Thursday, October 24, 2019

3 Great Ways For Beginners To Experience Golf in Las Vegas

Golf for Beginners brings to you this Guest Post by Brian Peña @ Red Birdie Golf

Golf In Las Vegas - an Overview

Over the years Las Vegas has made a name for itself by constantly rebranding.  Whether it was catering to families in the late ’90s or transitioning itself to the adult playground where “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, Las Vegas is always going through changes.

Most recently, Las Vegas has positioned itself as a complete tourist destination by attracting visitors with incredible nightclub venues, daytime pool parties, and some of the top celebrity chefs in the world.

While understandably most people always associate Las Vegas with gambling, it has begun to position itself as an outstanding golf destination as well.  Currently, there are over seventy courses within a 30-mile radius of the Las Vegas strip, including a couple located right on the Las Vegas strip; Bali HaiGolf Club and The Wynn Golf Club.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at three of the best ways for beginners to experience golf in Las Vegas.  So if you’re ready to pack up your clubs and experience golf in Vegas, let’s get started!

Top Golf at MGM Grand

Located right behind the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas strip, Top Golf is a great way for beginners or even those haven’t even started playing, to experience golf.

Top Golf at MGM Grand - Experience Golf in Las Vegas

Although Top Golf isn’t your traditional golfing experience, it’s still a fun way to experience the game.  For those that haven’t been to a Top Golf venue, the best way to think of it is as a driving range on steroids.

You can play competitive games, enjoy some drinks, and experience golf in a non-stuffy way it’s so commonly associated with.

This approach to introducing beginners to golf seems to be working as the numbers have shown an increase in millennials starting to show an interest in the game.

Cloud 9 at Angel Park

Located about 12 miles west of the Strip is a twelve hole Par-3 golf course called Cloud 9 at Angel Park Golf.

Cloud 9 at Angel Park

Some of the holes on this course are inspired by some of the most famous par-3 holes in the world and one of the cool things about this course is that it can even be played at night.

When playing this course you definitely won’t need your driver or fairway woods but it can still be very challenging setup, especially hole #10 which is a tribute to hole #17 at TPC Sawgrass!

Royal Links Golf Club

Finally, we come to a full-length 18-hole golf course located about eight miles east of the Strip called RoyalLinks. 

Royal Links Golf Club - golf in Las Vegas

As the name implies, this isn’t your typical desert golf course setup, it’s a links-style course in the middle of the Mojave desert!

This course features holes inspired by eleven different courses in The Open Championship rotation.  In fact, hole #10 at Royal Links is inspired by the 17th hole at St Andrews or the “Road Hole”.

At this course, you have the option to use fore caddies to simulate a complete golf experience, just make sure to stay out of those pot bunkers!

Vegas Baby!

There you have it, next time you make a trip out to Sin City don’t forget your clubs and make it a complete vacation experience.  Whether you’re in Las Vegas to have a traditional golfing experience or just hitting some balls in a party-type venue like Top Golf, this city has a variety of options for the beginner golfer to enjoy the greatest game made.


More about Red Birdie Golf: Our vision is to help beginner and intermediate golfers better understand the game and inform them about the best products on the market so that they can play their best and enjoy the game to the fullest.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Tips to Speed Up a Slow Round of Golf

Tips to Speed Up a Slow Round of GolfIf the ranger has ever told your golf group to "pick up the pace", or if you are playing with one "turtle" in the foursome, this article might just help keep you on track to a four-hour round.

In golf, there is nothing worse than being stuck behind a group with empty holes ahead of them.

Your choices are slim as to what to do - you can "play through" making the group ahead wait for you to finish or you can drive past, politely letting them know that you are skipping the hole. Neither option is ideal as it throws you off of your game, interrupts your pace and may not allow for an accurate score.

If you or your group is guilty, it can throw off your timing and pace and your round will suffer. Amateurs see this problem occurring on a regular basis but it does happen within the ranks of the PGA Tour pros as well.

A Golf.com poll recently confirmed that there is a pace-of-play problem among top amateur junior golfers. Although measures are starting to be taken within the professional ranks, slow play is harder to control among average players.

Recently, Golf for Beginners offered three tips to speed up slow play on the golf course based on a recent occurrence by a tour pro. Since this hot topic is not going away any time soon, let's start by stating the pace of play rules for our readers and penalties for the infraction.

The R and A states that “The player must play without undue delay...”. The penalty for a breach of Rule 6-7 is loss of hole in match play and two strokes in stroke play, and for a repeated offense, disqualification." Depending on the number of times the infraction occurs is directly relevant to the consequences.

In addition, the R and A has come up with a possible way to monitor the infraction at the club level. "Formulate a simple condition whereby the management establishes a time limit that it considers is more than adequate for players to complete the round and/or a certain number of holes (which will vary depending on numbers in groups and form of play). In the circumstances where a group exceeds the prescribed time limit and is out of position on the course, each player in the group is subject to penalty."

Golf for Beginners offers a few tips for those who are personally guilty of slowing down the pace of play. If you are new to the game, start at a forward tee box, count your number of shots and pick up your ball and move it forward if you find yourself slowing the group.

Be considerate and you will still have fun - you will continue to learn no matter where you are on the course.

For better amateurs, the USGA suggests that golfers become, "more efficient with your valuable time, as well as everyone else’s." Make assessments before you get to your ball so you are ready to hit your shot.

Speeding up pace of play will only happen if golfers recognize the gaff and take positive action while maintaining the decorum of the game.

How do you help speed up slow play? Let us know in the comments section of this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.