The Wynn golf course is located right behind Wynn Las Vegas and Encore at 3131 Las Vegas Boulevard South, and it is currently the only golf course existing in the actual Strip. Designed by Tom Fazio, it has been around since 2005 but has already gone through the process of being demolished and reconstructed again; the course was rebuilt in late 2017 and reopened on October 11, 2019 as an entirely new course with eight new holes. It has a par of 70 and measures 6,722 yards, and the greens fees range from $550 to over $800.
This is the quick version of the story, while the full one is way more interesting since this particular golf course came very close to being turned into a convention center, and this is precisely the kind of story that will give you an idea of what playing there is like, to play.
The quick version
| What you want to know | The answer |
|---|---|
| Where it is | Behind Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd South, entered through the resort |
| Par and length | Par 70, 6,722 yards from the black tees, course rating 71.1 and slope 119 |
| Who designed it | Tom Fazio drew the 2005 original and came back with his son Logan for the 2019 rebuild |
| What it costs | Roughly $550 at the low end, more than $800 in peak season, with caddie gratuity on top |
| How far ahead to book | Ninety days if you are staying at Wynn or Encore, thirty days if you are not |
| Who to call | The golf concierge at 702-770-4653 |
| The thing people remember | A par-3 closing hole played into a green that sits under a waterfall three stories tall |
| Why it matters | Every other Strip course is gone, so this is the only round you can walk to from your room |
Why there is still a golf course on the Strip at all
Golf appeared on this slice of desert long before practically anything else. In 1952, the Desert Inn laid out its course, at a time when the Strip had yet to become much beyond a two-lane road, and a few low-rise buildings lining the street. This course witnessed the development of the city around it, and became the site of the Tournament of Champions for fifty years.
The Desert Inn was acquired by Steve Wynn in 2000, shut down, and demolished. However, the golf course remained intact. By 2005, the opening year of Wynn Las Vegas, Tom Fazio managed to transform the old Desert Inn grounds into a private golf course, with an artificial mountain that concealed the whole thing from Las Vegas Boulevard.
But the math didn’t add up very well. The value per square foot of land on the Strip is extraordinary, and a golf course covering 130 acres of valuable land and yielding only a few hundred rounds per week is not the way to maximize the value. In 2017, the company announced its plan to demolish the course and turn the land into a lagoon and convention center complex dubbed Paradise Park. The course closed down in December of that year, and demolition began.
But in early 2018, Steve Wynn exited the company, and the new management looked at the land and made a completely different decision. The convention center concept shrunk back to a typical expansion of another piece of land, and the golf course was saved from demolition mid-destruction. Fazio was called back to complete the accidental renovation.
This is why the course you play today is not the course people describe in older reviews. Ten holes were rebuilt and eight were constructed from nothing. If a write-up predates late 2019, treat its hole descriptions as history.
What the 2019 rebuild actually changed
This time, Fazio had the help of his son, Logan, and the numbers tell the story. More than 400,000 cubic yards of dirt was moved around, and more than 8,000 trees planted. Three lakes were excavated and now there is water action on 12 of the 18 holes. In its placement behind a casino, it is an impressive place.
There have been some changes to the routing that will be obvious to any repeat visitors to the course. First up, the par-4 first hole now bends to the right and is less intimidating out of the gate. The old par-4 18th is now a par 3 and this alone reduces the par of the course from 71 down to 70. Photographically it is an improvement but it makes the round finish weaker.
Greens have grown in size by about 300 square feet and the surrounding land now features collection areas as opposed to the thick rough that once defined the area. This creates the opportunity for more greenside putts and gives you more opportunities to save par on holes when you miss greens.
The scorecard, tee by tee
| Tee set | Yardage | Rating | Slope | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 6,722 | 71.1 | 119 | Low handicaps and anyone who hits a driver 260 or better |
| Gold | 6,272 | Varies | Varies | The honest choice for most mid-handicap men, and the set most guests should take |
| Platinum | 5,868 | Varies | Varies | Seniors, higher handicaps, and anyone playing for fun rather than a number |
| Bronze | 4,810 | Varies | Varies | Forward tees, suited to beginners and players with slower swing speeds |
This is composed of six par 3s, four par 5s, and eight par 4s, along with three short holes and two long holes per nine holes. That is certainly an odd combination, which influences your play significantly. You play less drivers and more mid-irons than usual, which means that a player who can play 150 to 190 yards from the middle well will do much better here than his handicap suggests, whereas the “bomber” who cannot handle 7-iron shot will struggle.
