The Chase Course

the chase golf course just opened and is the Jack Nicklaus Signature course within the «PGA Golf Club Coyote Springs» in the middle of coyote springs, nevada. it has won a slew «Best New Course» awards by several golf magazines. it’s one of those elite courses in the world where you need to use a caddie (not a cart) if you go out before noon. now if you go to their web site, you see that coyote springs is probably the NEWEST community in nevada. it seems to have just popped up there. you see pictures of retirees and read about the schools going up in the area which should invariably attract young parents. there’s fiber optic technology and emergency health care services as well as outdoor recreation. now this is all real odd because the population of coyote springs is zero. the population within an hour’s drive of coyote springs is zero. the address of the course i think is the mile # along the interstate… all the employees of The Chase (and there are DARNED FEW OF THOSE) have to commute from Vegas, over an hour away.
now i’m giving the place four stars for two reasons: 1. the course is exceptional and 2. a friend of a friend is the pro there and he seemed like a standup-​nice guy. but man, the place has a line of negatives. leading the way is the fact that the clubhouse hasn’t been built yet. can you say: «no food, no drinks, nothing.» well, they do give away energy bars and bottles of water and stuff like that but no sandwiches or real food. our driver had to drive 45 minutes each way to go get us sandwiches for lunch while we played.
positives: the course itself is amazing. it’s everything you’d want in a championship-​caliber, professional-​level course. it’s long. it’s manicured. greens, tee boxes, fairways, roughes … everything is incredible. views are amazing. but really… unless you’re a 10 handicap or less, the course is just really too tough. the fairways aren’t even flat. the greens are never flat either. the flags are always behind (and usually in front of) obstacles like traps and water, making it all but suicide to aim straight for them.
the biggest negative though, by far, is location. why put it 65 miles from vegas? that’s just a wee bit too far. there was a lot of open land between vegas and coyote springs that they could have taken advantage of but didn’t. the signage on the course is non-​existant so you need to find your own way around. they don’t have enough marshalls nor cart-​girls to provide adequate services while your playing or before or after. so if you’re a golfing NUT that just needs to play the newest championship-​level courses in the country, then i would say go right now, it’ll be worth it to say you’re one of the first to play here. but barring that, stay away till they are finished with the signage, the clubhouse, and hired a cart-​girl.