How low can you go? Furnace Creek celebrates 75 years - Furnace Creek Golf Course in Death Valley National Monument, California - Brief Article
Near the bottom of Death Valley National Monument, some 214 feet below sea level in the California desert, Furnace Creek is billed as “the world’s lowest course.'’ It also could be the hottest, since the floor of Death Valley once reached 134 degrees. Conditions are best in winter and spring, when temperatures usually range from 60 to 85 degrees.
No matter what the temperature, the fact that you’re playing golf on a lush, green course in the middle of a place called Death Valley borders on the surreal.
The course, part of the historic Furnace Creek Inn & Ranch Resort and celebrating its 75th anniversary, is approximately 115 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Perry Dye renovated the 6,215-yard, par-70 course three years ago. It already had breathtaking views of the Panamint and Black Mountains.
The $50 green fee is less than you’ll face if playing near the Vegas Strip, and how many other places can you see a roadrunner and a coyote without heading to a back lot at Warner Brothers Studios?
Even more surreal is the trip to Death Valley. If you travel via U.S. Highway 95 out of Las Vegas, you’ll pass legal brothels and the region that includes the secret military base known by UFO buffs as “Area 51.'’