Yesterday morning, my weekend golf partner and I played the Arroyo course at Red Rock Country Club. We had an early morning tee time (8:10am) and the weather on the west side of the Las Vegas valley w... Continue »

Yesterday morning, my weekend golf partner and I played the Arroyo course at Red Rock Country Club. We had an early morning tee time (8:10am) and the weather on the west side of the Las Vegas valley was a little cold (40 degrees) with a sustained wind.

As always, the outside services staff was very friendly and had the groups moving ahead of the schedule. The foursome ahead of us had a member running behind so we did not tee off early, but we were on time. The first few holes were slow since we played as a threesome and we typically play fast, but eventually the rangers helped push along some of the slower groups. By the back-9 we were playing close to our normal pace and finished the round in less than 4 hours (always a good thing).

The course was generally in very good shape. The tee boxes and fairways were completely filled in and the greens were smooth. There was some variability in the speed from one green to another, but this could have been due to the earlier tee time and the wind throughout different parts of the course. The good news is that most of the course was open to carts, which is not always the case on the Arroyo course. There were a couple places roped off, including the first half of the fairway on 18, but other than that the course was very accessible. There was one bunker on 18 that is under construction and was marked as GUR, but this did not affect any of the players in our group. According to one of the staff members, the bunker is being reduced to build a better walkway from the cart path to the green.

Overall, playing at Arroyo is a very enjoyable experience and they offer good rates for locals or Player Card members. I recommend playing the blue tees at 5,904 yards instead of the black tees, which are 6,433. This may seem too short for a player with a handicap under 20, but it makes for a much more rewarding round and it helps maintain a good pace of play.