGK and Rob 1563, along with visitor Manny (but not that Manny). BEST greens I have played in Las Vegas this winter. SMOOTH. Stimped at 10.5 per sign in pro shop (nice touch; wish more courses would take the trouble to measure the speed and then post it since I suspect many players like to think they are playing fast greens like the pros play). Green speed was perfect for the conditions. Greens have a lot of Poa Annua and are firm. So not many ball marks. I like Poa Annua greens much better than Bermuda greens. They are much smoother. Greens are tough to read. Lot of subtle breaks and every green does not break toward downtown, though many do. Very challenging. Did I mention how smooth the greens were? Fairways are nice and green with a smattering of brown spots. Rough is dormant Bermuda during the winter. But the rough around the green has been overseeded so there is plenty of green grass to chip from if you miss the green. This is a nice thing as not every course in LV overseeds around the green for the winter. And no bare spots in the fringes. Bunkers were interesting. Very fine grained sand which was not very deep. So no plugged lies and you could hit any club you desired out of the fairway bunkers since the lips are not very high. Lots of elevation change on this course. And quite long from the white tees. 6356, rating 70.7 at par 72 and slope 136. Really good layout with lots of variety. Challenging but fair. And like playing at Paiute, beware of Rio Secco on a windy day. Johnny GK took a ton of photos. There are many great views here especially those looking down on the Strip. Rob1563's review is excellent and hits all the items I omitted. No GPS on the carts, but the $5 yardage book is a good investment. Class operation and a wonderful place to play. Very enjoyable round with very enjoyable company. Big shout out to Director of Marketing Mark for spending a little time with us over a beverage and talking about the course.

Played Thursday, 2/5, with JohnnyGK and Jeroethel, and joined by Manny, who was visiting from Connecticut. Gorgeous Vegas day, sunny, about 70 degrees, and a slight breeze. Customer service was what y... Continue »

Played Thursday, 2/5, with JohnnyGK and Jeroethel, and joined by Manny, who was visiting from Connecticut. Gorgeous Vegas day, sunny, about 70 degrees, and a slight breeze. Customer service was what you would expect from a resort course, excellent from bag drop to the service in the lounge afterwards. Smooth check in, cart was loaded with water in both coolers, and starter that grabbed you from the practice area. Drink cart (Keli) was around at least twice on each 9, and a snack bar is at the turn, which you can call from the 9th tee.

Driving range is included with the green fee, which was off a very decent mat, and a large practice green.

Course was in great shape. Tee boxes (with #16 being the exception) were flat and relatively divot free. 16 is such a small tee area, so there was plenty of divots, and a mound in the middle. Fairways in excellent shape, with some brown and thin spots outside of the landing areas. Rough is dormant bermuda, and cut close in most areas, however the ball sinks down in those spots that haven't been cut. Greens were firm, smooth, with some dormant Poa, and ran at a nice medium/fast pace. Bunkers were the 1 spot were the conditions weren't great. Sand was typical of most Vegas courses, about 1-2 inches deep, then hard packed. The 1st shot is a surprise, but knowing how it is, became a little bit easier, unless you were close to a lip. The course does a great job of posting signs on the tee areas with distances to where the fairway ends.

Rio Secco runs through the canyons and washes on the south end of the Vegas Valley, with some outstanding views of the Strip. The front nine is more wide open, and the back nine is more target orientated through canyons surrounded by lava rocks. Plenty of elevated tees and water only comes in play on the par 3 #7, the Million Dollar hole. Definitely a "must play" Vegas course.

