Lucky Seven

At these casino resorts, golfers win even if they never
make it to the gaming tables

In the1980s, Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn hired golf architect Tom Fazio to build a course on 310 acres of flat, empty, featureless desert. As Fazio likes to say, Wynn offered him an unlimited budget — and he exceeded it. The resulting Shadow Creek Golf Course recreates a landscape right out of North Carolina, with burbling streams, pine forests, and large elevation changes. It's still rated among the best golf courses in the United States.

Many golfers love a place where they can play 18 holes in the morning and pursue even greater risk/reward strategies at the gaming tables afterward. "Eighty-five percent of golfers gamble on their games, so casinos are a natural parallel to that," says Tom Liszewski, president and owner of Golf Vacations, a Massachusetts-based travel company. Shadow Creek inspired the trend in casino-financed golf layouts, which has generated some of the best tracks built in the past two decades.

Many of these courses have been developed by American Indian tribes that already owned casinos and came to understand that golfers aiming for the speed slots (a course design feature that adds distance to tee shots) on fairways in the afternoon might speed their way to the slot machines after dark. Says Robert Trent Jones Jr., who has designed courses for several Indian casino clients, "Some tribes built casinos that were modest at first and eventually added amenities like golf. And then they added better and better golf."

Terrific courses have become a de rigueur casino amenity — these days a casino without a golf course is as rare as a PGA Tour player without three logos on his hat. Following are seven of the best casino courses in the country.

Shadow Creek Golf Club, Las Vegas
The original classic casino course, Fazio's layout offers the ultimate in privacy and luxury — you'll feel like you're 3,000 miles from Las Vegas in Carolina pine country. Shadow Creek was originally restricted to high rollers, but nowadays guests staying at any of 16 MGM Mirage properties (such as Bellagio or New York, New York) can pay to be whisked to the course in a limousine, enjoy the attentions of a personal caddy, and play a venue that's on every "best" list. Highlights include the par-3 17th hole, where golfers tee off from an elevated box overlooking a pine forest and lake to a green backed by a waterfall. 702.791.7161, shadowcreek.com

Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, N.Y.
Two hours west of Albany, Turning Stone leaves no stone unturned, with three full-length courses designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., Tom Fazio, and Rick Smith. For golfers who like a long course, Fazio's Atunyote stretches to 7,749 yards, through rolling hills and past streams and waterfalls. Jones' Kaluhyat is more of a shotmakers' venue, boasting dramatic plateaus and elevation changes. Shenendoah is Smith's linksy, low-country-style contribution, but he also created Sandstone Hollow, a nine-hole par-3 track designed to be played in one hour. Pleasant Knolls, a wide nine-holer, completes the hand. In addition to offering more great golf in one place than anywhere else in New York, Turning Stone has guestrooms in a hotel, inn, tower, or lodge. There's no poker school on site, but you can ante up at the Dave Pelz Scoring Game Golf School for help with other challenges. 315.361.8525, turningstone.com

Twin Warriors Golf Club, Albuquerque
Associated with the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and the Santa Ana Golf Club and Santa Ana Star Casino, this Gary Panks masterpiece routes through high desert terrain in and around 20 ancient native cultural sites. Twelve arroyos and a sacred butte lend further character to a 7,736-yard track that unfurls across 400 acres of junipers, piñons, wildflowers, and grassy knolls in the shadows of the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque. The pueblo-style hotel surrounds a welcoming courtyard and features rooms decorated with adobe, wood, and textiles, all with a southwestern accent. 505.867.1234, tamaya.hyatt.com

The Wilderness at Fortune Bay, Tower, Minn.
Several hours north of Minneapolis/St. Paul, up-and-coming course architect Jeffrey D. Brauer created a casino golf venue that challenges players to take chances. Running through evergreen forest, across high granite ridges, past rock outcroppings, and alongside Lake Vermilion, the course features split fairways and holes in classic styles like a cape and a biarritz, offering golfers a chance to test their strategies. Owned by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the associated resort comprises a luxury hotel, a marina, an RV park, and a heritage center. The casino's poker room offers a busy slate of tournaments year-round. 218.753.8917, golfthewilderness.com

Dancing Rabbit Golf Club, Choctaw, Miss.
Boasting two Tom Fazio/Jerry Pate designs — the Oaks and Azaleas courses, the latter of which made Golf Magazine's list of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play — Dancing Rabbit, 70 minutes outside Jackson, waltzes across 700 acres of rolling pine and oak forest interlaced with five miles of streams. NFL great Mike Ditka has said, "If you don't enjoy Dancing Rabbit, you probably won't enjoy heaven either." Eight luxe clubhouse guest rooms — the nicest on the property — offer the closest beds from which to get up and hit the links. They also include the use of a golf cart, complete with headlights so you can explore the property at night. The affiliated Pearl River Resort includes two hotels, two casinos, a spa, and a water park. 866.447.3275, dancingrabbitgolf.com

Lake of Isles Golf Club, North Stonington, Conn.
Less than an hour from Hartford, Lake of Isles offers two classically styled Rees Jones layouts carved from the natural topography, including a 90-acre lake. Playing across undulating terrain on the property of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the courses feature plentiful island greens and tees, a gorgeous setting for challenging shots around the lake and between free-form white bunkers. Autumn foliage provides a brilliant distraction to an off day, but for golfers in danger of teeing off into the colorful woods, the Hank Haney Golf Academy is located on site. Lake of Isles is part of the Foxwoods Casino Resort, North America's largest casino, with four hotels, more than 30 restaurants, and world-class gaming, shows, concerts, and more. 888.475.3746, lakeofisles.com

Barona Creek Golf Club, San Diego
With a natural layout over rolling hills, amid features including rock formations, streams, gullies, and oaks (one of which splits the first fairway), this design by Gary Roger Baird earned Audubon International's Bronze Signature Sanctuary designation. The San Diego course, which is a far more certain bet than that lucky number you've been screaming at the croupier, unfurls beside a casino. Between golf and gaming, visit the AmBience Day Spa to refresh your mojo. 619.387.7018, barona.com

— Jeff Wallach

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Take Aim at These Courses

There is no shortage of great casino golf courses. Here are five more options worthy of consideration:

The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. A National Historic Landmark, the award-winning resort features three 18-hole championship courses, the Old White, the Meadows, and the Greenbrier Course. The Greenbrier has hosted some of golf's all-time greats, including Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead, and Arnold Palmer. 800.453.4858, greenbrier.com

Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton, Ore. The resort's 18-hole, John Steidel-designed golf course, nestled in the foothills of Oregon's Blue Mountains, features beautiful lakes, deep bunkers, and four sets of tees. 800.654.9453, wildhorseresort.com

Circling Raven Golf Club, Worley, Idaho. One of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses You Can Play, Circling Raven traverses a mixed terrain of wetlands, grasslands, and woodlands. Don't be surprised to encounter elk or deer — wildlife is abundant at the scenic Gene Bates-designed layout. 800.523.2464, circlingraven.com

The Meadows at Mystic Lake, Prior Lake, Minn. Just steps from the Mystic Lake Casino, this par-72 championship course with 80 bunkers presents water hazards on 13 holes. There are 20 fountains and even a 2,500-foot stream with four waterfalls. 952.233.5533, mysticlakegolf.com

We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, McDowell, Ariz. Opened in 2001, the first-class facility consists of the original 18-hole Cholla Course, designed by Scott Miller, and a second 18 added in 2006, the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw-designed Saguaro Course. Wide fairways, large greens, and breathtaking scenery are the We-Ko-Pa's calling cards. 480.836.9000, wekopa.com

— J.W.