Needed to get a quick round in before hitting the road back to my lair and teed up at Desert Willow. Course is in very good shape. I would imagine they get a ton of play. Pace was excellent. The two n... Continue »

Needed to get a quick round in before hitting the road back to my lair and teed up at Desert Willow. Course is in very good shape. I would imagine they get a ton of play. Pace was excellent. The two nice gents I played with mentioned how we were flying around the course. Greens were a bit dry and quick but if you want to stem your losses in the casinos for a few hours I could not imagine a better place to do it than this.

I played here yesterday as the first stop on my GK Vegas weekend. I had time only for a short course. I've read nice things about this course and the location was ideal. Upon arrival, though, I made t... Continue »

I played here yesterday as the first stop on my GK Vegas weekend. I had time only for a short course. I've read nice things about this course and the location was ideal. Upon arrival, though, I made the awful discovery that I had left my putter at home. Luckily, I found an old putter for $5 in the pro shop so all was ok.

The staff was super friendly and sent me out 45 min early, paired with a nice twosome. I didn't have time to warm up but they do have a nice range, putting green and chipping area.

The course was very impressive. It's an executive course with 6 par 4s and 12 par 3s. There are plenty of mounds, swales and elevated greens to keep things interesting. There are also a couple of carries over water to the green.

The conditions were excellent. Everything was lush and emerald green. The tee boxes were in surprisingly good shape- level and with not too many divots. The greens were not super firm but they were super fast making putting a challenge with my unfamiliar putter.

There are quite a few bunkers. There are 3 that I remember that are extremely long, curvy-shaped and have a stone wall along the back. The sand is bright white and sparkly but very coarse and a bit crusty. My wedge probably has a few more scratches now.

The carts have ice chests and the beverage cart came by 3 times. POP was great at just under 3 hours. I would definitely play here again. Highly recommended.

So I was sitting in my home office and got bored of working, so I looked outside and decided that I had had enough. I went golfing.

Played 18, $30 and did it in 2 1/2 hours.

Carts are reall... Continue »

So I was sitting in my home office and got bored of working, so I looked outside and decided that I had had enough. I went golfing.

Played 18, $30 and did it in 2 1/2 hours.

Carts are really strong, no GPS or audio, but it did have a USB charging port.

The course was in great shape. Greens were nice and in fantastic condition.

For those that have been here, they took down the "Alley for Shrubbery" that would intimidate anyone on the 6th hole. If you didn't hit straight, you wouldn't make it out of the tee box. So, rest easy, THEY ARE GONE.

All said, great little course. $30, work on your short game and play in 2.5 hours??? It's a no brainer.

This Desert Willow is an executive course (par 60) in far southeast Henderson, is part of the Sun City McDonald Ranch community, with views of the mansions overlooking DragonRidge.

Famed02 handled ... Continue »

This Desert Willow is an executive course (par 60) in far southeast Henderson, is part of the Sun City McDonald Ranch community, with views of the mansions overlooking DragonRidge.

Famed02 handled the check-in, but the outside staff we dealt with were friendly and helpful. The starter switched up the order to allow us as a 2 to go out ahead of a 4. You would think that's common sense thinking but it rarely happens. Drink cart was around about 4-5 times.

Course has a large driving range, with mats during the week and grass on Friday-Sunday. They have a pretty big putting green with elevation changes and a short game area set up for 75 yards and in and bunkers.

The greens are the stars of the course. Firm and fast, and glass like smooth. They were tricky to read, breaks that don't break and breaks you can't see. Fairways were ultra-lush. The bunkers looked great, but had about 2 inches of loose sand on top. The tee boxes were the weak spot but expected for a short course with 12 par 3s. There were many set near the edge causing some uneven stances.

If I lived within 20 minutes of here, I would probably be here 5 of 7 days. Excellent facilities and the opportunity to get in a fast round. We played in just over 2 1/2 hours, and that was waiting on the first 6 holes before they let us pass. The course is wide with plenty of elevation changes. Driver can be easily used on 5 of 6 par 4s, and you can gamble with it on 18 with a thin landing area and water on the right. Houses are along the left of most holes but are non factors. Water comes into play on 3 and some local knowledge is needed to know where.

