The Wynn golf course is beautiful, but there are better ways to spend $500 on a Las Vegas golf vacation.

The PGA Tour is in Las Vegas this week, a city known for big-money golf. With the opening of the Wynn Golf and Country Club in April 2005, three Las Vegas golf courses now charge $500 green fees, the most expensive in the Unites States of America to our knowledge. The other two are Shadow Creek and Cascata.

Unlike its five-Franklin friends, however, whose bang-for-the-buck quotient is arguable, at Wynn, it's clearly not. If it wasn't located directly on the Las Vegas Strip, we doubt owner Steve Wynn could get away with charging half of what he does. Even with its convenient location, there are better options on a Las Vegas golf vacation.

The design itself, which is a reworked and newly mounded and contoured version of the old, flat, Desert Inn golf course, showcases several of the trademarks of Tom Fazio, including abundant sand traps, large green complexes, and, in general, receptive fairways. Water enters the mix on 11 holes, and the par threes add an element of variety and danger, as most involve do-or-die forced carries.

Otherwise, the entire layout is a bit strange and, frankly, boring. There are only three par fives (which occur within a six-hole span) and only one dogleg. One hole after another plays as a long, straightaway par four, making for a very monotonous round. The scorecard also left us scratching our heads. The championship tees outdistance the next-longest set by a mere 104 yards.

Though the round comes to a rousing finish with (what else?) two long par fours, the Wynn golf course did not leave us wanting to play it again. In short, it's not likely to be a memorable experience on your Las Vegas golf vacation, except for the unusually big hole it will leave in your wallet.

However, if you feel you must play it, be sure to do it sooner rather than later. The Wynn golf course will likely have a lifespan of less than 10 years, and perhaps much less than that. As one of only two Las Vegas golf courses on The Strip (Bali Hai golf course is the other), it will eventually be bulldozed and paved over because the real estate is simply too valuable not to further develop.

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