Magical Mesquite : Golf Article

Magical Mesquite
By Hal Quinn
SCOREGolf Magazine

The rich texture of the bent grass, in stark relief against the surrounding reddish clay, gives way to the even richer Bermuda and the sparkling sand of the bunker by the green’s edge. A gentle breath of wind rises up over the cliff’s edge rustling the longer grass just  enough to draw the eye to the captivating panorama below. Impossibly flat-topped mesas create their own horizons and their shadows slink slowly across the desert floor.

From the 16^th green at the remarkable new Falcon Ridge Golf Course, the spectacular Virgin River Valley comes into clear and unfettered view. It’s magnificent. It’s magical. It’s Mesquite.

The view from the Ridge is but a glorious introduction to the enticing diversity of the burgeoning community of Mesquite, Nevada. Just 80 miles north of Las Vegas, where the borders of Nevada, Utah and Arizona naturally come together, is a wonderland of mountains and streams, canyons and arroyos, shimmering deserts and lush fairways.

Now that the Falcon has landed, Mesquite and nearby St. George, Utah – with the championship courses at The Palms, CasaBlanca, Oasis, Coral Canyon and Entrada -- combine to form one of the finest golf destinations in North America.

But like few golf destinations anywhere in the world, Mesquite not only offers a vacationer’s dream of exclusive spas, award-winning cuisine, fine shopping, superb accommodations and dazzling casinos, but it also finds golfers, their families and friends  in the heart of an outdoor recreation paradise. Minutes away are Zion National Park, Lakes Meade and Powell, Cedar Breaks and Brain Head Ski Resort, the perfect retreats for anglers, kayakers, mountain bikers, hikers, skeet and trap shooters, campers, horseback riders and lazy afternoon picnickers. The Mesquite area has everything for everyone, but especially golfers.

It all started back in 1989 when the Palms Golf Club first opened its gates. The town of Mesquite was then home to just a few thousand souls. The city was incorporated in 1984, but the first settlers arrived 110 years ago. Now, more than 17,000 live in the rapidly growing community with more attracted to the area’s beauty, amenities and climate every day.

Long-time residents, newcomers and visitors alike still enjoy playing the original. The Palms immediately earned rave reviews when the William Hull design opened and to this day is rated as one of the finest courses in the Southwest.

The more than 200 palm trees of various types give the course its name and their towering presence the course’s unique signature. But The Palms is really two courses, the front and back nines providing golfers with dramatically different experiences.

The opening holes meander through the relatively flat desert floor with sagebrush hugging the edges of doglegs and eight water hazards adding to the beauty and shot values. Yet unlike most courses in desert settings that are ‘target golf’ layouts, The Palms isn’t bisected by waste areas and forced carries over gulches and arroyos. Here, the fairways run smooth and green. And rather than rows of condos, views end only at the surrounding mountains.

The back nine is 300 yards shorter than the front (from the back tees, The Palms measures just over 7,000 yards) but has dramatic elevation changes and even some blind shots more reminiscent of courses in Scotland than Scottsdale. And the greens are smaller on the back. With the excitement of the back nine – the par 5 15^th tee box is more than 140 feet above the fairway and the stunning panorama includes the Virgin River Valley, mountains and rolling farms, the spacious clubhouse perched on a knoll – and the traditional design of the lush front nine, The Palms offers players fun and challenges in equal measure.

The Palms got the ball rolling in Mesquite and it wasn’t long before Arnold Palmer came to town. And with the opening of Arnie’s spectacular Oasis Golf Club in 1995 Mesquite was officially one of golf’s places to play.

Of all the courses around the world that Palmer and his design partner Ed Seay have created, the King of Golf himself rates The Oasis in his own personal Top Ten. Golfers only have to play a few holes to understand why. Without question, the rugged hills, bluffs and red-rock canyons above Mesquite provide one of the most dramatic settings in all of golf.

