SouthShore

The hills around the township of Henderson lie a 20-minute drive south of Las Vegas and they were an important cog in the American war machine during the early 1940s, supplying the government with magnesium for incendiary munitions.

The area has since been reinvented as a vacation destination and the Lake Las Vegas Resort, in particular, attracts many visitors every year to hotel, casino and sporting attractions that include boating, fishing and, of course, golf.

The course of SouthShore Country Club was the first private Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in Nevada when it opened in 1996 and its fairways ride the ridges and career down canyons to the lovely lakeside with elevation changes of over 300 feet along the way.

It plays to a par of 71 and although this is resort golf with generous landing areas, there are strategically placed bunker complexes in place, plus forced carries over water and gorges, to threaten a good score.

Lake Las Vegas visitors can also play another Nicklaus design, the public access Reflection Bay, which opened two years after SouthShore and is set on the opposite side of the Wash.