Bear's Best Las Vegas Review

About Bear's Best Las Vegas

Bear's Best Las Vegas permanently closed to public play on June 30, 2025, after more than two decades as the strangest daily-fee proposition in Summerlin. The premise was tribute golf. Jack Nicklaus, working through Nicklaus Design, built 18 holes at 11111 W Flamingo Rd, inside The Ridges, and made every one of them a hand-selected replica of a Nicklaus design from somewhere else in the world. Cabo del Sol. Old Works in Montana. Castle Pines. It opened in 2001, the black-sand bunkers did most of the marketing, and from the back tees it ran past 7,100 yards, which was a good deal more course than the gimmick led people to expect. None of it is still standing. The site is being rebuilt as Amara Golf and Social Club, a private members-only club owned by Mulligan Holdings LLC (Andrew Pascal and Mike Mixer), with a reported total investment of approximately $300 million. Jackson Kahn Design is drawing an entirely new golf course from scratch. October 2026 has been reported as the opening target, though nobody has independently confirmed it. You cannot play here.

Reviews of Bear's Best Las Vegas

Players liked it, and across two decades of public play the reviews stayed remarkably consistent. The replica premise did the heavy lifting. You could work through echoes of Nicklaus designs from Mexico, the American Southwest, Montana, and Colorado without leaving the Las Vegas desert. Purists rolled their eyes at that. The black-sand bunkers, modeled on the copper-smelting slag at Old Works Golf Course, were the signature and the most photographed thing on the property. From the back tees it held up as a real championship test rather than a novelty round, which is more than the concept promised. None of that survives. The property is a private construction project now, and the full story of what replaced it, Amara Golf and Social Club, is in our article below. If you played Bear's Best, we'd still like to hear what you remember.

Is Bear's Best Las Vegas Worth Playing?

No, and not for any amount of money. Bear's Best Las Vegas closed permanently to the public in June 2025, and the site is under full demolition and reconstruction. Amara Golf and Social Club takes its place: private, members-only, a reported initiation fee of $250,000, a membership cap of 265, no general public play at all. That cap is the number worth sitting with. A club sized for 265 people is not turning golfers away reluctantly, it is built from the start to keep them out. Anyone trying to understand what is going up here, and what it does to The Ridges and Summerlin real estate, will find the details in our full story. Anyone who just wants a tee time this week should look at the nearby courses below, which are all still open.

Good to know before you play

• The course is permanently closed: Bear's Best Las Vegas shut its gates to public play on June 30, 2025. The site is under active demolition and reconstruction — it cannot be visited or played.
• Amara Golf and Social Club is the successor: The site is being rebuilt as a private, members-only facility by Mulligan Holdings LLC (Andrew Pascal and Mike Mixer), with a reported $300 million investment and an October 2026 opening targeted but not independently confirmed.
• Amara will be strictly private: Membership is capped at 265, with a reported initiation fee of $250,000 and monthly dues of approximately $4,000. There will be no public access. The original Bear's Best daily-fee model is gone permanently.
• A new course design, not a renovation: Jackson Kahn Design is building an entirely new 18-hole layout from scratch, along with a new six-hole par-3 course and indoor simulators. The replica-hole Nicklaus concept will not be preserved.
• For golfers wanting a round in Summerlin today: The nearby courses listed below remain open to varying degrees of public and semi-private access.

Frequently asked questions about Bear's Best Las Vegas

Where can I find reviews and ratings for Bear's Best Las Vegas?

Read player reviews here on Summerlin.Golf and add your own, rated for conditions, value, layout, greens, pace, and staff. Bear's Best Las Vegas is also listed on GolfPass, GolfNow, Golf Digest, and Google Reviews. Keep in mind that the course is closed and under redevelopment, so anything posted on those sites is a memory rather than a report on current conditions. Check the official website for the latest status.

Is Bear's Best Las Vegas still open?

No. Public play ended on June 30, 2025, and the closure is permanent. The site is under full demolition and reconstruction, so there is nothing to play and no way onto the property. It is being rebuilt as Amara Golf and Social Club, a private, members-only facility.

Who designed Bear's Best Las Vegas and when did it open?

Jack Nicklaus, working through Nicklaus Design. The course opened in 2001 on a replica-hole concept, with each of the 18 holes modeled on one of Nicklaus's favorite designs from courses around the world, which is why no two holes on the property ever felt like they belonged to the same golf course.

What is replacing Bear's Best Las Vegas?

Amara Golf and Social Club, a strictly private, members-only club owned by Mulligan Holdings LLC (Andrew Pascal and Mike Mixer). The project carries a reported total investment of approximately $300 million. Jackson Kahn Design is redesigning the golf course from scratch rather than renovating what was already there. An October 2026 opening has been reported but not independently confirmed, so treat that date as a target rather than a promise.

Where was Bear's Best Las Vegas located?

At 11111 W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89135, inside The Ridges. That is the guard-gated luxury enclave on the southern edge of Summerlin, which explains a fair amount about what the site is becoming.

How much does Amara Golf Club membership cost?

A reported initiation fee of $250,000, plus monthly dues of approximately $4,000. Those dues cover family access including dependents to age 25, which helps if you have a household full of golfers and does nothing for you if you do not. Membership is capped at 265 total. Verify current pricing directly with the club, because fees are reported to step up at each threshold of 50 memberships sold.

What was distinctive about Bear's Best Las Vegas?

The tribute concept. Each of the 18 holes was a hand-selected replica of a Nicklaus design from elsewhere in the world, including holes channeling Cabo del Sol in Mexico, Old Works in Montana, and Castle Pines in Colorado. The black-sand bunkers, replicating the copper-smelting slag at Old Works, were the most photographed feature on the property and the detail most players still remember. From the back tees the course stretched past 7,100 yards at par 72 with a slope rating of 147, so the scorecard was never the soft part of the day.