Vista Vallarta Golf Club - The Nicklaus Course
About
The Nicklaus Course at Vista Vallarta Golf Club is one of two championship courses at the club, the other was designed by Tom Weiskopf. The Nicklaus Course is perched atop the property's highest elevation, offering spectacular views of Puerto Vallarta and the Bay of Banderas. The course tumbles across grassy hillsides covered with dense forests of palms and giant ficus trees. True to Nicklaus' style, the wildly undulating greens are balanced by generous driving areas. He also chose to route the holes along the natural contours of the land, giving each hole a unique character. One of the most talked-about holes on the golf course is the par-5 third, which is ranked as the toughest. This 550-yard monster demands three strong shots in order to make it onto the elevated green in regulation, but the tricky part is that the elevation rises a bit more with each shot.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 72 | 7074 yards | 73.8 | 144 |
| Blue | 72 | 6595 yards | 71.7 | 137 |
| White | 72 | 6031 yards | 69.5 | 124 |
| Yellow | 72 | 5287 yards | 66.4 | 117 |
| Red | 72 | 5251 yards | 71.1 | 119 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold M: 74.7/138 | 401 | 429 | 550 | 381 | 213 | 452 | 427 | 534 | 182 | 3569 | 536 | 394 | 580 | 340 | 440 | 177 | 423 | 170 | 445 | 3505 | 7074 |
| Blue M: 72.7/130 W: 78.6/142 | 338 | 408 | 519 | 366 | 192 | 435 | 395 | 499 | 178 | 3330 | 513 | 370 | 558 | 314 | 422 | 149 | 383 | 157 | 399 | 3265 | 6595 |
| White M: 69.7/126 W: 73.5/125 | 294 | 360 | 484 | 338 | 168 | 416 | 372 | 453 | 152 | 3037 | 466 | 356 | 538 | 262 | 402 | 125 | 347 | 131 | 367 | 2994 | 6031 |
| Yellow M: 66.8/118 W: 72.0/121 | 260 | 336 | 443 | 268 | 145 | 331 | 284 | 422 | 131 | 2620 | 433 | 334 | 521 | 236 | 311 | 113 | 307 | 114 | 298 | 2667 | 5287 |
| Red W: 70.0/121 | 258 | 334 | 441 | 266 | 143 | 329 | 282 | 420 | 129 | 2602 | 431 | 332 | 519 | 234 | 309 | 111 | 305 | 112 | 296 | 2649 | 5251 |
| Handicap | 11 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 8 | |||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 13 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 12 |
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Course Details
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Bar, Grill, Restaurant, Beverage CartsAvailable Facilities
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Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by tcallaway25 on 06/12/2023
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Photo submitted by tcallaway25 on 06/12/2023
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Photo submitted by tcallaway25 on 06/12/2023
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Photo submitted by u314160452191 on 02/04/2023
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Photo submitted by u314160452191 on 02/04/2023
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Photo submitted by u314160452191 on 02/04/2023
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Photo submitted by u9883322 on 06/12/2022
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Photo submitted by u9883322 on 06/12/2022
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Photo submitted by u397521615 on 02/08/2022
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Photo submitted by browndoodle on 02/02/2022
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Hole 15 Photo submitted by u290742857 on 12/02/2021
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Photo submitted by RTomaselli1 on 11/22/2021
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Photo submitted by RTomaselli1 on 11/22/2021
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Photo submitted by RTomaselli1 on 11/22/2021
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Photo submitted by u778001500 on 11/16/2021
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Photo submitted by u778001500 on 11/16/2021
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Photo submitted by u778001500 on 11/16/2021
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Photo submitted by u000006172924 on 12/15/2020
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No. 16 on the Nicklaus course Photo submitted by greg0000023 on 05/26/2019
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A bunker and the bougainvilleas on the Nicklaus course. Photo submitted by JasonDeeganGA on 04/09/2018
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Pro Ivan Cueva on the Nicklaus course. Photo submitted by JasonDeeganGA on 04/09/2018
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A wall of fame celebrates the players from the 2002 World Golf Championships-World Cup at Vista Vallarta. Photo submitted by JasonDeeganGA on 04/09/2018
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Photo submitted by TroyJames on 01/24/2018
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View of one of the holes Photo submitted by kl3443 on 09/20/2012
Great course
Conditions were great, staff very friendly still feels way too expensive
Great spot
The weather was perfect. The amenities were spotless. The staff was vet friendly. For the first time playing it would have been great to have some distance markets for all ravines that transverse the course. The tee boxes were all level although rather brown.
