Siena Golf Club

Beneath the towering Spring Mountains in the Siena community in Summerlin lies one of Vegas golf's most pleasant surprises: the par-72, 6,843-yard Siena Golf Club. The gently rolling rye grass fairways, artfully contoured white sand bunkering and undulating bentgrass greens are all kept in superb condition year-round, and the Curley-Schmidt design team has engineered an excellent blend of doglegs and straightaway holes, as well as a variety of up and down terrain changes to make the course enjoyable for anyone. The key is there are usually generous bailout areas for the feint of heart; but to go low at Siena, one must take chances. Off the tees, most of the landing areas are generous, though fairway bunkers are deep and penal, with soft sand and high faces. Around the greens, there's also plenty of strategic bunkering, and six holes play over or along water.

The strong bunkering and water hazards preclude the need for great length. All four par 3's play less than 200 yards. Eight par 4's play 420 yards or less. Two of the par 5's -- the 506-yard 12th hole and 514-yard 15th -- are reachable in two.

Hit some range balls to warm up because the first hole -- a 420-yard par 4 -- is a gut-check opener. The tee ball must avoid water left and deep bunkers right. The reward for driving closer to the water is that the large, undulating green opens up, away from deep bunkers right.

The 159-yard, par-3 fifth hole is lovely and intimidating. The virtual island green falls off to the left, toward the water. On the par-4, 420-yard ninth hole, there's water down the left side from tee to green, opposite deep fairway bunkers, while the green plateaus out over that water.

The par-4, 400-yard 18th is a strong closer. The tee shot is played uphill to a wide fairway that narrows severely at the green, which is guarded on the right by the beginnings of Lake Siena, which flows to the Tuscan-style clubhouse. Take your par and check out the nearby 1