The Wolf at Paiute
The Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort is a short twenty five mile drive from the Las Vegas Strip. It is a short distance but a drastic change from the man-made concrete jungle that is Las Vegas. The property lies in a barren desert land between the Sheep and Spring mountain ranges. Driving in, it was hard to picture we were about to step foot onto a fifty-four hole property given the barren dry canvas of the landscape. The property itself is owned and operated by the Last Vegas Paiute Tribe and was the first multi-course site built on American Indian tribal land. The entire property is very well kept and includes a sizeable practice facility and clubhouse. No homes or residential properties border any of the courses or are in visual proximity of the property. The dollar figure on the monthly water bill did cross my mind to keep three desert courses looking good and I could imagine it’s a pretty penny for course upkeep. Paiute is home to three courses: Snow Mountain, Sun Mountain and The Wolf, with the latter two being the more highly ranked courses. Pete Dye and his son were tapped for all three course designs. Greens fees will run you anywhere from $89 to $289 depending on the time of year as well as time of day you tee off. Get your best value by planning to play two courses in the same day.
Just a short drive from the Las Vegas strip, The Wolf has expansive fairways with desert and mountain views
We had the opportunity to play The Wolf Course on our day at Paiute which is considered the signature of the three on-site courses. The Wolf broadcasts itself as the longest course in Nevada playing a whopping 7,604 yards with a slope rating of 140 from the very back tournament tees. It comes in at number fifteen on top100golfcourse.com rankings for the state of Nevada. Snow Mountain and Sun Mountain come in at number twenty-five and twenty-seven on the list, respectfully. The course plays as a classic desert design with fairly wide fairways, a handful of water hazards, combined with the classic desert sand mix you want to avoid once you get past the rough. While I was not playing my best season of golf at the time, a good number of the fairways are wide enough to where the desert landscape should not come into play too often. “Should” in the context of golf is an interesting word choice. With the flat exposed desert landscape wind can become a major issue and cause major havoc on some of the holes requiring water clearance.
Signature Hole: 15th Par 3, 138 Yards*
*Yardage from yellow tees
There’s no disputing that the fifteenth is a spitting replica of the famous seventeenth island green at TPC Sawgrass. Pete Dye created a very difficult and intimidating golf hole for the signature hole of The Wolf. Anything not on the green is likely going to be wet unless you hit a major hook or slice. The wind also plays as an added factor here; on the day we played there was a strong cross wind making the hole that much more difficult. The pressure of playing a hole like this really kicks up once you are on the box. Though I have never seen the island green at TPC Sawgrass in person, it is interesting to note the tips there play 138 yards vs. 182 from the back tees at Paiute. I hope to fare better when or if my time comes to play Sawgrass.
Pete Dye took a page from TPC Sawgrass for the signature hole on the Wolf Course
In Summary: While The Wolf won’t appear on the short list for Pete Dye famous course designs, it’s a fun desert course and Paiute itself is a great golf facility and worth checking out if you are planning golf around the Las Vegas area. With that being said, I wouldn’t plan a trip just around this one facility. The fifteenth hole is a standout one, but the hole variety and memorability seems to lack behind that outside of the island green par three.
Course Rating: B-