Played for the first time at Bali Hai, a premier course in Vegas that is often on some "best courses you can play" lists. Very expensive, but I got a lower rate for locals through Golfnow.

Interesting course, if a bit gimmicky on the first 9. A few short par 4s and a few quite long par 4s. Played from the golds, not the tips.

The course is in incredible shape, but it rained last night and the sand traps were no better than hardpan. It looked fluffy, but the club would just bounce into the club - couldn't get it under the ball at all. It made it tough.

The greens are in excellent shape and some of the best greens I've played on in Vegas. It's odd, because it's right in the shadow of Mandalay Bay, just off the Strip - and the airport is right next door, too - so you often have planes flying in or out - which gives it an interesting flavor.

Since most of us mere mortals don't get to play courses like this very often, I thought I'd give a hole-by-hole description:

Par is 71
6601 yards
Rating 70.2
Slope - 125

First hole - 328 yds., par 4, 17 hcp


Short little hole that goes uphill with a raised green. Kinda gimmicky. Hit a 3-wood strait down the middle, A-wedge to the back of the green on the fringe, about 25 feet from the pin.
Two-putted for a par.

*****

2nd hole - 513 yds, par 5, 7 hcp

the rigght bunker is perfectly in 3-wood range, while the left bunker is perfectly in driver range - just gotta hit it straight, right? I did, but it wasn't very long, so I laid up and hit a P wedge to within 17 feet.
Birdie put lipped out and I made par.

*****

3rd Hole - 440 yds, par 4, 3 hcp

One of the toughest holes I've played in Vegas. Narrow fairway with a creek that runs down the right side to a raised green with water on the right and behind. Hit a decent drive but a little left, and it found the fairway bunker on the left. I was only 190ish away from the pin, but the green was really scary looking. no real bail-out anywhere. So I took an 8-iron and just laid up to within pitching distance.
I pitched it to within 15 feet, but missed the par putt and made bogey.

*****

4th hole - 305 yds, par 4, 13 hcp

Mother****ing sonofabitch of a short little hole. I place my tee shot beautifully right in front of the water in front of the green, only a lob shot away. But it was in tall grass, kinda buried, and I hit a flyer over the green into a bunker. This is where the hardpan screwed me - tried hitting about an inch behinds the ball like normal but it just bounced off the hardpan into the ball - and right over the green into the water.
Dropped next to the green, chipped to within 8 feet but missed the putt for a 7.

*****

5th hole, 367 yds, par 4, 11 hcp

Hit a nice 3-wood and then a nice 9-iron that was just short of the green. Hit a putt with my 9-iron to tap-in distance.
Easy par.

*****

6th hole, 168 yds, par 3, 15 hcp

Really scary hole that is all carry over the water, and with a sucker pin position back right. It made it about 185 yards to the pin. I decided to hit towards the middle of the green, but I over-compensated and pulled a 7-iron that actually hit the cart path circle next to the green and hopped onto the next hole's teebox - about 30 feet above the hole.
Hit a lob wedge to 15 feet and two-putted for a bogey.

*****

7th hole, 539 yds, par 5, 5 hcp

Nice drive, then a 4 hybrid to the bail out swale left of the green. Pin was tucked behind a bunker in the back right, though, so had to hit a lob wedge over...shot hit right on the crown and rolled the wrong way, away from the pin. Playing partner stuck his about 3 feet away and made birdie.
Two-putted from 25 feet for a par.

*****

8th hole, 464 yards, par 4, 1 hcp

Beautiful, long hole. Hit a great drive to the right side near the tree line - but the hill slopes back down towards the fairway, so I was sitting pretty after a nice poke of 280 yards. Hit a 5-iron just short of the green
Used my 9-iron to putt through the uphill fringe, and sunk an easy putt for par.

*****

9th hole, 164 yds, par 3, 9 hcp

Pretty easy hole, but I bladed an 8-iron that skipped onto the green, but ended up about 45 feet from the pin. Decent putt to about 7 feet, but I missed the par putt.
3-putt for a bogey

*****

10th hole, 495 yds, par 5, 14 hcp

Hit a bomb of a drive but still had to lay up because of the raised green and huge bunker to the right. Hit a P wedge to within 15 feet but missed the putt for birdie.
Easy par

*****

11th hole, 165 yds, par 3, 18 hcp

Fun little hole with water to the left...hit an 8-iron just short of the green, chipped to 5 feet and sunk the putt for par.

