SouthShore Country Club, Nevada
The scenic tee shot at the par five eleventh hole at SouthShore Country Club in Henderson, Nevada.
If you are a loyal follower of my newsletter, you might know my family just welcomed our second child into the world. He is our first son, and we are beyond elated to have him here. He and his mother are happy and healthy.
Two months ago, before the official travel cutoff time issued by my wife’s obstetrician, we decided to indulge in what us millenials evidently call a “babymoon”. We selected Las Vegas, Nevada as our destination. Since we were already in Phoenix at the time, a forty-minute flight is all it took to land in Sin City. We had a wonderful time on the Las Vegas Strip, staying at and attending a Cirque du Soleil show at The Bellagio. Neither my wife nor I are gamblers, so we said sayonara to the tables after the first Benjamin Franklin disappeared from our pockets. We walked through shops and casinos and took in the most interesting sliver of the entertainment world.
Nevada as a golf state is relatively rich. The public giants of the state are Shadow Creek, playable for a thousand dollars if you’re a guest of MGM; Wolf Creek, a fantasy golf calendar come to life; Wynn, home of the Netflix Cup; and Cascata, a member of Golf Digest’s top 100 public list. There are many notable private courses as well, like Summit Club, Southern Highlands, and Clear Creek up near Lake Tahoe.
When deciding where to play around the Sin City area, I came upon SouthShore Country Club. SouthShore is a private Jack Nicklaus design at Lake Las Vegas, a developed area twenty minutes east of the city. It has been regarded as one of the best golf courses in Nevada by many trusted publications. Golf Digest has it listed ninth, GolfWeek hails it fifth among private courses in Nevada, and Top100GolfCourses slots it sixth overall in the state.
The atmosphere of the place is warm and friendly. The golf shop attendant helped me select lefty rental clubs and pointed us out to the driving range. We were hosted by Colin, a great guy who logs hundreds of rounds at SouthShore year after year, and one of his friends. Colin asked us if it was all right that his dog Oliver joined us on our loop. My wife and I’s jaws dropped. That dogs are not just allowed but encouraged by members to join them on their rounds is a unique touch. It was a blast to have little Oliver along for the eighteen-hole journey. On the tenth tee box, a friend of Colin’s—and his dog—drove by in a cart, and my host encourage them to play the back nine with us. It took the man all of two seconds to accept the offer.
We played the blue tees, which stretch to 6524 yards and play at a 72.5 rating with a 149 slope. Nearing eight months into her pregnancy, my wife understandably opted not to play. To say the golf course at SouthShore is great is to underestimate. I really enjoyed the diversity of holes and utilization of water hazards and fairway bunkers. I have played plenty of desert golf in Arizona in my life, but SouthShore just felt a little different. The variety was stellar, both in the golf holes and the terrain of the property. Conditioning was superb, and I wouldn’t be surprised to know the greens were rolling at an eleven on the stimpmeter the day we played.
From the get-go, the downhill par five first gives you a taste of what to expect at SouthShore. Vistas are stunning here, and you’ll never get tired of them. Another favorite on the front for me was the par three fourth, a 177-yard hole over water and an attractive rock cropping. I plunked my tee ball in the water and went up and down from the drop area, sinking a 15-footer for my best bogey of the day. I also enjoyed the uphill par four ninth, a hole that perfectly rewards and punishes with its bunkers.
The front nine is a worthy experience, but the back nine takes the golf course to a different level. The fourteenth is a gorgeous downhill par three over a pond with two of the most penal bunkers you’ll encounter. I learned this fact the hard way, striking my ball in the back bunker and flipping one back over the hole and into the water for a double bogey. A sign just before the fifteenth tee alerts you the final four are among the most scenic Jack Nicklaus holes in the world. Boy, are they right. The fifteenth is an uphill dogleg left par four with a postcard backdrop dotted by dozens of palm trees, an active waterfall, and the overarching mountains. The sixteenth is a beautiful 205-yard par three, all carry over a dramatic desert canyon. The penultimate hole is a swinging dogleg right par four that can be reached by the longest of hitters. The tee shot is completely blind, so I am glad Colin was there to direct me. The eighteenth is also a dogleg right up against a mountain cut from the same mold as seventeen. Views of the Lake Las Vegas area are awesome during the closing stretch.
There are many homes on the golf course, which can sometimes takes away from the experience. Although it is fun to hear the members utter things like, “There’s Celine Dion’s home”, or “that one just went on the market for eight million”. Only in Las Vegas. Also, if you were playing SouthShore unaccompanied you may not know where to hit your final two tee shots. There’s a lot of red and brown rock to cover.
Regardless, SouthShore Country Club was an absolute delight to play, and not just because of the stunning golf course. Colin and his friends gave us the impression that this is a club you’d want to bring your buddies, and the whole family for that matter. Watching this made my wife and I realize that’s something we want in our future, and that is the highest compliment I can give. If you receive an invitation to this spot, go out of your way to make a round happen. You’ll be glad you gave scenic SouthShore a spot.