Bear’s Best Investment in Vegas - Celebrating the visionary genius of Jack Nicklaus

- Bear’s Best was designed as a testament to the architectural achievements and visionary genius of Jack Nicklaus. As one of golf’s preeminent and most brilliant course designers, it’s difficult to narrow down the best holes from some of the most impressive courses on earth. Yet Bear’s Best has done an admirable job in paying tribute to The Golden Bear by replicating some of the top holes from around the planet, and packaging them into one spectacular Las Vegas course. Why Las Vegas? Well, it’s one of the most popular convention destinations in the United States for starters. Atlanta also offers an impressive catalog of Nicklaus’ best holes, but since the natural setting and climates of Las Vegas and Atlanta differ, each location caters distinctly to the local environment to determine which specific holes can most successfully be reproduced with the greatest precision.

The astonishing diversity of Bear’s Best is its greatest asset. For the most part, Bear’s Best in Las Vegas features holes from private country clubs--which in turn permits more golfers to experience those often elusive holes considered the pinnacle of global golfing. Holes from the western Unites States make up the majority, including Castle Pines and PGA West. There’s even a hole from Cabo del Sol in Los Cabos, Mexico. Desert and Western courses are the name of the game now; and these are eighteen of Jack’s personal favorites.

The PGA West Course opens up the golfing experience at Bear’s Best, and the first hole is something special. The second hole introduces Las Vegas golfers to the chaos and beauty of Los Cabos golfing with a par five from Cabo del Sol, featuring eight sand traps amid the majestic scenery and intricate Jack Nicklaus Signature craftsmanship. The third hole features one of the most famous from Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Arizona--a climate almost identical to Las Vegas. The fourth offers a par three from Montana, complete with black sand bunkers imported from the mountains thousands of miles north. You get the picture: it’s like a tour of some of the best courses in the Western United States. It goes on and on, offering some of the greatest holes in golf all in the same place.

Bear's best is an unprecedented catalog of courses from around the vast western portion of the North American continent; from Montana to land’s end in Los Cabos. It’s a golfer’s dream come true to experience a taste of so many courses in one unique setting. Only in Las Vegas can you experience courses from about the same longitude, but located in starkly different latitudes, sometimes separated by more than three thousand miles. The scenery is exquisite and dynamic, changing like the colors of the Las Vegas sunset, or the skins of the lizards in the mountains.

The pro-shop features amazing photographs and an extensive collection of Jack Nicklaus memorabilia to celebrate The Golden Bear. Plaques from victorious tournament events adorn the walls. This place is all about golf and watching live sports. A library offers a nice compilation of golf books and magazines for guests to peruse while having a drink or dining. Enjoy the Golf channel and live sporting events from almost every angle, even in the restroom. Everything is in perfect condition here, from the practice greens to the course itself; the groundskeepers here are able to maintain some of the finest holes, and they certainly deserve the credit.

This course can be a monster--or a manageable paradise. If you want to make this course challenging, enjoy the sprawling 7,200 impressive yards of majestic unprecedented splendor from the back tees, with a slope of 147. If you need a little help--try the 6,043 yard white tees, with a slope of 122.

If there’s one negative element of this course, it’s the impossible challenge of perfectly reproducing all of the settings and ambiance you feel at the original courses. For instance, there is no shimmering Sea of Cortez fading into the horizon like Cabo del Sol in Las Vegas. But all in all, it’s the most successful attempt that can be imagined for such an ambitious endeavor. This is the ideal course for group events and conferences. The $200 greens fee might seem expensive, but this is an extraordinary assemblage of some of the greatest and most famous courses on earth. It’s the best investment in Vegas golf you can make.