Mesquite and St. George Info to Pass On June 2011

[TMBob]

Just got back from a big event down in Mesquite with 36 guys and I just wanted to report back to all of you the course we played and the conditions.

 

We fly into Vegas and have a Charted bus to take us everywhere the whole trip.

 

1) Fly into Vegas on Thursday late afternoon and bus it to Mesquite for the first evening.

 

2) Played Oasis Palmer Course for the first of two rounds on Friday (Big Break Course). The course was in excellent shape thru out the whole course. I never had a bad lie what so ever all day long. The greens were a touch slow for what we expected but still quite nice.

Not sure what the grass is, because the greens were two different colors. One very dark and one much more green. The course is a bit short from the Blue's (second from the back tees) but the layout is above average and a treat to play. Great Lunch also

 

3) The afternoon round was at Conestoga.....I was very excited to play this course because of all the hype I have heard about it. First thing I notice driving up to the course was how light green the course was and far from the Oasis track we just played. Well, once on the course I found out why it was not lush...the track was super hard ground conditions and roll out was beyond crazy making playing the course very difficult to ay the least. Add the fact that not one of the 36 guys in our group had played the course before, the fact that about 7 hole have trouble at the end of the fairways made it a hard day on everyone. The layout was OK, a bit tight on the front and more open on the back side. Here is an example of the roll out....I heeled a drive low on the face that would be lucky to go more then 225 yards back at home ended up going over 335 yards on a down hill 425 yard hole. Because of the roll out there were a few hole that just did not play like they should and produced poor results. Mainly number 17 were guys were hitting 3 woods over 300 yards into a waste area. The 4th hole is a bit mickey mouse also with no visual of the hitting area on a lay up hole (which one could have hit driver if you wanted to) Anyway, we do not plan on going back till the course greens up some that's for sure as the overall conditions were poor I felt.

 

4) The Next day we were off to St. George to play Sand Hollow which everyone loves up in St. George Utah. For those who have played the course, the stretch of holes on the back side is right up with any course with some of the coolest holes on the planet. You must go to their web site and have a look. Overall the course was in awesome shape as always and a treat to play. Nothing super special about all those other holes but a great course to play for a group of 36 guys with caps from +2 to 22. Again the greens were a bit on the slow side but still they rolled good. This course will always be in our rotation.

 

5) Our second to last round is always at Wolf Creek in Mesquite. Wolf is awesome as we all know from playing and hearing about. The course seems to be much more lush the past few years. Example, the first hole which is down hill will produce little roll if any. The rough is tough for most since it really grabs your club and for those trying to slide the club thru it will not have a very fun day. The Tips are flat out crazy from certain tee boxes (mainly number 2) This is a must play on anyones golf list as it is not like any other course out there and the conditions top it all off. Again the greens were slow, but if they were fast, lord knows how long a round would take out there. A few side notes, the sky divers above you are pretty cool and we saw a Red Racer snake that day and our group had Four 3's on the par 3, number 8.

 

6) Our last round is always at The Chase at Coyote Springs as it is on the way to the airport in Vegas from Mesquite. The Chase is you classic Jack Nicklaus course. Forgiving fairways with plenty of fairway bunkers and very well protected greens with steep bunkers and tall grass around those bunkers that will cause you nothing but problems with your stance and a buried ball. The greens as normal have many mounds in them that proved many crazy pin placements. The course was in great shape but tends to be wind blown all the time.

The did away with the fore caddies, thank goodness as to me it was a huge waste of funds. There is nothing out there so be prepared to brings some good snack and save a few dollars as the really get you other wise for the basics. A great course to close a great 5 day trip for sure.

 

Any questions, please ask.....Thanks

[texagjosh]

Played all the courses in mid-May and felt the same.

Conestoga was in very poor shape compared to 2010. Fairways were thinning out and it was unreal how hard the ground was underneath. 4 and 17 are always tricksters, particularly 17 with the wind. It's either 6i off the tee or swing for the fences and land in a greenside bunker.

I thought the Oasis courses were in fantastic shape, but the greens were unbelievably firm and fast. They wouldn't hold anything, even 20 yd pitch shots. You needed only breathe on a 20 footer to get it to the hole.

We had to skip out on Sand Hollow (2nd of a 36 hole day) because the winds got up into the 40-50mph range and there's just no sense going out in that mess. We played the relatively new Kokopelli in Apple Valley (20 min south of Sand Hollow), and while the new holes are going through growing pains, it was a really sweet course. Fun layout, reasonably priced... and once it grows in better, it'll be a real treat. Some amazing views out there that are on par with the back 9 at Sand Hollow.

I was underwhelmed with Coyote Springs for the price ($110 via Golfnow). Perhaps we were expecting too much with it being a Nicklaus Signature course. The layout was pretty goofy having to drive all over creation from green to the next tee. I understand why they clustered the holes the way they did, but I think it's silly. The course was in good shape, but I doubt I'll go back to it when Mesquite and St George offer similar courses at much better value.

[Par Fore]

I think that Conestoga needs a couple of years to grow in, they need to sand the hell out of if, but play in again and you will love it. It is a hard course to play the first time. I played it in January and it was in pretty good shape, the high temps hurt, I'm sure. For any of you who make trips to the St. George/Mesquite area, take a look at kokopelli, it's about 20 min away from Sand Hollow, through the city of Hurricane. Pretty cool layout and very long, I think they claim to be able to stretch it to 8,000 yards depending on tee and hole locations, not that I play from the tips. It has some of the same issues as Conestoge, new course hard clay soil that needs some time, water, airation, and sand, but it's a cool course.