Played Desert Willow 10/23/20 on a calm and stunning Friday afternoon. First off, if you read a lot of reviews from places like GolfNow, you might read that the customer service was poor and the start... Continue »

Played Desert Willow 10/23/20 on a calm and stunning Friday afternoon. First off, if you read a lot of reviews from places like GolfNow, you might read that the customer service was poor and the starter was rude. I found this to be completely false. Everyone, from the moment I walked in the clubhouse to the starter, the clubhouse guys, and the guys on the range were all so nice and helpful. As I was warming up on the range, a member was hitting next to me. We started talking about the course and he said, the guy who takes care of the courses greens is some sort of legend in Vegas. He claimed the greens were the best in the entire valley. I gotta say, he wasn't wrong, those greens are absolutely perfect and fast. As a person who loves the executive and shorter courses, this was one of the best I have played. The greens are perfect, the fairways and rough are in really good shape, the only knock is the Tee boxes which felt extremely tight. I would play here again in a heartbeat. You cannot beat the value, and supposedly in the summer you can play for under $20. If you go here, just remember that this is a 55+ community that takes pride in their course, homes, and community center. They don't want no shenanigans or malarkey as the starter said. If you are playing in a tournament or a really tough Vegas course, I would use this place as a warmup round.

Played on 2/3/19 Desert Willow is an executive course that is connected to a 55+ community. Bag drop is just that, drop your bag, park your car and then carry your bag through the community center. ... Continue »

Played on 2/3/19 Desert Willow is an executive course that is connected to a 55+ community. Bag drop is just that, drop your bag, park your car and then carry your bag through the community center. The restaurant is decent, slot machines at the bar and quite a selection of beers on draft. The breakfast burrito is simple and easy to go. Check in is simple, and they DO OFFER A JUNIOR RATE of $15. The golf carts didn't have GPS or USB chargers. Coolers were available. The 2 longest holes are 300 plus from the tips, which is what we played. The two shortest holes were 125ish. This course is really nice to work on your short game and because my daughter is going, it isn't very difficult. There are several really nice holes where water is involved and you have to go over them in order to get onto the green. The course was in great shape ALL THE WAY AROUND. The greens ran true to stroke and were well taken care of. There were some patches that were missing grass, however, it looks like they seeded them and the grass was coming back. You really had to look in order to notice. Because we played from the tips, the tee boxes were perfect and because they are long boxes as well as having several tee options, they are in good shape. Three of us played in 3:15 minutes and we were being pushed as well as pushing those in front of us. The foursome that was again of the threesome ahead of us, was taking their time and it looked as if two of them were learning to play, so they were slow. Be careful, because hitting into someone is VERY EASY on this course. Especially if you try to get on the green every time. lol. The holes are separated well enough that a shank isn't going to be too dangerous, for you, but if you do, the ball can be found. Not an every week course, but every now and then its fun to play.

I was in search of somewhere to play early, cheap and quick while on a post-Christmas Las Vegas family vacation, so I chose a $28 GolfNow Hot Deal for 7:30 Thursday morning. The other 3 spots were sti... Continue »

I was in search of somewhere to play early, cheap and quick while on a post-Christmas Las Vegas family vacation, so I chose a $28 GolfNow Hot Deal for 7:30 Thursday morning. The other 3 spots were still available as of the night before, so I sort of expected the course to be empty, but it turns out there's a large member shotgun every morning. They originally said I'd start on No. 1, but then moved me to No. 2. Staff was all friendly and welcoming. I had the course to myself for about 3 or 4 holes, but then caught the members ahead and pace slowed considerably. Total POP for this executive course was still good at a little under 3:00. Weather was beautiful clear skies, bright sun and chilly in the low 40s to start. Right before the shotgun start, it was announced the course would be Cart Path Only until 8:30. (I called the previous day to inquire about frost delays, and they said they don't do them here. They just do CPO if there's frost. ???)

Conditions are quite good, but not as pure lush green as in sixpez's photos above. Greens were smooth, medium-fast to fast and held full shots well. For a senior-oriented executive course, there's a surprising amount of slope on some greens out here. (I four-putted one.) Full shots stopped quickly but it was difficult to control shorter shots around the green. Fairways and rough were both quite nice. I wasn't in a bunker but they looked good. Tee boxes were decent but several were a little lumpy.

There's a mix of some nice holes out here and some boring ones, too. Pretty good variety of hole lengths, although the six par 4s are all in the 320-350 range. Some minor elevation changes in spots, which is nice. The 15th tee offers views of The Strip, which is cool. Also, it seems like this course is almost always in pretty good to great condition. Overall, not a bad option when budget or time constraints are an issue.

Here's my Flickr photo album of 24 photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHsktNQEpQ