Laughlin time zone: Nevada and Arizona clocks on your tee times

The Laughlin time zone is Pacific time, but most of the golf is in Arizona, which keeps Mountain Standard Time all year. From November 1, 2026 to March 14, 2027, Arizona courses run one hour ahead of the Laughlin casinos. A 9:00 AM tee time in Bullhead City is 8:00 AM on Casino Drive.

This is the most common way visitors miss a tee time on the river. You sleep in Nevada, cross the bridge to play in Arizona, and the clock jumps an hour. It also catches snowbirds staying in Arizona who book Mojave Resort or Rivers Edge, the two courses on Pacific time.

Quick facts

• Laughlin, NV and Needles, CA: Pacific time with daylight saving.
• Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, Mohave Valley, Kingman, Lake Havasu City: Arizona time (MST, UTC-7), no daylight saving.
• Different clocks: Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 14, 2027. Arizona is one hour ahead.
• Same clock: Mar 14 to Nov 7, 2027.
• Pacific-time courses: Mojave Resort and Rivers Edge.
• Airports: Las Vegas is on Pacific time; Phoenix, Laughlin/Bullhead (IFP) and Lake Havasu City are on Arizona time.

The Laughlin time zone, explained

Laughlin is in Nevada and follows Pacific time, the same as Las Vegas and California. It changes clocks twice a year: Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8) from November 1, 2026 to March 14, 2027, then Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7) until November 7, 2027.

Arizona does not change its clocks. Outside the Navajo Nation it stays on Mountain Standard Time (UTC-7) all year. So in summer, when Nevada is on daylight time, both sides of the river read the same. In winter, when Nevada falls back, Arizona ends up one hour ahead.

That winter gap covers most of the golf season. November to March is when most visitors come, and January to March is the winter-visitor peak. Nearly all of those tee times fall inside the window where the Laughlin time zone and Arizona differ.

Which clock each course uses

Each tee sheet runs on its own local time, not the Laughlin time zone. Here is how a 9:00 AM booking lines up between November 1, 2026 and March 14, 2027.

Drive times are free-flow estimates from our map data. From mid-March to early November, ignore the fourth column: both clocks match.

Staying in Laughlin, playing in Arizona

Most golf trips run this way. You stay at a Casino Drive hotel such as the Riverside or Harrah's and play Laughlin Ranch, Huukan, Los Lagos or El Rio in Arizona.

In winter, the Laughlin time zone puts your hotel clock an hour behind the course, so leave an hour earlier by the hotel clock. A 9:00 AM tee time at Laughlin Ranch is 8:00 AM in your room, and the drive from the bridge is about 9 minutes. If you leave at 8:45 by the hotel clock, you arrive close to 10:00 Arizona time and an hour late.

Two habits help. Write every Arizona tee time in both clocks when you book. And set one device to Arizona time for the trip, leaving your phone on the Laughlin time zone for dinner reservations and shows on Casino Drive.

The Laughlin Ranch rules make this expensive to get wrong. Cancellations inside 24 hours cost 50% and no-shows pay in full. The Laughlin Ranch course guide has the rest of its booking terms.

Staying in Arizona, playing in Nevada

Snowbirds in Bullhead City or Fort Mohave have the opposite problem: their Arizona clock is ahead of the Laughlin time zone. The Mojave Resort tee sheet runs on Pacific time. A 9:00 tee time there is 10:00 on an Arizona clock, so you have an extra hour, not one less.

Mojave Resort sits beside the Avi at the south end of Laughlin, close to Fort Mohave by the Veterans Memorial Bridge on Aztec Road. That bridge puts a Nevada course a short drive from Arizona-side stays such as Snowbird RV Park, 12 minutes away. Nevada time still applies. The Mojave Resort course guide covers the layout.

Rivers Edge in Needles is in California and also runs on Pacific time. Its daily hours are dawn to 5 PM, with carts in by sunset.

The Avi Casino KOA is on the Nevada side next to Mojave Resort, so its clock is Pacific even though the Fort Mohave courses nearby run on Arizona time.

Lake Havasu City and the far side of the lake

All the Lake Havasu courses run on Arizona time: Lake Havasu Golf Club and Iron Wolf. If you stay in Lake Havasu City and play there, the clock never changes.

One trap: Havasu Landing Resort & Casino sits across the lake in California, on Pacific time. In winter it is an hour behind Lake Havasu City tee times, and getting across depends on a ferry or a long drive round the lake.

Twilight rates also depend on the clock. Lake Havasu Golf Club's West course drops to $50 after 3 PM, and in midwinter that leaves about two and a half hours of light.

Airports and drive-in days

Las Vegas (LAS) is on Pacific time, the same as Laughlin all year. Phoenix (PHX), the Laughlin/Bullhead airport (IFP) and Lake Havasu City airport are on Arizona time. IFP sits on the Arizona bank, directly across the river from the casinos, so its clock is one hour ahead of your casino hotel in winter.

If you land in Phoenix and drive to Laughlin in winter, you gain an hour at the river. Fly out of Phoenix after a Laughlin stay and you lose it back, so build that into your last morning's tee time. Our flights to Laughlin and Las Vegas to Laughlin guides cover the routes.

Phones and Canadian clocks

Phones near the river can pick up a tower on the other side and show the wrong time. Check your phone's time zone setting in winter, especially before a dawn start.

Canadian visitors have one more layer. British Columbia has stayed on UTC-7 since March 8, 2026, so Vancouver matches Arizona all year and is one hour ahead of Laughlin in winter. Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatchewan are on UTC-6, one hour ahead of Arizona all year. Our guide for Canadian snowbirds in Laughlin covers the rest of a winter stay.

Does the Laughlin time zone affect where to stay?

It can. If most of your rounds are on Arizona courses, staying on the Arizona side keeps everything on one clock. Bullhead City, Fort Mohave and the RV resorts along AZ-95 suit a winter of Arizona-time golf. If you want the casinos, stay in Laughlin and keep the two-clock habit. See where to stay in Laughlin for golf and our Laughlin tee times guide.

Other desert golf towns have the same split. See the Mesquite and Arizona time zone guide and Yuma's time zone.

Plan it on the map

The Laughlin golf map marks each course's tee sheet clock and the drive from your stay. The $30 plan writes every tee time in local time, so a winter trip that crosses the river never leaves you an hour out.