Holes plummet off cliffs to ribbons of lush fairways winding around bunkers, desert, lakes and even a waterfall. The Oasis plays to just 6,982 yards from the back tees (4,659 from the forward tee boxes) but the slope rating of 141 is testament to the challenges of this thrilling layout.

The drama is captured on the back tee of the 517-yard, par 5 8^th hole. The tee is perched 180 feet above the fairway and demands a shot that will carry 250-yards over rugged boulders and desert to reach the dark green grass. The risk-reward that Palmer designs are famous for is beautifully rendered on the 363-yard par 4 6^th hole. No matter how many times they have played this hole, players can’t help but pause on the tee and stare out at the green tucked seductively into a deep box canyon, is sheer walls looming ominously.

Such moments of stopping to simply savor the stunning views and amazingly scenic holes are an integral part of the Oasis experience. And it is equally dramatic and pleasurable from all of the five sets of tees.

The companion 9-hole Vistas Golf Course shares the same remarkable topography and at 3,549 yards from the back tees is one of the longest 9-hole courses in the United States.  This is a full-blooded layout with superb holes tracing lakes and framed by rugged canyons and desert. From the blue tees the slope is a challenging 130 but it can be enjoyed just as much from the whites (3,276 yards and a slope of 119) and the reds (2,653 yards and a slope of 110). Vistas is pure golf pleasure on its own, or it can be played in combination with one of the nines at the Oasis for an excitingly different 18-hole round.

The CasaBlanca Resort, essentially Mesquite’s first welcoming committee as the highway swings in from Las Vegas, is also home to a superb golf course that is quintessentially Mesquite. The Virgin River Valley provides the setting; the surrounding mesas and mountains provide the dramatic backdrops, the arroyos and washes the accents, the rolling fairways and large greens the pure golf enjoyment.

Like a parkland course in the desert, the CasaBlanca Golf Club entices players with a

beguiling array of options. Unrivalled for its conditioning, this Cal Olson creation is designed to be challenging to the good player but not daunting for the high handicapper. Some short par fours invite gamblers to go for the green, wetlands and lakes define holes and their hazards, long par fives give everyone a chance for a birdie.

The CasaBlanca Resort prides itself on service and making sure that guests have a great time. The same is true at the golf course as the country-club level service adds to the fun of the player-friendly layout.

The 17^th hole – a 454-yard long par 4 when played from the championship tees – typifies the challenges and rewards of playing CasaBlanca. The fairway is forgiving, but along the right side of the hole are environmentally sensitive wetlands. And 125 yards from the green the approach narrows to a 20-yard wide entrance that must be carried. The green itself is an astounding 42 yards long.  

At the CasaBlanca Casino, the gamblers can roll the dice calling “seven come eleven.” And reflecting its “casino” roots, the CasaBlanca golf course plays to seven thousand and eleven yards and golfers can gamble as much as they like cutting doglegs, carrying waters hazards – there is water on 13 holes -- and going for broke on the drivable short par fours. The verandah at the new clubhouse is the ideal setting to enjoy refreshments while calculating how many of those gambles paid off.

The drive from Mesquite to St. George, Utah, through the mountain canyons is a photographer’s dream and reward enough in itself. But even more rewarding is the short drive past St. George to “Color Country” and the Coral Canyon Golf Course. It’s virtually impossible to put the camera away here at the northern end of the Mojave Desert where the golf course’s brilliant hues of green set off the deep red-rock outcroppings of Pine Valley Mountain, the pinkish peaks of Bryce Canyon  and the silhouettes of Zion National Park.

Cacti and sagebrush flourish amid the volcanic rock that even in the subtly changing hues appear like coral on the edge of an ocean reef.

