Methodology
About Me
The fatal flaw of most reviews is that they’re meaningless without knowing about the reviewer. I have a friend who grew up playing at LACC and plays 65 rounds a year - if you ask him how a course is, you’re going to get a very different answer than other friends who play 6 hour Saturday rounds at a muni.
So before I launch in, here’s the relevant info on me - I hover between an 11-13 handicap and play ~20 rounds a year, mostly on trips b/c the public golf where I live (LA) is soul-sucking. I’m a pretty good natural athlete (played D1 volleyball), and picked up golf after graduating college. I’ve been on a lot of golf trips with college / home friends over the last 12 years - typically on the nicer end of things: Bandon, Kiawah, Palm Desert, Scottsdale, Breck / Vail, Hawaii, Jacksonville, Hilton Head, Michigan etc.. Have also gotten to play a lot of nice privates - LACC North, Bel Air, MPCC, Olympic, St. Louis CC etc.
I also love Mesquite, so much that I actually bought a house here, made a bunch of upgrades, and spend 4-6 weeks a year there with family / friends.
The 3 Types of Golf Trip Destination
1 - Pure Golf
Examples: Bandon / Pinehurst / Sand Valley / Streamstrong
All golf, all the time. Great for hardcore groups, less good for mixed skill groups. Typically stay on premise and never leave the grounds.
2 - Resort + Golf
Examples: Hilton Head, Kiawah, PGA West, Hawaii
You’re still staying on-premise and rarely / never leaving, but there’s a wider mix of resort amenities that make it better for mixed skill groups who want to diversify the activities a bit.
3 - City + Golf
Examples: Scottsdale / Myrtle / Bend
These spots typically offer the most flexible mix of food / lodging / activities which can be great for mixed skill groups - on the flip side, it’s a lot of logistics and driving.
Which type is Mesquite?
On paper, Mesquite is a Type 3 spot - there’s no real golf resort to stay and play at. But because of its tiny geographic size and almost comical density of golf courses, it almost feels like a Type 1 / 2 destination.
What do I mean by that? All 8 golf courses are within a 1.5 mile radius of the center of Mesquite, and connected by major roads. It’s actually faster to get between courses here than it is at Kiawah or PGA West.
Mesquite Overview
My favorite golf trip destination
I’ve buried the lede a bit, because Mesquite is actually my favorite golf trip destination. It doesn’t have the best golf - that’s Bandon and then a bunch of spots battling for 2nd. But it’s the best holistic golf trip destination for the friend groups I like to go on golf trips with, for a few reasons:
The non-golf stuff
Casinos
There are 3 large casinos in town, offering every game you can think of at great odds and reasonable minimums. There’s simply no other golf destination in the country that offers this. Of course it depends on your crew, but being able to get a group of 8 onto a craps table playing $5 minimum bet at fair odds creates a setup for some incredible memories.
Density = Flexibility
I mentioned this above, but this gives you so many options as a group. Every course being 5 minutes away gives you the option of playing 36 if you want, while also not being contained to a single resort. And for mixed groups, everyone can easily get what they need. On our first trip here, we had 4 guys get up early and play 36 on Saturday, and the other 4 played a little pickleball and watched college football at the sportsbook in the morning before joining up to play the afternoon 18 as a group.
Weather
Spring / Fall are peak: as perfect, predictable, and dependable as weather can be anywhere. Very little rain, highs mostly in the 80s
Winter is solid: not quite as warm as Florida / Scottsdale / Palm Desert, but still very little rain and highs in the 58-62 range. Great golfing weather.
Summer is a value play if you do it right: it’s definitely hot, but not as bad as Florida / Scottsdale / Palm Desert due to elevation and being more north. And rates are super discounted, with wide open tee sheets so you can play in 3 hours if you want. Get a round in first thing in the morning, spend the day at the pool at a nice Airbnb, then either a twilight 9/18 or hit the steakhouse and casino.
Convenience
Fly into Vegas, grab your rental car and it’s a 70 minute drive to Mesquite. Vegas flights are abundant from anywhere in the country, cars are abundant and cheap, and of course you can tack on a night in Vegas (never two) on either end of your trip. It’s easier transportation wise than any other golf trip destination I’ve been outside of Scottsdale
The golf stuff
I love the mix of courses at Mesquite. Part 2 will have more detail on each course but within a 1.5 mile radius you have:
1 S Tier Course (Wolf Creek)
5 A/B+ Tier Courses
1 Budget Course
Every course in Mesquite is public, which I personally love - it bugs me to go on a golf trip somewhere and not be able to play the best courses there.
The price point is fair. Prices have come up as they have everywhere, but compared to some of the other destinations on this list, Mesquite’s definitely more reasonable. At the highest end, Wolf Creek peak sticker runs $330 - that’s certainly not cheap, but no caddie is required and you can pair that with some courses in the second tier that are tremendous tracks and run in the $100-150 range.
The views and surrounding backdrop at pretty much all these courses is beautiful. Obviously Wolf Creek is a cut above, but most of the courses in Mesquite wind in and out of steep red rock mesas - not quite Sedona, but pretty close.
For the hardcore golfers, You’re also within a ~45 minute drive from another two S Tier courses:
Coyote Springs, a Nicklaus design in the middle of nowhere best hit on the way to or from Vegas
Black Desert in St. George, now a PGA Tour stop
Where is Mesquite lacking as a golf trip destination?
High end lodging options
The nicest hotels in Mesquite are Eureka, Casablanca, Holiday Inn etc. All of these are perfectly fine - clean, recently updated with all your core amenities. But there’s no hotels nicer than that, which is a little tough if you’re comparing it to some of the other destinations we’ve been talking about.
There are some very good Airbnbs, which is definitely the way to go for most groups.
Restaurant Mix
On the plus side, Mesquite has 2 very good steakhouses inside Casablanca + Eureka which serve legitimately Vegas quality food at a Mesquite price discount. And there is a great selection of middlebrow fast casual stuff for easy meals - Jimmy John’s, Cafe Rio, Chipotle, Starbucks, Dutch Bros etc.
On the downside, there are really no compelling sitdown restaurants outside of the 2 steakhouses which are inside the casinos. The best one is a new Peruvian restaurant in a weird business park location. Not the best destination for foodies.
Course Variety
This is true of many (most?) destinations, but the courses here all have a very similar overall look and feel to them. The good news is that that look is really pretty, and lends itself to really interesting hole layouts. But if you’re looking to play multiple styles of golf over a 3 day period, you’re not going to find that here.
Conclusion
Hopefully this is helpful in figuring out if Mesquite is a good fit for you + your group. If you’ve got a bunch of hardcore scratch golfers who want to play only the best courses money can buy, then Mesquite’s probably not the best fit. If you’ve got more of a mixed crew with varying levels of golf ability and affinity, then you should take a hard look at Mesquite - it’s really a 1 of 1 golf destination.