Arthur Hills has designed several courses that each year are ranked among the Top 100 Courses in the United States. The most notable stand outs on this list are the TPC at Eagle Trace and the Golf Club of Georgia. Arthur Hills has only designed one course to date in Nevada. The Legacy Golf Club has been known as one of the best golf courses in the city since it opened in 1989.

The Legacy Golf Club is located in Henderson, Nevada, about 20-25 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip. The golf course is surrounded by an upscale housing development. In addition to the golf course this facility features an extensive practice area. There is a huge practice putting green, generous chipping area and large driving range. I arrived early to the golf course and was able to hit some balls to warm up.

It is important to arrive early to warm up for this golf course. The first hole is a long par-4 with a small green. There are dangers on both sides of the fairway. The right side is guarded by homes and the left side is home to the driving range. Accuracy is extremely important in order to get your round off on the right foot.

Typical of many Arthur Hills designs you will find lots of undulations and dual levels in the fairways. A perfect example of this is the 7th hole. This long par-4 features a raised fairway about 240 yards off the tee. The decision will need to made to lay up or try and fly it up to the second fairway. The second fairway is about 6 feet above the first and will require a good tee shot to land on this fairway. After finding the fairway you will have a mid-iron into a medium sized green.

It is important to check the position of the flagstick. Many of this greens are very large and undulating. Hitting the ball into the wrong place on the green can make for an easy 3-putt. The back nine starts off with the signature tee boxes of the course. These four tees are in the shape of the four suits of cards found in a deck. Spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds are all represented on this tee. It is a unique way to incorporate the Las Vegas theme into the golf course. The tees are part of this par-3 hole. Measuring only 193 yards from the back tee, the front of the green is guarded by a waste area and bunkers. Be sure to hit you ball to the middle of the green.

Several holes on the back nine stand out in my mind. The first is the par-4 13th hole. Although this hole is short it requires some thought to make a good score. The view from the tee is deceptive and appears more narrow than it actually is. Depending on the wind conditions you will only need an iron or perhaps a 5 wood off the tee. This will put you in perfect shape to attack the pin on this small green. Be careful when you are hitting your approach shot as the green has a desert area that will gobble up and balls hit to the left.

One of the longest par-4's on the golf course is the 471 yard 16th hole. From the tee you are required to hit a long tee shot just to find the fairway. Once in the fairway it will be the luck of the draw if you can get a flat lie. This fairway has some of the most undulations of any on the golf course. Once again you will have a long iron or wood into a small green. Arthur Hills really wanted to test the stamina of the golfer toward the end of the round.

The golf course was in tremendous condition. The greens were a little slow for my taste but they were smooth and consistent. The fairways and tees were in pristine condition. The only concern I had about the golf course on this day was the construction that was going on. The Legacy Golf Club is currently undertaking a turf reduction program. This will eliminate about 50 acres of grass from the golf course and replace it with desert landscape. With the shortage of water we have in Las Vegas this process is necessary for many of the golf courses.

From the early stages of this process it looks like the changes to the golf course will be great. It will turn this wall to wall grass golf course into a more desert style golf course. At the same time it will conserve one of the most precious commodities we have in the desert, Water.

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