Technically this was my second time golfing, but my first time since I started taking lessons, so I’m still very much a beginner.
Without traffic, the TaylorMade Golf Experience is about a 10-minute cab ride from the strip. Our tee time was at 9am, but on a Wednesday morning the course was nearly empty. So, after we purchased some balls, got our rental clubs and cart, we teed off.
Of course the rentals are SUPER nice TaylorMade clubs. The course is par 3, so the rentals didn’t include drivers, but did include two rescue clubs- which I continually refer to as sacrifice clubs. It was my first time hitting this sort of club and I have to say I like them! We mostly used the irons off the tee though.
The 9-hole course ranged from 85 to 149 yards (from the red tees) and “featured” many desert areas and sand traps. Basically any of the white on the map below is sand/rock. There was no one ahead or behind us, so I would often take a second “practice” shot, but always used my first shot for scoring.
Maybe it was the nice clubs or the short holes, but we both tended to overshoot the greens. Especially on hole #3. We (me) only lost one ball, on hole #4 (below) which had a steep ravine between the tee and the green.
I sank a 50-ft putt on hole #6, but took several shots to get out of the sand traps on hole #4 and #9. Nolan said I did great, but I almost wanted to do it again because I know I could do better. As we finished, it was nearing a 100 degrees and even though we were guzzling water throughout the course we opted to stick with just one round.
We did however, order a couple of spicy bloody maries and fried pickles at the Flight Deck Bar. Did you know that a beer chaser with your bloody mary is a midwest thing? Instead, the bartender gave me a “taste” of beer.
The bloody maries were nothing to write home about, but the fried pickles rival those at the Minnesota State Fair. They had the perfect amount of breading and the homemade dill dipping sauce was a hole in one.
The course was no Shadow Creek, but it was the perfect short course for a beginner like me. Another Vegas spot that looks great for beginners (or non-golfers) is Topgolf inside MGM. Instead of playing a course you play all sorts of golf games that test your aim, distance, and accuracy. It sort of reminds me of a bowling alley, would that make it a golf alley? 😉
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