In our day and age it is unusual to find a golf course that plays short. Every course that opens has huge greens and competes to be the longest and toughest. Shot making has fallen to the wayside as muscle and distance take center stage.

During the late 50's and early 60's, golf was played much differently than what we are used to in the new century. Golf courses relied on small greens and on the shaping of shots to test the skills of the golfer. This can be seen in the layout of Black Mountain Country Club. This golf course is located in Henderson, Nevada. There are 27 holes located at this facility. The original nine, the Founders, was built in 1957.

A short time later in 1963 the Horizon nine opened for play. This is the third oldest golf course in Las Vegas. Don't expect to find the dramatic vistas or canyons you might expect from a desert style golf course. This golf course has small greens and will require some good shot-making to score well.

Don't let the length of this golf course fool you. At only 6,600 yards from the longest tee, it will never win a length contest. Sometimes when you play golf there is no need to challenge yourself to the max on every shot. This more relaxed pace is exactly what you will get at Black Mountain Country Club.

Many of the younger players have never seen a persimmon wood let alone hit one in play. Playing this golf course leads you to think back to a time when persimmon was the top-dog in the market. This is the same type of course that was typically played by golf legends Palmer, Nicklaus and Snead. During that time the ball didn't travel as far as today and a greater emphasis was placed on ball striking.

One unique feature of the golf course is the lack of fairway bunkers. There are several bunkers around the greens, but fairway bunkers are few and far between.

A hole that is typical of the style of the course is the short par-4 7th hole. Measuring just slightly over 300 yards, this uphill hole is a great chance to make a birdie. The small green is guarded by a single bunker located in the front of the green. Although the course may be short, the greens are extremely small. Often they will have a slope that will feed your ball off the green if you hit an errant shot. On the plus side, if you hit the middle of the green you can be sure you are relatively close to the hole.

This golf course is fairly straightforward. There are no blind shots. The par-5 18th is a great hole to take advantage of. This short par-5 measures only 480 yards from the back tee. A well placed tee shot will leave you around 200 yards into a small green. Take the chance and try to hit this green in 2 shots. You will be happy with the birdie.

The course was in fairly decent condition. Don't expect to find tour conditions on this golf course. The budget, I'm sure, doesn't allow it. The greens were fairly smooth and were deceptively quick. I never had a bad lie in the lush fairways.

Overall this was a great experience. It is nice once in a while to play a course that isn't overly long and sometimes tough to reach the par-4's in regulation. If you are looking for a relaxed time head out to Black Mountain Country Club and relive some of your memories from the golden age of golf.

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