Architect Keith Foster created an absolutely stunning collection of holes that never enforce their will on the spectacular and fragile environment. Though measuring a full 7,029 yards off the back of four sets of tee boxes, Foster’s inspired use of 55 bunkers, dry washes and waste areas, and two lakes has resulted in a course using barely 80 acres of turf. The state of Utah invited SunCor Golf to develop and maintain the site that was deemed essentially unusable. The transformation completed in 2000 is nothing short of remarkable, the spare use of grass and water rendering this rocky remnant of the Grand Canyon area golf gem. The greens are open and inviting to the average player, the fairways receptive, the Tournament tees (slope 137) giving low handicappers all they want.

Each hole is unique, but the short par 3 6^th hole – measuring just 122 yards – is a classic short hole. The green nestles up against forbidding and bare, rocky slopes. The

tee shot carries over a ravine to the green below for a golf moment that – like the course itself – will be long savored long after the round. Another St. George delight is just a short drive away.     

The Spanish word for entrance is ‘entrada’ and when you arrive at the 710-acre Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club you are entering into one of the most unique and beautiful settings in all of golf.

The 7,222-yard course was designed by Johnny Miller, who said of Entrada: “It's a truly wonderful aesthetic experience and a great test of golf.” From dawn to dusk the sunlight paints an ever-changing tapestry on Navajo and Kayenta, the stark sandstone cliffs that form Entrada’s backdrop. And throughout the course, as it winds around arroyos, canyons, lakes, desert dunes and finally into the lava fields for the closing holes, players are constantly reminded of the ancient and powerful natural forces that shaped this dramatic landscape.

As the course plays out from one scenic viewpoint to the next, Miller provides five distinctively different sets of tee boxes so that the journey can be enjoyed by everyone. In fact, from the forward tees it plays to just over 5,400 yards. But no matter the tee selection, when Entrada enters the lava fields at the 15^th, the hole’s nickname “Mercy” applies to all.

“The black lava is a unique statement seemingly taken out of context since you expect its presence in Hawaii, but not in the Southern Utah desert,” Miller said. Indeed, players are transported to new dimension on the 16^th “No way out” and the 17^th “Devil’s Hideaway.”  They can take solace after their round at the soon-to-be-opened 22,000 sq. ft. clubhouse. Entrada at Snow Canyon is managed by Troon Golf, so guests know that the service – like the course itself – will be beyond the ordinary.

The latest addition to the magnificent Mesquite collection of championship golf courses is the Falcon Ridge Golf Club. Unique in so many ways – not just to the world of golf but to the Mesquite area itself – the Falcon is as pleasing to the eye of a photographer as it is to the eye of a golfer.

Set in the rugged hills above Mesquite, the course soars and dives in and around the canyons with the grace and beauty of its namesake. Pine trees line fairways, a reflecting pond creates an optical illusion, elevated tees double as scenic lookouts, and water flows in the desert — there are seven lakes on the back nine alone.

As created by Kelby Hughes and Cresent Hardy, Falcon Ridge is that rare combination of pure simplicity, spectacular views and demanding golf holes. The Falcon requires precision but at the same time is very forgiving off the tees. Shots slightly off-center are fed gently back into the ‘sculpted’ fairways lending a Southwest feel to the course. In counterbalance, the greens are demanding with considerable undulation.

The front nine plays to a par of 35 over its 3,000 yards while the dramatic back nine plays to a par of 36 and 3,500 yards from the back tee boxes. But true to its nature as a golf course designed for the enjoyment of the average amateur golfer, multiple tee boxes provide each player with the choice to challenge as much of the Falcon as they dare.

It’s really fun at the 515-yard 12^th – a classic risk-reward hole – where the fairway lies 130 feet below the tee and on the par three 17^th, where 800 tons of sand await the unwary.

Tracing their way through the hills, valleys and canyons – the par 3 second hole over a pond into a green in a box canyon is unforgettable – players will have the lasting impression of Falcon Ridge that it was ‘beautiful and fun.’

And that is what Mesquite and the surrounding area are all about. Nature has provided the heart-stopping beauty and the casinos, hotels, spas and golf courses have added the fun. With the Falcon now on the ridge overlooking the Valley, Golf Mesquite joins the upper echelon of the world’s great golf destinations.