Category: Mohave Valley

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Mohave Valley Northern Arizona

El Rio Country Club

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: El Rio Country Club, located in Mohave Valley, is a daily-fee course opened in 2005 as the centerpiece of a housing development in the Colorado River basin, about 25 miles south of the gambling town of Laughlin, Nevada.

The desert-style layout was created by Matt Dye, the nephew of well-known designer Pete Dye, with the intention of creating an upscale facility in an area that experienced a growth boom at the turn of the century largely due to Laughlin’s rising popularity. Yes, some of the diabolical flair for which the older Dye is known is evident in the design but overall it is a player-friendly track.

The course features wide and gently rolling fairways, undulating greens and nice mountain backdrops with water coming into play on four holes. El Rio has four sets of tees with the longest at 7,115 yards and the shortest at 5,350. From the tips, it is rated at 72.9 with a slope of 123, and golfers who move up to shorter tees will find plenty of birdie opportunities if they avoid the transition areas, which are filled with granite and natural desert landscape.

The front-9 features a strong two-hole finish with a pair of par-4 water holes; No. 8 plays just a taunting 325 yards while the 448-yard 9th demands your long game. A lake at the eighth threatens the front, right and back of the green, and at the ninth, water lurks alongside the fairway and right side of the green.

El Rio Country Club’s signature hole is the 17th, a risk-reward par-5 of 542 yards with a sweeping dogleg left, a long, narrow bunker guarding the left side of the dogleg, a narrow lake running along the left for the final 200 yards and a pond on the back-right of the green, which has a pot bunker in front.

No. 18 is a solid finisher with a 438-yard par-4 that has two bunkers on the right side of the fairway, a lake running along the left side of the fairway and green and a bunker on the back-right.

Practice facilities are very good, including a driving range, putting and chipping greens and a greenside bunker. A Spanish, mission-style clubhouse includes a bar, patio and the Terrace Restaurant, which offers a full dining menu and is situated between the ninth and 18th greens with excellent views of the nearby Spirit Mountains.

The Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” for El Rio Country Club includes their elegant patio, as well as the complete menu of food, drink, fun and frolic available along Laughlin’s casino hotel row.

Read the Arizona Golf Course Directory AZGA Golf Course Buzz for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/.

It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

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Mohave Valley Northern Arizona

Los Lagos Golf Club

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: Los Lagos Golf Club is the newest, and has quickly become one of the favorite courses in western Arizona, located nearly on exact spot where Arizona, Nevada and California converge, just south of the gambling town of Laughlin, Nevada.

The course looks out on the Mojave National Preserve, with the Black Mountains coming into view on nearly every hole. Los Lagos is at its aesthetic best in the spring when wild Gazania flowers bloom in the transition areas throughout the layout, providing an appealing contrast to native grasses and other vegetation.

Los Lagos was designed by Ted Robinson, who is known for creating water park-themed courses, so it’s no surprise that Los Lagos (Spanish for “the lakes”) is defined by its water features. All that water comes into play on seven holes and natural-terrain waste bunkers complicate several others.

The course opened in 2008 and has four sets of tees, ranging from 4,804 to 6,804 yards, with a rating of 71.5 and slope of 126 from the back tees. The water can be daunting, but the overall layout is player friendly, with plenty of birdie opportunities for golfers who play the game strategically.

The signature hole is the 11th, a 561-yard uphill par 5, where you must negotiate two lakes. Boundary Cone Mountain, which serves as a boundary marker for Mojave Valley, provides a backdrop for the green on this risk-reward hole.

No. 18 provides a memorable finish with a 446-yard par 4 that plays downhill, but to an elevated green. A creek cuts across the fairway about 280 yards from the tee, forcing a club selection choice on the tee shot, and the largest lake on the course runs down the right side of the fairway, starting about 100 yards out from the green.

Los Lagos has excellent practice facilities, with a driving range, putting and chipping greens and bunkers. A 9,000-square-foot clubhouse, built in 2010, includes a full-service restaurant, outdoor patio and banquet facilities.

The Arizona Golf Authority AZGA “Local Hang” for Los Lagos includes their spacious patio, as well as the complete menu of food, drink, fun and frolic available along Laughlin’s casino hotel row.

Read the Arizona Golf Course Directory AZGA Buzz for every golf course in Arizona at www.arizonagolfauthority.com/coursedirectory/; it’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

Categories
Bullhead City Mohave Valley Northern Arizona

Desert Lakes Golf Course

Arizona Golf Authority AZGA Golf Course Buzz: Desert Lakes is one of four courses in the immediate vicinity of Fort Mohave, Bullhead City, and Laughlin, Nevada. The area has a rich territorial history and has undergone significant growth in recent years, due largely to the expansion of the casino hotels in Laughlin, located on the Nevada side of the Colorado river. The river flows through the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, a parcel that covers 42,000 acres in Arizona, Nevada and California where the three states intersect.

Desert Lakes, which opened in 1989, was designed by the father-son team of Bob E. Baldock and Robert L. Baldock, who were prominent course architects in the Southwest. The layout is characterized by narrow, undulating fairways, medium-sized greens, three lakes and some nice views of surrounding mountains. It has three sets of tees at 6,569, 6,267 and 5,440 yards.

The par-72 layout is rated at 70.5 with a slope of 119, which suggests plenty of birdie opportunities and that is the case. All of the par-5s are reachable in two shots, with the third hole, at 525 yards from the back tee, being the longest on the course.

The par 3s offer varying distances of 190, 163, 169 and 210 yards. One unusual feature is that the first hole, a par 4 of 421 yards, is the No. 1 handicap hole.

Highlights of the course are the ninth and 18th holes, with water coming into play on both. No. 9 is a 410-yard par 4 with a lake guarding the left side of the green and end of the fairway. The 18th is a good finishing hole, a 510-yard par 5 with lakes squeezing both sides of the fairway on a dogleg left.

Other amenities at Desert Lakes, which is managed by Eagle Golf, include a driving range, practice green and snack shop. Its relatively flat terrain makes this an easily walkable course. There are two casinos on the reservation and plenty more in nearby Laughlin.

Significant history in this locale includes – the surrounding area was established as Camp Colorado in 1859, abandoned by the Union Army two years later for fear of Confederate forces in the area, and subsequently re-garrisoned in 1863 to protect travelers and cultivate friendly relations with Indian tribes. The fort was turned over to the Indian Service in 1890 and later became part of the reservation.