*****

12th hole, 423 yds, par 4, 10 hcp

Another grooved drive right down the middle, hit a beautiful 7 iron that would've fed back down to the hole if I hit it to to the right of the pin some, but I hit it at the pin and it landed short in a little swale behind the bunker but in front of the green. Had no idea it was there - I thought it was all green past the bunker. Had a tough little chip uphill that had to clear the fringe, but then the green sloped downhill towards the pin. It went past about 15 feet.
Two-putted for a bogey.

*****

13th hole, 458 yds, par 4, 4 hcp

Another beautiful drive - 285 yds long - left me with an uphill, longer-than-it-looks shot to the right side of the green. Hit a really nice 6-iron just a tad right that looked great - but it was more uphill than I thought - and the ball hit the grass just above the bunker - but then rolled back into the sand.
hit another bladed shot out of the hardpan that rolled into the fringe on the other side of the green. THESE BUNKERS SUCK!
Two-putted from 20 feet for bogey.

*****

14th hole, 224 yds, par 3, 12 hcp

HOLE OF THE DAY!
Long par 3 to a slightly raised green, guarded by a huge bunker right front. I hit the most pure 4 hybrid I have ever hit - landed on the green and snuggled up close to the pin, about 18 inches away.
Sunk the knee-knocker for birdie.

*****

15th hole, 527 yards, par 5, 8 hcp

Dog leg left, with a big bunker that is about 240 yds to clear to the left - if you want to try and cut the corner some. I teed the ball up high and hit a booming, high drive right over that sucker. 279 yards. But here's where the wheels came off a little: thinking I could run a 3 hybrid close to or up to the green, I hooked it left and short - leaving me on a hill next to a tree - with a tricky lob over a bunker. Then I shanked the lob to the right of the green. Easily, my worst shot of the day.
Tried to chip it close, but I was rattled, and I left myself a 20 foot putt for par.
Two-putted for a bogey. ARGHHHHHHH!

*****

16th hole, 123 yds, par 3, 16 hcp

Still rattled, we now have what - on paper - should be an easy par 3. But this hole is possibly the most difficult and scary short par 3 I've ever played - and I'ved played the island green at Sawgrass. If you look at the picture, you cannot see the back bunker from the tee box - it looks like you either hit the green or you're in the water.
Tthe pin was tucked back right, on the top ledge. I was in between clubs, decided to go with the 9 instead of the PW, pulled it slightly, and the ball bounced on the green once or twice, and then disappeared over the back right. I thought it was in the water - but once we got up to the green, we realized there was a bunker back here, and that's where my ball was. Great! Now I have to hit a bunker shot from hardpan onto a small green to a pin that's only about 10 yards from the water.
Once again, I bounce the damn club into the ball and it scoots across the gree - but somehow stops in the 4-foot patch of rough that's between the green and the water.
I chip it close and make a 4 - a relieved 4, I must say.

*****

17th hole, 456 yds, par 4, 6 hcp

Hit another bomb that left me with a 6-iron uphill - and hit it thin. Left me about 20 yards short of the green in front of the bunker on the left. Hit a decent pitch but the ball didn't release and stopped about 18 feet from the pin.
Two-putted for a bogey.

*****

18th hole, 466 yds, par 4, 2 hcp

Some long-ass holes on this course! But I hit the DRIVE OF THE DAY here, right over the little pot bunker on the left side. 292 yards. My longest of the say. Had a little wind in the face, but thought a high, hard 7-iron would be perfect - and it was - but once again, I hit right above the bunker, and it fell back down onto what is really a beach that's in front of the green. Damn, I hit that shot great.
So now I have to try another bouncy hardpan shot - the problem with these bunkers today is that they LOOK fluffy and like you can get the club underneath the ball - but you really can't - it just bounces the club into the ball. This time, I just tried to pick it clean - and it got onto the green, but still about 20 feet away from the pin.
Two-putted for a bogey.