Thank you
Mike R
Challenging course, weak amenities
Fun course with lots of challenging carries. For the price, not many extras. No gps, no water bottles, no ice, no map of course or hole descriptions. Cart lady came often. It rained really hard and we quit after 13 holes. They gave us 9 hole rain checks.
Course over priced
Layout of course good.
Staff not the best
I paid extra $55.00 just for wife to ride with me.
Course is up on the hills away from township
Poured down rain after 12 holes..No rain check given
Starter very arogant and unfriendly initially
Highly not recommended
Good shape, great staff
Course was in good condition, greens fast and true. Great staff in all areas
Nicklaus corurse Puerto Vallarta
Tee boxes worn out fairways not pro standards. Greens excellent with some nasty pin placements
Classic Nicklaus. Great layout and interesting to play.
Greens Are Diabolical
Definitely The Tougher of the 2 courses, The Greens are Mean, Take a Caddy on this track, it will save you a lot of heartache. With the Mountains and ravines it just too difficult to read if you haven’t played it Multiple times. More Open off the tee than The Other track but Overall tougher with the elevation changes. Bring Your A - Game.
I definitely recommend both courses.
Beautiful Views
Beautiful views and elevation changes. One of the prettiest courses I’ve played. Challenging enough but if accuracy is your thing you’ll do well here.
A beautiful course headed to disrepair
We have golfed here for 7 years while on vacation. It’s a beautiful location however it is falling into disrepair.
Tee boxes are hacked up, fairways have lots of quack grass, greens were sanded (we know this needs to be done, but on Dec 31st at peak season?) sand traps had endless foot prints in them. It was as if someone was running around in every trap!
Staff are very friendly but there is only so much they can do if management does provide resources. We usually golf 3 or 4 times, we will not. We will try other courses this time
Fun course
Both Vista Vallarta courses are well taken care of and enjoyable to play. The pace of play was fantastic and the staff were very friendly. Will be back soon.
Not as anticipated.
Booked a 1:03 tee time on GolfNow. Arrived at the course at noon to allow time for a quick lunch and range time. Upon checking in at the golf shop I was informed that the course and facility would be closing at 4:00. Very frustrated to find out that we would have only 3 hours to play 18 holes. The starter did allow us to tee off early but what should have been a lovely afternoon of golf ended up being a hurried experience.
Nice Course/Great Day of Golf
We tee-d off at 7:30 and therefore had nobody in front on us and finished our round in 3:20. I think the next group didn’t tee off till 10:00. But when we were wrapping up noted that the course was getting somewhat busier and a bus of golfers soon arrived.
I read the reviews of others and didn’t experience some of their frustrations. The bunkers had lots of sand. We rented clubs and they weren’t exactly brand new but they weren’t crap either. I played a decent Calaway set and my son played a decent Taylormade set. Our only comment would be that the cart girl didn’t have lots of selections. We would have liked sandwiches or burritos but as we were the only ones playing for the first two hours not sure more selections would have been economical.
We share the view that the staff were excellent and I would also add that a few members we met were as well. We had a great conversation with a member from the Caribbean.
One warning for early players, the pro shop doesn’t open until 7:00 am so don’t plan on spending a lot of time on the range, chipping and putting.
We enjoyed the round