If you have been watching The Ridges in Summerlin, you already know something big is happening on the west side of the 215 Beltway. The former Bear’s Best Las Vegas golf course is gone, and in its place, a private members-only club called Amara Golf Club is rising from the ground up. This is not a renovation. It is a complete rebuild, and the scope of what is being planned is unlike anything Las Vegas has seen in a luxury golf community before.
As a Summerlin Realtor who has lived and worked in this area for years, I have been tracking this project closely. Here is what you need to know.
Bear’s Best Las Vegas opened in 2001 as a public course designed by Jack Nicklaus, showcasing his favorite holes from championship courses around the world. It became a beloved part of Summerlin’s identity and a defining feature of The Ridges community. For over two decades, residents and visitors played its 18 holes against a backdrop of Red Rock Mountain views and the Las Vegas skyline.
Bear’s Best Las Vegas opened in 2001 as a public course designed by Jack Nicklaus, showcasing his favorite holes from championship courses around the world. It became a beloved part of Summerlin’s identity and a defining feature of The Ridges community. For over two decades, residents and visitors played its 18 holes against a backdrop of Red Rock Mountain views and the Las Vegas skyline.
That changed in 2024, when Mulligan Holdings Inc. purchased the property for $30.5 million. The buyers were not outside investors with no connection to the area. Andrew Pascal, CEO of PlayStudios and former COO of Wynn Resorts, and Mike Mixer, co-founder of the Las Vegas office of Colliers International, both live in The Ridges. They know this community from the inside.
Their stated motivation was partly protective. The Badlands golf course saga, which ended in a costly legal battle after a developer tried to rezone a shuttered course for housing, was top of mind. Pascal noted that protecting The Ridges from a similar outcome was a primary driver. The solution was conversion to a private club with a level of investment that would make any future rezoning fight essentially moot.
Bear’s Best took its last public round on June 30, 2025. Redevelopment officially began in September 2025.
The $300 million budget is not a rendering. Construction is underway across the more than 200 acres the property occupies in Summerlin South, just west of the 215 Beltway.
Here is a breakdown of what is coming.
The championship course is being completely redesigned in collaboration with Jackson Kahn Design, a golf course architecture firm. Water rights have already been secured. In addition to the rebuilt 18-hole championship layout, the plans include a new 6-hole Par-3 course and golf simulators, giving members a range of options for casual play and serious practice.
The existing clubhouse is being torn down and replaced with a two-level structure. The new building will include underground parking and a main entrance positioned directly off Flamingo Road, which improves access without sacrificing the residential feel of The Ridges.
Inside, members will find a spa and fitness center, a wine lounge, a business center, banquet rooms, and a fine dining restaurant. The social spaces extend outdoors to a family pool with cabanas, a smoothie bar, a sports lounge, four pickleball courts, a volleyball area, and a large event lawn.
The design intent is clear: this is meant to function as a full-time lifestyle hub, not just a place to play golf.
Next up is housing. 15 villa style homes will have modern design elements with 3 models and 4 elevations per model to choose from. Most of the villas will be close to the clubhouse and the amenities. Square footage for the 3 models will be 4,350, 5,290 and 6,080 square feet.
The 2 story villas will be situated on lot sizes from 11,300 square feet up to 24,520 square feet. Garage sizes will feature 680 square feet up to 900 square feet. There will also be several new gated areas within the community that are separate from The Ridges subdivisions that are already built out. Most of these new homes will be along the 18th hole of the golf course.
Since this is a new project and it's currently under construction, information and designs can change. Not all information on this web page is guaranteed to be 100% correct or current.
Amara Golf Club will operate as a strictly private, members-only club. The total membership cap is 265: 250 general memberships plus 15 reserved for villa owners.
The initiation fee starts at $250,000, and it increases after every 50 memberships are sold. Monthly dues run approximately $4,000 and cover family access, including children up to age 25. Memberships are non-transferable in the traditional sense, but resale is permitted with a 50 percent convenience fee applied.
Only members and their guests will have access to the property. No reciprocal arrangements, no day passes, no exceptions. This structure is intentional. The ownership team has been explicit that exclusivity is the product, not a side effect. With 250 memberships serving a region of over two million people, the waitlist dynamic alone will shape the perception of this club for decades.
Properties in The Ridges already command a premium. Luxury homes in this guard-gated community, which spans 793 acres and includes neighborhoods like Falcon Ridge, Arrowhead, Promontory, Redhawk, Rimrock, The Pointe, and Azure, have long attracted buyers who want views, privacy, and a high-end community feel.
Builders like Toll Brothers and William Lyon Homes have left their mark here, alongside fully custom estates.
The addition of a world-class private club within the community's boundaries elevates the value proposition. Green space is preserved. The golf course corridor remains intact. And buyers considering a home in The Ridges or the surrounding Summerlin South area now have access to one of the most exclusive social amenities in the entire Las Vegas Valley.
The projected reopening date for the club is October 2026. The villas will be completed by the end of 2027.
As of this writing, the site is actively under construction. The course demolition and earthwork phase is well underway, and the new clubhouse footprint is taking shape. Those familiar with Bear’s Best will recognize the general layout of the land, but the transformation in scale and character is already visible. The entrance off Flamingo Road is being reconfigured, and the surrounding infrastructure is being brought in line with the project’s ambitions.
If you drive through The Ridges today, the scope of this investment is apparent. This is not a quiet renovation.
Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for amazing drone footage of this ongoing project: Summerlin Realtor YouTube Channel
You can also search YouTube for Summerlin Realtor and Drone Pilot to see all of my drone flights and other videos.
Whether you are looking at resale homes in The Ridges, exploring what is available in nearby Summerlin communities, or trying to understand how this development affects property values in the area, I can help.
I have been a Summerlin Realtor since 2004. I live here, I work here, and I watch this market more closely than anyone I know. If you want a straightforward conversation about what is happening in The Ridges right now and what it means for buyers and sellers, please call me at 702-768-2552 or email me at michael@lvrealty4sale.com.
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