***********

42-40-82 (par 71)

All in all, a nice round, with some frustration. Hated closing out with 4 straight bogeys after a birdie, but those holes were hard. The bunkers are not normally like this, so I was told, it was just the hard rain yesterday and the groundskeeper choosing not to do anything about it today in case it rained again today.

Still, I hit some good shots - could've hit my approaches better today, I think. But man, I was grooving my 3-wood and driver off the tee today. Best driving day I can remember. I only missed two fairways - one in a bunker and the other in the rough. I'm loving my new M2.

Anyway, I definitely recommend this course - if you can get a decent deal. Even with my discount, it was still $150.

thanks for this. I've walked by the entrance several times heading down and back to whole foods. always wondered what the course was like. if $150 is the low end, this report will be as close as i come.

damn you hit the ball far, for an old guy. i was thinking of challenging you to a round. pass.

do you play chess? i might be able to beat you at chess

Lol the only thing I can do is hit the long ball. I'm always looking for others to play with, feel free to hit me up. You would beat me easily in chess.

I always thought Bali Hai was just a tourist trap. Sounds like it may actually be a decent course from your write-up Dominic (other than the price ofc).

It's a good course...but it does seem...manufactured, somehow. I know, all golf courses are manufactured...but there's something off about it.

If you pay full rack rate as an out of town tourist then I think it might be a tourist trap

Damn nice post I always avoided it cause to expensive but looks like a nice course. Thanks Awesome post

you mean something more 'off' than lush green and ample water in the middle of the Mojave

i love desert golf, but it is always a little odd.

That's it! It's not a desert course...most holes do not utilize the desert at all.

posted this before reading hole by hole, looks nice still not sure I would want to pay full price but I do want to play the course. $150 I would pay though

Just do what Dominic did for me at Badlands. Let him go in and pay for both since he can get the local rate and then pay him the cash. EZ game.

so I could challenge Dominic to a small game, lose, and still come out winners.

c'est de bonne guerre!!

Bali Hai is aight, but this is the first I've heard that it's above a mid-tier daily fee. It's back in our tournament rota this year for the second time, and the other courses we've played - Desert Pines, Royal Links, Bear's Best, Badlands, Paiute, TPC Canyons, others - are decent but I wouldn't consider them inferior to Bali Hai.

That said, they did a nice job with what was a flat piece of land. While I can appreciate that the options for the layout were limited by the shape and size of the property, there's still a lot of repetitiveness that makes the course redundant, particularly on the back nine. From memory, 2, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, and 18 all run parallel to each other. Worse, my experience golfing in Vegas is that wind always blows up from the mountain pass to the south, and those holes all play either uphill into the wind (2, 10, 13, 17), or downhill, downwind (8, 12, 15, 18). This leads to the par-5 15th playing shorter and easier than the par-4 17th (independent of par) even though the former is like 70 yards longer. I guess it all evens out in the end etc.

There are some good holes though, unfortunately other than 16 they all come on the front. 3-7 are all solid.

Bali is a great course if you are staying on the strip and trying to have fun. You can drive it anywhere on pretty much any hole, there are good gambling short par 4's and 5"s, and the hard par 4's are really hard. Great place to have a semi drunken game of wolf.

The knock on the course is that some of the holes are a little repetitive, but the did a nice job given the piece of land they have. It actually makes sense that off the tee the landing areas are pretty forgiving and well banked on both sides. When you have a lot of tourists you aren't exactly looking to place a premium on an accurate tee shot. Rounds would take too long. The approaches are plenty challenging though, 3 is a monster and almost comes too early in the round. Second shot on 18 to a back right pin is almost unfair unless you are long enough to have 9 iron or wedge in you hand on a 475 yard par 4. All that said, it is a great course to gamble on.

Greens are perfect, bunkers are awful. You need to go in with the front edge, if you use the bounce you are dead.

Great cart girls, especially Amber. If you buy a couple of beers from her you will remember her name forever.

Finally ran into Amber. Yowza.