Slope of 119 from the back tees is a hint that this course is not as tough as you think before paying. This is a great looking course with some definite challenges for particular shots, but it is not going to humiliate you. This is a course designed by Fazio after all.
The holes people talk about
The 18th, a par 3 under the waterfall
The last hole covers 249 yards from the rear tee box and finishes at a green positioned below a waterfall that stands 35 feet high and roughly 100 feet wide. If you are hitting from the front tees, it will be a wedge; if you are playing from the back tees, it will be a long iron or a hybrid towards a green with water pouring down behind it and the resort towers rising above it.
It is one of the strangest finishing holes imaginable. Conventional wisdom says a par 3 is a poor finisher; and conventional wisdom is correct when it comes to competition. This hole, however, was never intended for use in competition. It was built in such a way that the last swing you make in Las Vegas will stick with you. Remember, and on that measure it works completely.
The 16th, a 486-yard par 4
This is the hole that is going to make the difference in deciding whether you are going to make the grade. At 486 yards, it is longer than two of the par fives, and it comes to you toward the end when you have tired of swinging and the desert has gotten to you. Getting out there in three and making bogey is an absolutely reasonable way to play this hole.
The opening stretch
The course’s re-routed opening and its ensuing holes were designed to calm you down. The openings provided by Fazio for the early holes are large, and he did not try to hide the hazards. Should you manage to birdie at this course, you will likely do it within the first six holes; therefore, you must not be distracted by the architecture.
What it costs to play
| What you are paying for | Roughly what it runs | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Green fee, low season | From about $550 | Deep summer, when afternoon temperatures make early tee times the only sensible option |
| Green fee, peak season | Can pass $800 | Spring and fall, plus any week with a big convention in town |
| Caddie gratuity | Around $75 to $100 | Caddies are part of the experience here, and the tip is expected rather than optional |
| Rental clubs | Usually bundled in | Confirm when you book, because what is included moves around by season and rate |
| Nevada resident rate | There is not one | Locals pay the same as visitors, which is unusual for the valley |
No one plays here due to its value in dollars per yard. You can have some really great desert golf just twenty minutes from the Strip for a third of that price. The deal is not about getting a golf course, but rather an opportunity to have breakfast in your hotel room and then take a few steps and tee off on a Fazio golf course without leaving the hotel.
Booking a tee time without getting shut out
| Who you are | Booking window | How to play it |
|---|---|---|
| Wynn or Encore guest | Ninety days out | Book the round when you book the room, not after you arrive |
| Staying elsewhere | Thirty days out | Set a reminder for the day the window opens and call early that morning |
| Deciding last minute | Same week, sometimes | Call the concierge and ask about afternoon singles, which open up more often than people expect |
| Playing as a group | As early as possible | Foursomes at good times go first, so a group of eight should be calling months ahead |
The number: 702-770-4653. The tee sheet times are brief due to the fact that the course caters to a resort as opposed to being a public course, and mornings during March and October are very fast. Afternoons during shoulder season are the weakness in the tee sheet times if one is flexible.
Caddies, dress code, and the parts nobody mentions
The caddie service consists of PGA members only, and using one is almost the norm, not a luxury. On a course that you’ve never played before, with hidden lines and collection zones where balls take you off the beaten track, a caddie is several strokes and much guessing work saved. Allocate money for tipping as part of your game, not a tip on top.
Dress code is pretty much what you would expect and is applied politely, yet strictly. Collar shirt, golf pants or shorts that go down to the mid-thigh, soft spikes – no jeans, etc. The pro-shop will sell you whatever you need, and the prices are those of a regular pro-shop.
Practice grounds are adequate but not extensive: putting green of about 6,500 square foot and a practice range enclosed with a netting, which is pretty much what you get in a resort-type golf course surrounded by hotel buildings on all sides. Greens are Dominator bent grass, more tolerant of heat compared to old varieties, over Bermuda fairways that are over-seeded with rye for the colder season. So practically speaking, it’s firm, true greens throughout the year, and faster than usual fairways in the cold season.
