Conestoga

One of the most underrated regions in American golf is the border areas of Utah and Nevada, where a number of prestigious public courses — including Sand Hollow and Wolf Creek — have sprung out of the dramatic landscape. Enter Conestoga Golf Club as another entry on the list among those on the Nevada side.

Although this club may not quite have the same video-game dimensions as fellow Mesquite native Wolf Creek, this was not Gary Panks’s first foray into the desert. The architect has made a career largely in the state of Arizona, and he knows how to take advantage of the biome’s dramatic landforms in the creation of an exciting golf course. The result is a series of holes that loop through the desert, many with high tee boxes to justify a back-tee yardage of more than 7,200 yards.

The par three greens sit perched, propped up with walls, lest they tumble into the hollows and washes they surround. No. 14 will only show half of its green from the tee, as the mountainside lurks in the way of the left side.

This public-access facility is a manageable one-hour drive from the hustle of Las Vegas.