Dunes Golf Course, Las Vegas, Ladies Cotton Tee

Description

The Dunes Golf Course, formally known as the Emerald Green course, was a defining amenity of the iconic Dunes Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It opened in 1964, becoming one of only two Strip resorts to feature its own golf layout (the other being the Desert Inn). The conception of Emerald Green reflected a broader vision: to evolve the Dunes from mere gambling resort into a full “hotel and country club” destination. The course stretched over about 80 acres along the east side of Interstate-15, between Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue. Designed by the respected golf architect William P. Bell, the course measured an ambitious 7,240 yards—making it, for a time, the longest layout in Nevada. Its terrain featured modest elevation changes and the desert-inflected landscaping of palms, bunkers, and water hazards, intended to evoke a lush oasis in the middle of the Strip. For many years, Emerald Green drew both serious players and tourists seeking recreation between casino nights. It reportedly hosted tens of thousands of rounds annually, second only to the municipal course in downtown Las Vegas. The Dunes marketed itself as more than a casino—offering the complete resort experience, with golf, dining, entertainment, and lodging under one banner. Following the Dunes’ financial struggles and eventual sale to Mirage Resorts in 1992, plans were made to redevelop the property. The casino closed on January 26, 1993. As Las Vegas transformed in the 1990s, the Emerald Green course was gradually erased: the land was subsumed into the master plan footprints of Bellagio, CityCenter, Park MGM, and the T-Mobile Arena. Though the Dunes and its golf course are long gone, Emerald Green endures in Las Vegas lore as a bold experiment—a high-end course built right in the heart of the Strip. It symbolized a time when casinos dared to add luxurious, non-gaming amenities to lure guests, and it helped cement the Dunes’ ambition to be more than just a place to gamble.