Played here Easter Sunday, it was a great day on a great layout. Course was in Good shape, a few thin spots here and there, Greens lighting fast, witch was fun.. I didn't have to much trouble reading ... Continue »

Played here Easter Sunday, it was a great day on a great layout. Course was in Good shape, a few thin spots here and there, Greens lighting fast, witch was fun.. I didn't have to much trouble reading the greens, I thought it was very fair. Service was great, played with 3 locals who helped out with course knowledge. Good guys were fun to play with, Mike, John & Adam

Went on a quick 2 day 72 hole benge in Vegas, played 4 courses (Rio, Cascata, Bears Best and Badlands) with my Golf Card and got even better discounts that posted due to summer time. (all I did was ca... Continue »

Went on a quick 2 day 72 hole benge in Vegas, played 4 courses (Rio, Cascata, Bears Best and Badlands) with my Golf Card and got even better discounts that posted due to summer time. (all I did was call them and told them I was a Golf Card member and showed them my card when I got there) Rio Secco was awesome, shot makers course with all the country club playing conditions. Incredible personal service from every employee, best beverage cart service I have ever experienced. I love the bunker sand, it is a tad bit heavier than So Cal, but your clubs slide thru it like butter. Greens held every shot, rolled medium fast, fairways are lush, rough is perfect, this is a must play. BTW - played the course with one ball, when I finished I went and toured the Butch Harmon Golf School - WOW

Played my second round at Rio Secco since my first round here in September 2011. Glad to be back! Played with GK'ers xazntigerx and Jerry64. Loved it the first time and loved it again. Unlike Septembe... Continue »

Played my second round at Rio Secco since my first round here in September 2011. Glad to be back! Played with GK'ers xazntigerx and Jerry64. Loved it the first time and loved it again. Unlike September, in February the rough has gone dormant providing a beautiful contrast to the lush reseeded fairways. Funny thing with the rough was although dormant, there were still some thick areas that grabbed your club. Also unlike September, the reseeded fairways are very lush providing excellent lies all day long. Another difference in conditions was the greens…and what a difference it was. They were much faster and firmer requiring the utmost skill to play. These are tough greens to score on with many undulations and some severe slopes. With exception to the some the front portions of the greens marked up with ball impacts, they were immaculate. Tee boxes, given how small they are and being built into the hilly terrain had occasional divot damage and at times not very level. Regarding the bunkers, they were all groomed very nice and had plenty of sand but the sand it sort of a beach sand texture. It’s heavier and a darker color then one might expect. It took a little getting used too. As far as the layout, it is spectacular. At first it does not blow you away expect for the views of the Vegas strip. But come the 5th hole and on, wow. The track is curved into the surrounding rock terrain (literally!). And above the rocks are massive palatial homes. This is a very fun track mixed with holes you can score on, holes that will eat your lunch and holes you need to really think through. It’s a course that favors a right to left ball and one must be careful not to miss the fairways as near impossible lies await you on a lava rock infested desert flour. Finally, this place bursts with customer service and high end class. It also bleeds VEGAS. There is this aura of wealth around you and many holes have dazzling views of the Vegas strip.

Played Rio Secco Golf Club on Tuesday with fellow GKers, Xazntigerx and JohnnyGK. From the time you pull in the drive the the staff is top notch. Check in is quick and easy and your cart is ready when... Continue »

Played Rio Secco Golf Club on Tuesday with fellow GKers, Xazntigerx and JohnnyGK. From the time you pull in the drive the the staff is top notch. Check in is quick and easy and your cart is ready when you walk out. The practice facilities are top notch, Callaway range balls all the way from the practice tees, down to the chipping green and they are included in the price .
Weather conditions on this day were perfect for this time of year, sunny mid to upper 50's and no wind.
The condition of the course is perfect for this time of year as well, green lush fairways with great lies, the rough is dormant but that is not a problem, only found one or two times that I really had a bad lie. Greens were very quick and slick I would guess maybe a 10 or slightly higher and rolled true to your line with little to no bumps to account for. The sand is different than I like, more of the heavy brown type with those little annoying pebbles, I later found this to be the normal type of sand played in the Las Vegas area due to the wind so after you get a bit of play from them it becomes routine like any other bunker you might play from.
I have really only two things to really mention on the negative side, the pace of play on this day was horrible, teeing off on the back nine because of maintenance on the front nine was just painful, it played in just under four hours for the first nine holes granted the course had several groups out before that were threesomes or foursomes, but the rangers just could not get these groups to pick up the speed, as he said to me often on the front "it appears that everyone is just out for a Sunday Drive, but I am doing my best to speed thing up" After the first nine the groups ahead of us seemed to vanish and we were able to get the front nine played in just under two hours. My second item is why do the supers and head greens keepers constantly place pins on the front for par Threes, these greens at this course are large and have plenty of room else where but the pins were tight to the front and the green damage was clearly evident to our group. Please move the pins anywhere but the front, tuck them if you have to but give the forward portion of the greens time to heal.

