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.