bulldozing the landmark was not
popular in town.
Fazio was called again and the
results are stunning. Wynn Golf
Club rolls and heaves and meanders
thanks to moving some 800,000
cubic yards of dirt. You’d never know
that the course sits right in the
middle of the Strip until you get on
the outer edges of the course and
see the tops of some of the hotels
and resorts.
Putts going away from the mountain
are decidedly faster than putts going
into the mountain, even if they look
as if they are level or even in the opposite direction.
The course was built at a reported cost of $60 million and is
one of the jewels in the Las Vegas
golf scene. It, too, commands a
$500-per-round price tag in season.
However, the vistas that you take in
on each and every hole are unlike
The service at Cascata is impeccable from the shop
staff to the forecaddies that accompany each group.
Unlike Shadow Creek, Wynn Golf
Club accepts public play. But like
Shadow Creek, it’s a $500 price tag
in season. One highly placed golf
insider, who has played both, says
that Wynn Golf Club is every bit as
good as Shadow Creek.
Just outside Las Vegas in nearby
Boulder City is Cascata, a Rees
Jones-design carved into the side
of a mountain. Cascata is translated in Italian as “waterfall,” and
a 418-foot waterfall flows down the
mountain and ends as a stream
that runs through the middle of the
37,000-square-foot clubhouse.
The service at Cascata is impeccable from the shop staff to the
forecaddies that accompany each
group. Cascata’s layout runs up
the mountain on the front nine and
back down on the incoming nine.
Because of that design, it’s a must
to pay attention to your forecaddie.
any that you will find in the Nevada
desert. Cascata is clearly one of the
best things Jones has done, particularly on this scale. He has done
better courses, but not one nearly
as panoramic as this one.
Rio Secco, Cascata’s sister
course – both owned by Harrah’s
– is located in nearby Henderson
and is also a Rees Jones creation.
This one, while not as dramatic as
Cascata, is still a visual treat. Part
of the course rises above the desert
floor with the Vegas Strip in the
distance, part of it plays through
canyons and part of it rolls through
the desert.
The course is striking in its own
way and is just as much of a treat as
Cascata but without the gaudy price
tag. Rio Secco is open to the public
and greens fees run from $100-
$175 on weekdays and $175-$295
on weekends. A
