Shadow Creek GC
North Las Vegas, NV
1989, Tom Fazio & Andy Banfield
Back 7239, 71.0, 115, 72
Regular 6701, 68.9, 113, 72
Fees: $500
Golf Digest Review by Matt Ginella: When Steve Wynn hired Tom Fazio to build a desert golf oasis for the highest of rollers, Wynn spent a ton of green, Fazio moved a ton of sand, and to be honest, I was sure I'd hate it. A round costs $500, for one. With lakes, waterfalls, palm trees and streams in the desert, it had to feel contrived. Rolling up in a stretch limo, I knew I was going to feel obnoxious. Yet, as the same limo dropped me off at the hotel afterward, I was savoring one of the most unusual and enjoyable golf experiences of my life.
If you have $500 to spare, and you're an avid golfer, I suggest you treat yourself. Stretch out, slow down, look around and eat lunch on the back porch. You'll hear stories about how they've turned away world leaders and world-beaters. Sorry, Bill Clinton, if you're not staying at an MGM property, no Shadow Creek for you. You might play the same day as a George Bush or the George Clooney, and you might get to use a locker next to Michael Jordan, Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods. (Tiger has the course record: 60.) You won't regret the spend. Be sure to celebrate with a Rhondarita--the Creek's special margarita.
If you're staying at one of Vegas' MGM properties you can try to arrange a tee time by calling your concierge. (Guest tee times are limited.)
Golf.com Review: Shadow Creek is golf's Brigadoon -- a mythical place that precious few have actually laid eyes on. There are two reasons for this: For years it was open only to high rollers at Steve Wynn's Mirage casino, and even now -- when the course is open to guests at all MGM Mirage properties -- the fee is a high-rollin' $500. But despite its infamous $40 million price tag -- in 1989 dollars -- Shadow Creek is no typically gaudy totem of Synthetic City.
True, the course offers not a hint of the surrounding desert. (The only sand you'll see is in the bunkers.) Instead, Tom Fazio's design conjures a Carolinas feel with treelined corridors and more rises and falls than a novice's chip stack. But what you get for your five notes is one fine hole built upon another until you reach a show-stopping finale at Nos. 17 and 18.
The strong holes actually begin at the fourth, an eye-catching par 5 that curls around a lake, followed by a 206-yard par 3 at which your tee shot is played across the roof of a mini-forest. One interesting quirk here: The course has no UGSA handicap or slope rating because it's designed to be a match-play track. This is Vegas, after all, home of the $1 million Nassau.
It's easy to dismiss Shadow Creek as a mere feat of engineering, a symbol of what you can do with flat desert if you have an unlimited bankroll. It's surely that, but much more as well. Perhaps the best tribute to Shadow Creek is that the finest course in Las Vegas -- one designed as a playground for the town's biggest bettors and still the pinnacle of glitter-speckled golf -- makes you forget where you are. It's simply great golf. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less. -- Eamon Lynch
Where To Booze, Grub, Stay, & Gamble: Be sure to celebrate with a Rhondarita--the Creek's special margarita.
See also: Fat Guy's Vegas Golf Weekend