Where to Play Golf Near the Las Vegas Strip

Staying in a tower on the Strip and want to play golf near the Las Vegas Strip without losing half a day to the car? You have real options inside fifteen minutes of your hotel, and two of them sit on Las Vegas Boulevard itself. What surprises most visitors is the spread. The same city that takes $500-plus off you for a resort round keeps a historic parkland course open for a fraction of that. This guide sorts the golf courses near the Strip by distance, access, and vibe. Match the course to the trip you are actually taking, not to whichever tee time the booking engine puts in front of you first.

How we report this: Everything here is built from published course data, operator information, and player reviews. It is not a first-hand round at each course on the same trip, and we would rather say so than let you assume otherwise. No green fee or advertising buy has ever moved a course up this page. Where a figure is reported rather than officially published, we flag it. Rates and tee-time policies are worth confirming with the club before you commit to anything.

Golf On the Strip Itself: Bali Hai and Wynn

Two courses sit directly on Las Vegas Boulevard. In price and in feel, they have almost nothing in common.

Bali Hai Golf Club — The Closest Course to the Strip

Ask a concierge what the closest course to the Strip is and you will be pointed at Bali Hai Golf Club, which is the right answer in the practical sense most visitors mean. It sits on the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard at 5160 Las Vegas Blvd S, beside Mandalay Bay, close enough that a lot of south-Strip hotels are a short rideshare or a long walk away. Public daily-fee, too. No membership, no resort gatekeeping. Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley of Schmidt-Curley Design opened it in 2000 and committed hard to the tropical premise: seven acres of water, 2,500 palms, 100,000 Balinese plants, and black volcanic rock, all of it framed by Strip skyline views from multiple fairways. It plays to a par-71, 7,002 yards from the tips, and Golf Digest has ranked it among its Top 50 Resort Courses. The par-3 island-green 16th is one of the most photographed holes in the city, which tells you as much about the clientele as the hole. People come here because it looks like Las Vegas, and on that promise it delivers completely. If you want one round that screams "I played golf in Las Vegas," this is the obvious pick. Green fees are premium without being stratospheric. Book at the club's site or call (702) 597-2400.

Wynn Golf Club — The Walk-Out-Your-Room Option

A few hundred yards off the casino floor, on 129 acres inside the Wynn Las Vegas resort grounds at 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S, Wynn Golf Club makes the opposite argument. Tom Fazio handled the championship redesign with his son Logan, and it reopened on October 11, 2019, as a lush parkland round: manicured turf, dramatic elevation, six par 3s across a par-70 layout. Nothing about it concedes that this is a desert. Then there is the price. Green fees rank among the highest in the United States, reported at roughly $500 to $600 per player and as high as $800 in peak demand, with complimentary Callaway club rental included, a courtesy that barely registers at that number. Reservations are by phone only at (702) 770-4653. Wynn and Encore hotel guests book up to 90 days out, while the general public books within 30 days, which in practice means the good times are already gone. This is a resort amenity priced like a bucket-list round. If you are staying in the building and the number does not bother you, it is the most theatrical golf on the Strip and the easiest to reach, since you can practically walk from your room. Driving in from somewhere else? That money buys two very good rounds in the valley.

Central Las Vegas: 10–15 Minutes Off the Strip

Drive a few minutes east of the Strip and the value math changes completely. Two central Las Vegas courses hand you a different kind of round at a far gentler price, and both carry more open tee-time inventory than the on-Strip pair ever does.

Desert Pines Golf Club — A Carolina Escape Near Downtown

Shade. In a desert city that counts for more than it probably should, and the pine corridors at Desert Pines Golf Club supply it. This is also the best surprise on the list. Perry Dye and Cynthia Dye McGarey of Dye Designs opened it in 1996 as the only Las Vegas course built to evoke the Carolina Sandhills, and the props are all in place: nearly 4,000 mature pines, imported white sand, railroad-tie bunkering. The desert disappears entirely, and fast. It plays par-71 at 6,222 yards and sits at 3415 E Bonanza Rd in central Las Vegas, about 15 minutes from the Strip and under 10 from downtown, so it pairs naturally with a Fremont Street night. Pace of play is the underrated part. Rounds here are famously brisk, with most finishing in under four hours, and green fees are mid-range, well below the Strip premiums. For a visitor who wants quality golf without the resort markup, this is our value pick near the Strip. Book at the club's site or call (702) 388-4400.

Las Vegas National Golf Club — Where Las Vegas Golf Began

Golf in this valley started somewhere, and Las Vegas National Golf Club is the closest thing to a first address. Bert Stamps drew it, it opened in 1961, and it survives as one of the oldest public courses here: a classic tree-lined parkland layout, deliberately at odds with the desert-links style that dominates modern Las Vegas golf. You will find it at 1911 E Desert Inn Rd, roughly 15 minutes from the Strip and about the same from Summerlin. It is not the most dramatic course in the region and does not pretend to be. Some of it is plain. What it does offer is real local history underfoot and a traditional, walkable parkland round with no premium attached. Go if you care where Las Vegas golf came from and not only where it is today. Skip it if you have three days and want every round to be a photograph. Book through the club or call (702) 889-1000.

