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Vista Vallarta Golf Club - The Nicklaus Course
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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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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by Bea1213 on 02/02/2026
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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
Vista Vallarta-Nicklaus review
I played this course numerous times over the past two months. It is an excellent course with wonderful conditions and surprisingly very limited play. Some of this I'm sure is impacted by the pandemic, but for some reason Pto Vallarta does not seem to be a golf destination. If you like speedy rounds, you will be in heaven here. It is located about 25 mins from most hotel locations in a hilly area. This is definitely a course from Nicklaus' more benign years. The fairways are pretty open, the greens are not overly undulating, there is ample green bunkering, though usually openings for the ground game. The bunkers near the green tend to be deep, but they seemed easier to play than the Weiskopf ones. Like the Weiskopf course, it would have been nice if the greens were a bit faster.. My only negatives are: 1.) for a course charging up to $200+, forcing you to buy drinking water seems a little cheap in my mind, and 2.) do not use your American Express card to pay for your round at any of the VV courses. They charge a 10%+ surcharge (not disclosed) to use these cards due to inflated exchange rates charged when they convert to pesos. American Express cards can only be processed in pesos. Use a MasterCard or Visa which can be processed in US dollars with no surcharge.
Probably the 2 best courses in Puerto Vallarta.
All the courses are over priced, but in a resort area not too bad.
Great views and amenities.
Nichlaus course
Beautiful golf course. Looks like Hawaii. Must play.
Worth the money
The views at this club are fabulous. Maintenance staff is doing great. We felt like we had the club to ourselves. A must play if you are in Vallarta.
Typical Jack
An awesome course! Our Forecaddie, Pablo, was terrific and tremendously helpful. We would not hesitate to play the course again and again and again...
Incredible
The golf course is amazing. We appreciate our game.
Great course
Have played here a few times over the years. Course is always in perfect shape, staff is friendly, degree of difficulty, goes from an few average holes, to just killer holes. So enjoy the course, views are great too..
Excellent course. Must play
Played the Nickolas Course, after the two-day Addidas Invitaional...excellent shape...greens were perfecto.
PVR 2020
Greens in great shape. Course can be set up either difficult or pretty easy. Huge greens that undulate a lot. Take a caddy, saved us a few strokes with local knowledge and distances.
Very nice
I live in Puerto Vallarta and play Vista Vallarta often.
The staff is wonderful. The practice facilities are excellent. The club house and pro shop are excellent as well.
There are two courses here...a Weiskopf design and a Nicklaus design. Both are fantastic. The courses are always in great shape. Try to play both if you can.
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