This course is fantastic with great views of the mountains and downtown area, get out here and play its one of the best tracks around and I would recommend it to anyone.

I got to enjoy this course with fellow GKers on 2/12/13. It was chilly day but ball seemed to travel just fine and lack of wind definitely helped. For those of you who may not know, this course is a... Continue »

I got to enjoy this course with fellow GKers on 2/12/13. It was chilly day but ball seemed to travel just fine and lack of wind definitely helped. For those of you who may not know, this course is also where Butch Harmon has his golf school. This course has 2 distinct 9 holes with front 9 being milder and gentler with less elevation changes and the back 9 that runs through the canyons that may give some golfers vertigo with all the different elevation changes. There is lot of guess work on the back 9 for the yardages and this makes the back 9 more difficult. Due to the dormant Bermuda during this time of the year, it gave a deep contrast between the green fairways and the golden rough. It was visually pleasing to my eye to be able to focus just on the green fairways which is the reason why I hit so many fairways today. Layout of this course is always fun and challenging for me. For whatever reason, I tend to play well here (My last 3 rounds here are 80blue, 80blue, 80white)even though others seemed to struggle little more at this course. Some parts of the tee boxes were little chewed up since repair process isn't as fast this time of the year for the native grass but overall it was good shape and did not effect my play at all. Tee boxes are relatives small on certain holes due to the nature of the course so some of the smaller tee boxes had more divot damage than others. Fairways were cut low except for couple holes so you really got a nice roll out of it. Plus you were treated with perfectly tight lie where you can really spin your wedges which you needed desperately as greens were firm and fast. There were however some areas in the fairways that I would like to see the staff put a big white circle to mark it off as Ground Under Repair to reduce any additional damages. Those area looked like it could use less traffic and some TLC. Greens here can be tough especially when they firm up. Its very slippery and undulations aren't uniform so you may see multiple breaks on similar lines. Down hill chip shots are practically impossible to stop and if you're unlucky enough to have a down hill putt (most approach shot will roll back down so you shouldn't have too many down hill putt unless not on the green) be cautious as it'll roll forever. Holes with the front pin location had lot of spike marks and showed most wear and tear so putts were bumpy. Middle and the back areas of the greens was in pristine shape and rolled very true. I was only in 1 fairway bunker and it wasn't fluffy so I was able to hit it cleanly. Sand quality is slightly heavier kind so you do need the full swing to get out. Even though it was a chilly day, outside staff really took their time to take care of the golfers before and after round. Inside staff was very friendly and made us feel like a welcomed patron of the facility. Thanks again for great day at the golf course. Its always treat for me to visit Rio Secco. You never know who you will run into here as I've ran into few PGA and LPGA golfers here in the past. Just be little discreet about it. Butch's school is between hole 12 and 13 (if I remember it correctly) and instead of crossing the road, u look to your left side, there is a private range for the Butch Harmon school. If you've never played it, come out and try out this challenging golf course.

Played 9/29 with JohnnyGK & Rob1563. I arrived late due to a truck being stuck on the I-15 / I-515 Overpass north Las Vegas area. I was traveling south on Eastern, somehow I missed "Grand hills Drive"... Continue »

Played 9/29 with JohnnyGK & Rob1563. I arrived late due to a truck being stuck on the I-15 / I-515 Overpass north Las Vegas area. I was traveling south on Eastern, somehow I missed "Grand hills Drive" while I was looking at the "Anthem Village Drive" sign on the opposite side of the street.

I called the Pro Shop, told them I am a little lost, they assured me it wouldn't be a problem, directed me in the right direction. When I arrived, a cart was waiting for me to meet with JohnnyGK & Rob1563 on the putting green. They even said I had time to hit some golf balls, a twosome had just tee'd off. I passed said I'm ready to go...