A Note on Bear's Best Las Vegas

Older Las Vegas course lists still carry Bear's Best Las Vegas, and the honest update is that it is gone. The Jack Nicklaus replica-hole course in The Ridges on the western edge of Summerlin permanently closed to public play on June 30, 2025. The site is now under full demolition and reconstruction as Amara Golf and Social Club, a strictly private, members-only facility owned by Mulligan Holdings LLC, with a reported $300 million investment behind it and an October 2026 opening that has been reported but not independently confirmed. One thing worth being clear about: Bear's Best was never really a "near the Strip" course. It sat well west, in Summerlin. It turns up in enough visitor searches to be worth flagging. You cannot play it, and whatever opens on that ground will not take your booking either.

How to Choose: Distance, Access, and Vibe

Here's the quick decision tree for matching a course to your stay:

• Closest and most "Vegas": Bali Hai, right on the south Strip, public access, premium-but-reasonable fee, unbeatable spectacle. The default pick for most visitors.
• Most luxurious (and most expensive): Wynn Golf Club, on the Strip inside the resort, ~$500–$600+ per round, phone booking only, priority for hotel guests.
• Best value with character: Desert Pines, ~15 minutes east, mid-range fees, fast pace, a pine-framed escape from the desert.
• Best for history buffs on a budget: Las Vegas National, ~15 minutes east, classic 1961 parkland, traditional and affordable.
• Willing to drive 20–30 minutes west? The Summerlin corridor opens up a deeper bench of public golf — the Summerlin golf course map plots every option, and our guide to booking Las Vegas tee times covers when and where to lock in the best rate.

One booking tip covers all four. Las Vegas runs on dynamic, seasonal pricing, and the same tee time can swing dramatically between a summer twilight slot and a spring morning. If your dates have any give in them, an early-morning or twilight start in the shoulder seasons is almost always the better deal. On the on-Strip courses that early light coming off the skyline is the photograph you came for anyway, so the cheap slot is also the best one.

The Verdict on Golf Near the Las Vegas Strip

For most visitors the practical answer is not complicated. Want the closest and most photogenic round without overthinking it? Play Bali Hai. It is the closest course to the Strip and the most distinctly Las Vegas round in the city. Staying at Wynn or Encore with a budget that does not flinch, Wynn Golf Club is the bucket-list splurge, and it is worth doing once. Everyone else keeps the green fee sensible and still plays something memorable by driving the fifteen minutes to Desert Pines, or to Las Vegas National for a quieter and more historic round. Confirm the rate and tee-time policy with the club before you book anything. And leave the former Bear's Best off the list, because that one closed for good in 2025.

Frequently asked questions about golf near the Las Vegas Strip

What is the closest golf course to the Las Vegas Strip?

Bali Hai Golf Club. It sits directly on Las Vegas Boulevard at the south end, next to Mandalay Bay, at 5160 Las Vegas Blvd S. Wynn Golf Club is also on the Strip, inside the Wynn Las Vegas resort grounds at 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S, which makes it walkable for resort guests. Those two are the only championship courses on the Strip itself. Everything else sold as Strip golf involves a car.

Can you golf right on the Las Vegas Strip?

Yes, at two courses. Bali Hai Golf Club is a public daily-fee tropical-themed course on the south end, open to anyone who books it. Wynn Golf Club is a Tom Fazio resort course inside Wynn Las Vegas; it accepts public tee times by phone but hands resort guests priority booking, so the best slots rarely reach the general pool. Based on published course data and operator information, these are the only two full-length courses directly on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Which golf course near the Strip offers the best value?

Desert Pines Golf Club and Las Vegas National Golf Club are the most affordable options near the Strip, and both sit in central Las Vegas roughly 10 to 15 minutes from the Strip corridor. Desert Pines is a mid-range Dye Design course and the better round of the two. Las Vegas National is a historic 1961 parkland layout and the cheaper history lesson. Bali Hai carries a premium green fee, and Wynn carries a far larger one. Confirm current rates with each club, as Las Vegas pricing is seasonal and demand-based.

How much does it cost to play Wynn Golf Club near the Strip?

Budget approximately $500 to $600 per player for a standard round, based on published and reported green fees, with some player reports citing fees up to $800 during peak demand. That puts Wynn Golf Club among the most expensive public-access courses in the country. Reservations are by phone only at (702) 770-4653. Confirm current pricing with the club when booking, because the number moves with the calendar.

Is Bear's Best Las Vegas still open to play near the Strip area?

No. Bear's Best Las Vegas, the Jack Nicklaus replica-hole course in The Ridges on the western edge of Summerlin, permanently closed to public play on June 30, 2025. The site is being redeveloped as Amara Golf and Social Club, a private members-only facility. It was never a Strip-area course anyway, since it sat well west of the Strip, but it still turns up in visitor searches often enough to be worth stating plainly: it can no longer be played.

How far is Summerlin golf from the Las Vegas Strip?

Roughly 20 to 30 minutes by car, depending on traffic. Summerlin's west-side courses are the deeper bench, but if you are staying on the Strip and want golf without a long drive, the four courses in this guide are all closer: Bali Hai, Wynn, Desert Pines, and Las Vegas National. For west-side options once you are willing to drive, see the Summerlin golf course map.