Las Vegas is often referred to as sin city or the city of lights. It is known for its glamorous shows, all you can eat buffets, and the many casinos that fill the strip. However, the golf scene in Vegas is picking up and it starting to be a well known attraction and reason for golfers to vacation there.

Las Vegas has hosted professional golf tournaments for years, notably the Las Vegas Invitational at the Tournament Players Club Summerlin which just so happens to be the site of Tiger Woods’ first PGA TOUR victory in 1996. Musician Justin Timberlake now finds his name attached to the event titled the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open scheduled to take place this October during the Tour’s fall series. All three major professional tours visit Vegas annually for the Wendy’s 3-Tour challenge.

The golf boom in Las Vegas has left the area ripe with choices for a round. Southern Nevada is now home to 64 public or semi-private golf courses and 14 private courses. Thanks to world-class designers like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Rees Jones and Robert Trent Jones, Jr. the quality of the Las Vegas layouts cannot be disputed. While these courses may no longer fit into the category of the best-kept secrets in the game, they certain qualify for most unique and unpredictable.

Only in Las Vegas will you find golf courses that are so unique and offer stunning views. When you play at the Bali Hai Golf Club, located at the end of the strip, you will feel like you are on an island playing golf. You can see luxurious hotels such as Mandalay Bay and MGM while you play. The Legacy Golf Club offers a unique aspect to the golf course. At the tenth hole, the designer Arthur Hills decided to make the tee boxes to resemble the different suits in a deck of cards.

Reflection Bay Golf Club gives visitors a chance to walk in the footsteps of the professionals they watch every week. The 7,261-yard, par-72 award-winning course is the first public resort golf course in Nevada that was personally designed by Jack Nicklaus and is the host course to the nationally televised Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge. Bear’s Best, designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus, is similar to a compilation album produced by one of the many rock star visitors Vegas attracts. Bear’s Best offers 18 replicas of Nicklaus’ finest holes currently at courses from Montana to Mexico. Bear’s Best Las Vegas is home to a clubhouse that features Jack’s Place, where photos, plaques and other memorabilia from Nicklaus’ legendary career are displayed.

Las Vegas is home to some of the best landscaped golf courses that you only imagine or see on television. They have a combination of cliffs, desert canyons, palm tress, and the great southwest sun to make everything glisten. You will really feel like you are in a dreamland paradise when you step on to a Las Vegas golf course.

Although the courses are one of kind, they come with a price to pay. Golfing in Las Vegas can be very expensive with greens fees often exceeding one hundred dollars. Therefore it is best to book a packaged vacation that includes golfing, a stay at a hotel, and sometimes even airfare. Also, go when there is less people in Vegas. The typical off season is from November to February.

There is no question this Las Vegas desert dream has everything an avid player could ever want. You get the benefit of a great place for a vacation as well as the perfect place to create the golfing experience of a lifetime. Now you have some great information about the best Las Vegas golf courses to play.