Badlands Golf Club, CLOSED 2016

Badlands Golf Club -Desperado/Diablo/Outlaw, is a Resort, 27 hole golf course facility located in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Badlands Golf Club first opened for play in 1995. The courses were designed by Johnny Miller and Chi Chi Rodriguez. This resort has three nine hole courses that can be played in three eighteen hole combinations. The two original nines were the Desperado and the Diablo.

This original Desperado/Diablo Course is a desert-style layout that puts a premium on placement shots. Only ninety-five acres on this course are planted with grass. The main focus of the design centers on the natural scenery of the desert.

Generally the greens are medium-sized, but some of them are small. A lake comes into play on only one hole. All eighteen holes have their own unique characteristics. The local pro states that every hole is a signature hole. There are many grass and sand bunkers incorporated into the course's design, but very few trees.

The new nine, The Outlaw Nine, is a lot wider and funnels your shots back to the fairways.

There are four tees to choose from and the course plays up front at around 2,600 yards for each nine, up 3,500 yards for each nine from the back tees. What is more revealing are the slope ratings of the combinations of nines. The original pairing of the Desperado/Diablo has a slope rating of 122 from the men's tees and 133 from the back, while a pairing of the Desperado/Outlaw brings those slopes down to 120 and 125 respectively.

The course controls which pairing of nines you will be playing that day by your tee time. Generally speaking, an early morning tee time (before 10 a.m.) can get you the original pair to play. But as they run over 60,000 rounds a year through this facility, keeping things moving takes a solid control on what course groups are on. If you want to play the original layout be sure to call in advance.

The scenery around the course is wonderful, but it certainly was better when the course first opened in 1995 when there were no housing developments or casinos anywhere around the site. Today, Vegas has caught up and houses line the course. But if you are going to play golf in Vegas get used to this. It is a sight you will find most everywhere.

The course closed in 2016. EHB Companies, the developers behind high-end retail center Tivoli Village, has plans to close the golf course and develop lots for high-priced homes. The course was already the backdrop for the upscale Queensridge Estates  As was the case with Silverstone Golf Course that closed in 2015, proceedings between nearby residents and developers are reportedly contentious.