Looking at the yardage book on the first hole, made us think to play it safe & we hit 3 woods. Once in the fairway, we realized we actually could have taken DRIVER, plenty of room. (See Tips posted). Next hole, slightly elevated tee box to a lush green fairway playing downhill.

Arrived at the first PAR 3 160 yards (All par 3's are spectacular on this course). It's all CARRY yards, the green is just behind the cliff with a super elongated bunker in front! My tee shot landed in the bunker, good thing! I BROKE my 6 IRON, the head was still attached to the broken shaft but at a 45* angle. Johnny couldn't believe my shot still carried enough distance. I got up and down for a broken 6 iron PAR! We arrived at the next hole, elevated some what short PAR 4. We are walking off the green, someone comments...what is so tough about this course??? HA!

Beginning with Hole #5, I give you "ROCK SECCO"! The fairways have tightened up BIG time! You miss a fairway, you will pay dearly for it, the course is now lined with rocks, boulders larger than bowling balls and half the girth of trash bin! Rees Jones calls it the "Impressive Native Desert", I prefer to call it "ROCK SECCO" myself.

Hole #7 Par 3 is called the "Million Dollar Hole" for the Wendy's 3 tour challenge. Nasty Par 3, Carry over the water hazard, long your dead, short is best BECAUSE the green has many slopes to it, very easy to 4 putt!

Hole #15 Par 3: WOW, landing looks like the size of a postage stamp with a very DEEP bunker built into the uphill landing area...and I prefer "ROCK Secco" terrain located all around in front.

This is a MUST play course, you need to play it a few times to learn how to play each hole. Some of the advice (yardage book notes) from Butch I didn't agree with, I would have played some holes differently.

One thing that surprised me were the divots were NOT being repaired in the fairway...some were very deep & size able. Overall the course was very lush when you found the fairway, the rough (grass) was thick & tough to get through, it grabs your club.

Bunkers: Perfect consistency, just try to avoid getting into these deep faced stroke killers. Miss the green, watch your ball roll into one of these, not fun.

Greens: At the time were much slower than I expected but then again I had been on the greens at the TPC Summerlin (JT PGA event) for part of the week. Soon these greens will be cut lower and gain some speed!

Customer service is the BEST you'll ever receive! T-mates are available... Beverage cart came around at the right times too.

I'm sure I'm missing something......We had too much fun so that wasn't it. Oh well, I'll just have to go back and see what it was...

Played Thursday 9/28 with JohnnyGK and Addictedtugolf. Great times on an awesome course. Played in just over 4 hours with a 2some we barely saw in front of us and no one behind. We may have gotten aro... Continue »

Played Thursday 9/28 with JohnnyGK and Addictedtugolf. Great times on an awesome course. Played in just over 4 hours with a 2some we barely saw in front of us and no one behind. We may have gotten around faster, but we were all taking plenty of pictures. Beautiful view of the Strip on many of the holes.

Conditions were excellent, the course just came out of overseeding. Tees and fairways were lush. Rough was consistent, around 1 to 2 inches. Greens were soft. I think they were watered earlier, it has been warmer than normal this week. The contours and breaks were deceptive, it felt they sometimes broke opposite of how they looked.

Customer service was great, from the bag drop to the pro shop, starter, and cart return. Drink cart came around every 4 holes or so and there were 2 complimentary bottles of water for each player. The free yardage book was used a lot with tips from Butch Harmon and Rees Jones. Seeing Tiger's course record hole by hole on the scorecard is interesting.

Rio Secco is a beautiful course shaped through the natural arroyos and canyons on the south end of the valley. The front 9 is a little more "open" then the back, and there is a great mix of elevated tees. You definitely need to know your club distances and trust the yardage book, as many holes look longer than they actually are. Great mix of Par 3s, short/long Par 4s, and 3 long Par 5s, with a short one thrown in. The 18th is the best finishing hole I have seen in the valley, especially at twilight with the Strip lights in the distance. Definitely worth a visit while in Vegas, and worth a round or 2 a year if you live here.