Sun Mountain refuses to stay in Wolf’s shadow

Amid the trio of championship-length courses that comprise the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Club, the Sun Mountain track must feel like the ignored middle child. Considered the gentlest of the three Pete Dye-designed courses, Sun Mountain spends most of its time in the shadow of the newest Wolf course, which is known for its borderline-ridiculous length, and the Snow Mountain track, which features some of the most scenic par 3s in Southern Nevada.

Make no mistake: No course associated with Pete Dye will ever be considered "gentle." Running a shade over 7,100 yards from the tips, Sun Mountain is hardly a pushover. Like all Dye-designed courses, it focuses on risk/reward, with the latter rarely outweighing the former. However, unlike the Wolf track, it is at least manageable for players that belong to the genus Homo sapiens.

The thing recreational players must realize about these courses is that architect Dye is not just willing to embarrass you, he seems to revel in doing so. Just as the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) humbles and sometimes humiliates the finest golfers on the planet, the trio of Las Vegas Paiute courses was created for players who want to test their mettle, not those who want to stroll through a casual round with an inflated sense of their own ability.

Midhandicappers, faced with the howling winds typical of this unsheltered valley, need to be prepared to pencil in a score five strokes higher than their average. This reality should not dissuade casual golfers from playing this excellent track; to the contrary, Sun Mountain presents an opportunity to see whether your A-game really deserves an uppercase letter.

Sun Mountain begins with a challenging, but fair, par 4 measuring 454 yards from the tips but playing downhill. With a tailwind -- and wind is omnipresent in this area -- players may find themselves clubbing down to avoid the left fairway bunker or bombing it over the trap bordering the right side. The ideal line is just inside the left edge from where the cavernous bunker guarding the right side of the green is less prominent. This is a stern opening test, so a conservative approach is in order.

After a very short but not realistically drivable par 4, Sun Mountain opens up its first par 5, a 558-yard beast that plays back uphill toward Mount Charleston. Favor the right edge off the tee or face a semiblind second shot. For those unable to reach in two -- meaning most players -- just shy of the pot bunkers short and right of the green is a good target. From there, it's an easy pitch or bump-and-run.

The first appearance of Pete Dye's trademarked railroad tie-framed bunkers is at No. 6, a 436-yard par 4 that is the course's toughest scoring hole. The ideal line from the tee is directly over the right bunker; while a bold play, an accurate drive will provide an open look to an otherwise cloistered putting surface. The well-contoured greens are impeccable but tricky to read, as undulations wrestle with the prevailing slope of the valley.

After a long and difficult par 4 to finish the front side, Sun Mountain rewards players' perseverance with a drivable par 4 to begin the trip home. The only danger on this 358-yard hole is driving it into one of the greenside bunkers. With a good tee shot to the left portion of the fairway, a birdie is only a pitch and a putt away.

At only 426 yards, No. 13 hardly seems as though it should warrant the No. 2 handicap, yet it demands such precision with both shots that a double bogey is easy to card. Desert nibbles at both edges of the fairway, while a large bunker well short of the green but centrally positioned obscures the second shot. From the fairway, the elevated skull-shaped green appears little more than a sliver, making the approach that much more intimidating.

From the tee box, the 527-yard par-5 16th hole looks like an eagle chance. Looks, however, are more than deceiving in this case. Littered with the tie-Dye bunkers, this hole demands a drive that threads between a pair of offset fairway traps, followed by a long approach that should only be attempted by scratch golfers. Thrust sideways into the desert, the green is hardly reachable by mere mortals in two strokes. Most players instead choose to carry the midfairway bunker and lay up along the right edge, setting up a sensible pitch.

After a pushover of a par 3, Sun Mountain closes with a difficult par 4 reminiscent of the closing hole at TPC Sawgrass. Water borders the left edge from the landing zone to the green, bringing big numbers into play on every swing. The aggressive line is to flirt with the water on the drive, setting up a dangerous but shorter approach. More conservative players will play farther right from the tee and try to shape an approach off the right greenside bunker. However, any second shot even fractionally left is wet, so it doesn't pay to be aggressive on this closing hole.

Like all Pete Dye-designed tracks, Sun Mountain leaves players exhausted but satisfied that they were fully challenged.

Las Vegas Paiute Golf Club is located at 10325 Nu-Wav Kaiv Blvd., just 20 minutes northwest of the Spaghetti Bowl. For information or to reserve a tee time, call 658-1400 or visit www.lvpaiutegolf.com.