Back
Vista Vallarta Golf Club - The Nicklaus Course
Rating Snapshot
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 |
Hot Deals at Vista Vallarta Golf Club - Nicklaus Course
1-4
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, Restaurant, Beverage CartsAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Lounge
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
-
Photo submitted by Bea1213 on 02/02/2026
-
Photo submitted by tcallaway25 on 06/12/2023
-
Photo submitted by tcallaway25 on 06/12/2023
-
Photo submitted by tcallaway25 on 06/12/2023
-
Photo submitted by u314160452191 on 02/04/2023
-
Photo submitted by u314160452191 on 02/04/2023
-
Photo submitted by u314160452191 on 02/04/2023
-
Photo submitted by u9883322 on 06/12/2022
-
Photo submitted by u9883322 on 06/12/2022
-
Photo submitted by u397521615 on 02/08/2022
-
Photo submitted by browndoodle on 02/02/2022
-
Hole 15 Photo submitted by u290742857 on 12/02/2021
-
Photo submitted by RTomaselli1 on 11/22/2021
-
Photo submitted by RTomaselli1 on 11/22/2021
-
Photo submitted by RTomaselli1 on 11/22/2021
-
Photo submitted by u778001500 on 11/16/2021
-
Photo submitted by u778001500 on 11/16/2021
-
Photo submitted by u778001500 on 11/16/2021
-
Photo submitted by u000006172924 on 12/15/2020
-
No. 16 on the Nicklaus course Photo submitted by greg0000023 on 05/26/2019
-
A bunker and the bougainvilleas on the Nicklaus course. Photo submitted by JasonDeeganGA on 04/09/2018
-
Pro Ivan Cueva on the Nicklaus course. Photo submitted by JasonDeeganGA on 04/09/2018
-
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
-
Photo submitted by TroyJames on 01/24/2018
-
View of one of the holes Photo submitted by kl3443 on 09/20/2012
Great course, bring your app
Course was in great condition. Greens receptive, bunkers well maintained a very playable. I think the devil himself put out some of the pins for my round though. For first time players, you won’t be able to see the pin and how the hole is laid out from the tee for at least half the holes. There is no cart GPS and the scorecard does not have a print of the course so you better bring an app or other device to help you through the course.
Ups and Downs
Great course in a mountain side environment. Hills, ravines, water, sand, everything to test each and every club in the bag. Had a great day with spouse and friends. Highly enjoyable. Friendly staff.
Beautiful course
The clubhouse and pro shop we’re first rate, ALL the staff were great, and the course was beautiful and in great shape. My only challenge was that the course was fairly difficult for a high handicapper playing winter resort golf. I’d love to play it after a month or so of practice.
Great layout
One my favourite courses here. Pricey but with GolfNow app it livable. Definitely the best greens around.
Typical Nicklaus layout
Great layout not for a first game,ball positioning is important on this type of well guarded course, spent my day gardening in traps..!
Guaranteed to return when rust... and sand is cleaned out.!
Great track
Played the Nicklaus course. Beautifully maintained with good hole variety with a great view of the mountains in the background.
Our favourite golf course in all of PV and Banderos Bay
We’ve played them all! By far our favourite is Vista Vallarta - Nicholas followed by Weiskopf (sorry if spelling is off).
The scenery is fantastic. Staff are the best. Our only issue this round was the greens were sanded and we did not know. They were still better than our greens at home at their best
We teed off at 1:30 and finished at 4:40. Fantastic pace of play.
Beautiful and challenging course.Too bad my game was not up to the challenge!!
Challenging but fair
Enjoyed this course. Only 20 minutes from Vallarta. Fairways were generous and easy to hit but surrounded by thick brush crevasses and jungle. Greens in great shape and most surrounded by deep pot bunkers. My caddie was excellent and knew the greens and was excellent on distances from fairway.
5th time
3rd time on this 18: they have two 18. Course conditions are perfect, 3verything is great, only issue I had was stiff shaft left hand clubs. But an issue I find many place...
Solid track
Context: I’m a 7hcp who likes to move around the course at a good clip and enjoy different challenging holes. The vistas at the Nicklaus track are stout. The opening hole is a gentle handshake and #18 is pretty incredible. Good solid holes in between. Fwys are great but they watered them a lot and the ball got no roll. Greens were beautiful but slow. Fwys and tee boxes very nice. Staff is friendly and helpful. The course is in middle of nowhere but many know where it is.
Club rentals are several good options (Rogue irons and woods were nice and clean with good grips). Good options on balls and other items in the clubhouse.
Most reviewers will ask why a round is $200+ but look to GolfNow for a discount. If you paid $200 you might be underwhelmed but still a solid track that is challenging and fun.
Great course
The course was phenomenal. Its well lay out. The fairways are in great shape. The greens are fast but in great shape. The staff are friendly and smiling. I had a great experience. I plan to play another round before I leave Nuevo Vallarta.
Vista - always a good choice
Had friends in town and got a 2pm slot at a very reasonable rate. Greens had been punched 2-3 weeks prior, so they weren’t running super fast, but nice nonetheless. The Nicklaus layout is always fun. The only gripe I have is they switched beer distributors and no longer carry Corona. What is a tourist to do? Drink Tecate and have fun!
Challenging layout
Definitely enjoyed this course. It was a lot of fun to play. It has a challenging layout. This time of year the fairways are on the dry side but not too dry. Greens are moderately fast. I would play this again but only for the hot deal price at this time of year.
good layout
worth playing. so far best we played in this area. due to aeriation we won't play two of the other courses listed with named designers, the other Nicklaus course and the Weiskopf course..
Good course, well worth playing, played in the afternoon. Nice design, bunkers need some sand, if you play aggressively. I bought the course card for 40 pesos, which helped me with distances and course management.
Go with a Caddie
Enjoyed my round and reserved a caddie he was great and experienced ...