How it compares to the rest of Las Vegas golf
| Course | Drive from the Strip | Rough green fee | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wynn Golf Club | None, it is on the Strip | $550 and up | Convenience that no other course can match, plus the waterfall finish |
| Shadow Creek | About 25 minutes | $1,000 and up | The best course in the state and the one serious players fly in for |
| TPC Las Vegas | About 20 minutes | $200 to $300 | Real desert golf with canyon holes, and the best quality-to-price ratio near town |
| Rio Secco | About 25 minutes | $200 to $350 | Rees Jones design in the foothills, long and exposed, home of the Butch Harmon school |
| Las Vegas Paiute | About 40 minutes | $150 to $250 | Three Pete Dye courses and wide open desert, the best choice for a full golf day |
Read the table with honesty and the picture will become clear for you. If it is golf that is going to bring you to Las Vegas, go to Paiute or TPC and play there two rounds paying for one here. If it is golf as part of a tight schedule of the city and you have dinner plans and other things to do in Vegas except for playing golf, you should go to the Wynn golf course.
Is it worth the money
For the right player on the right trip, however, yes, and for a specific reason: you can tee up at eight and be swimming by twelve-thirty and never set foot inside a car. No one else along the Strip has that for you.
For the measuring stick for the comparison between courses, it is not as simple as that. Shadow Creek would be considered a better golf course than TPC Las Vegas and Wynn Golf Club is an excellent resort course that carries a premium price tag based on where it is located, and not on any inherent value in the design. A 6,722-yard, par 70 golf course with six short holes is not likely to challenge a good player like a desert course would.
The thing the course does offer, however, is something that does not come with a price tag, but that does give the course added value: the sense of weirdness. It is a course played on the most valuable land in America for gaming, where a man-made mountain 140 feet high blocks the traffic noise and the casino skyscrapers rise over your tee shots. It should not exist. It very nearly didn’t.
Final take
Book a game if you’re staying at either Wynn or Encore and are looking for a round where you’ll spend your morning rather than your day. Hire a caddie, use the golf tees instead of the black tees if your handicap is really against the black, count the 16th hole as a par 5, and reserve your cell phone for the 18th.
Skip this if you’ve traveled from across the country to Las Vegas to play golf. Your dollars stretch a lot further just twenty minutes down the freeway.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Wynn golf course open to the public?
Yes, but with a tilt toward resort guests. Anyone can book a tee time, and non-guests get a thirty-day booking window while guests of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore get ninety days. In practice that means the best times in peak season are gone before the public window opens.
What is the par and yardage at Wynn Golf Club?
Par 70, playing 6,722 yards from the black tees with a course rating of 71.1 and a slope of 119. Three other tee sets run 6,272, 5,868, and 4,810 yards. The layout has six par 3s, four par 5s, and eight par 4s.
Who designed the Wynn golf course?
Tom Fazio designed the original, which opened with the resort in 2005. He returned with his son Logan Fazio for the rebuild that reopened on October 11, 2019, in which ten holes were renovated and eight were built from scratch.
How much does it cost to play the Wynn golf course?
Green fees begin around $550 in the slower summer months and can exceed $800 at peak times in spring and fall. Caddie gratuity of roughly $75 to $100 is customary on top of that. There is no Nevada resident discount.
How do you book a tee time at Wynn Golf Club?
Call the golf concierge at 702-770-4653. Resort guests can reserve up to ninety days in advance and everyone else up to thirty days. Tee sheets are small, so calling the morning your window opens makes a real difference in March, April, October, and November.
Why did Wynn Golf Club close and then reopen?
The course closed in December 2017 so the land could become Paradise Park, a lagoon and convention complex. After Steve Wynn departed the company in early 2018, new leadership scaled the project back, and the course was rescued partway through demolition. Fazio rebuilt it and it reopened in October 2019.
How long does a round at the Wynn golf course take?
Plan on about four hours, sometimes a little less. Tee times are spaced generously because the course serves a resort rather than a high-volume public operation, so rounds here move better than most places charging a quarter of the price.
What is the waterfall hole at Wynn Golf Club?
The 18th, a par 3 reaching 249 yards from the back tees, with its green set beneath a waterfall standing 35 feet high and running roughly 100 feet wide. It was a par 4 before the 2019 rebuild, and converting it is what brought the course to par 70.
Is there a dress code at the Wynn golf course?
Yes. Collared shirt, golf pants or shorts to mid-thigh, and soft spikes. Denim is not permitted. The pro shop stocks everything you might have left at home if you turn up in the wrong clothes.
Has the Wynn golf course hosted any tournaments?
It hosted Capital One’s The Match in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the made-for-television exhibition featuring players such as Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady, and Rory McIlroy. The course also stood on ground that hosted the Tournament of Champions in the Desert Inn era.
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