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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 |
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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
Lovely Day and Great Value
Played this course for the first time since 2013 and it didn't disappoint. Just as pretty and challenging as it was then, and in great shape.
Check in was seamless, all staff were friendly and accommodating. We brought our own clubs, but the rentals looked great.
Superb deal at 230 and later, although darkness becomes a factor especially if the pace is slow.
One disappointment is that only the forward tees are rated for women. Some of us women don't play forward!
good value for what we paid.
For a PGA caliber course it was reasonably priced and course was well maintained.
Beautiful layoit
Only complaint was the greens could have been better, lots of kill
Superbe terrain impeccable
Le plus beau et le plus difficile de Vallarta
Tout est impeccable, les allées, les verts, l’environnement
Un golf avec beaucoup de défis, verts surélevés, et protégés pas de belles fosses de sable.
Un vrai défi
Jungle golf
It's a great place to enjoy a vacation round.!!
It's pretty challenging, but absolutely beautiful!!
Great course
We just played this Nicklaus course after having played the Tigre and we liked it much more; there is no comparison.
The beautiful nature all around the course and the lot of flowers are fantastic.
Really great
A must play
I don’t normally enjoy Nicklaus designed courses, but this was spectacular. Not a bad hole on the entire 18.
Sandy greens still in August
Based on previous reviews I almost don’t play here. Besides the sandy greens, the front and back nine were great. I’d play again but want to make sure the greens are great. I called the clubhouse and they said they were fine on the front and back nine.
Vacation prices aren’t always worth it
Paying top dollar to play golf isn’t something I’m unfamiliar with, but this course at this time of year was not a match for the price tag. Being my first time in PV, I can’t speak for time of year and course conditions, but this wasn’t it.
Vista Vallarta (Nicklaus Course) - Solid Golf Course
Chose to play this course while on vacation and was happy I did so. According to our hotel concierge and a few locals I spoke with, this course and the neighboring Weiskopf course are better than the resort courses because of both the conditions/maintenance as well as the terrain changes. The other resort courses are all flat and surrounded by the busy touristy hotel scene closer to the beach. The Vista Vallarta courses are very isolated from the crowded beach front areas and offer beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.
Overall, the course was in very good shape - greens were smooth and pure, bunkers held plenty of sand, and the fairways were lush. There was virtually no one else golfing at the same time I did so I had the entire course to myself which was very enjoyable.
From a price point ($250 when I played in June 2023), it was expensive in my opinion but thats what you get with destination golf. This course was a $50-75 premium to the other resort courses closer to the beach but worth it in my opinion for the reasons I listed.
Tough Course - Needs Play!
Vista Vallarta is awesome! It seems to lack players and therefore probably stuggles a bit with some maintenance areas. Overall the course was great though a little dry...but where does the water come from? We were here is dry season in April. The fairways are A-OK and the rough was playable. Target golf as anything off the rough was essentially unfindable. I'd play it again and recommend others do the same as it needs more play and more cash to get the most out of it! Good luck!!
Nice Course but was over charged
They raised their prices over $50 from last year and they were over priced last year... I decided to give it a try and got a rate from GN for $155 per. Pricey for PV, but heard it was a nice course. It was nice and totally empty, I'm sure because of the price. Not worth that much... Then I had the unpleasant surprise of actually being charged $180 per, not the GN price of $155. Tried calling and was not able to get a hold of anyone...
