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10 Interesting facts about Shadow Creek Golf Course Shadow Creek North Golf Course is a marvel in the desert of North Las Vegas, Nevada, offering an unparalleled golfing experience that combines luxury, exclusivity, and remarkable design. Here are ten interesting facts about this prestigious course: Designed by Tom Fazio: The course was designed by renowned architect Tom Fazio in 1989 and is known for its meticulous design and stunning aesthetics​. Exclusive and Expensive: Initially, until 2000, the only way to play at Shadow Creek was to receive an invitation from Steve Wynn, the hotelier behind its creation. Now managed by MGM Resorts International, it maintains its exclusivity with a hefty green fee of $500​ A Transformative Design: Located in North Las Vegas, Fazio transformed a flat and lifeless desert into a lush, rolling landscape filled with thousands of trees, creeks, lakes, and bursts of flowers, creating a setting that feels more like a Georgian oasis than a Nevada desert​. Limousine Access Only: The only way to access Shadow Creek is through an MGM Resorts International courtesy limo, adding to its aura of exclusivity and luxury​ Renovation and Records: A renovation in 2008, also by Tom Fazio, stretched the par-72 layout to 7,560 yards without materially altering any of the holes. Tiger Woods and Fred Couples share the old course record of 60, while Dustin Johnson holds the record on the newer layout with a score of 66​ A Selective Guest List: Shadow Creek's guest list includes U.S. Presidents, celebrities, and sports stars, with names like George H.W. Bush, Wayne Gretzky, Matt Damon, Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Jordan among those who have enjoyed rounds here​ A Venue for Major Events: The course has hosted significant golfing events, including "The Match: Tiger vs. Phil" in 2018 and the PGA Tour's CJ Cup in 2020, moved from South Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic​ A Desert Oasis: Despite its desert location, the course features a bevy of lakes, creeks, waterfalls, and is so well-manicured and lush that it feels like a different world altogether​ Highly Ranked and Praised: Shadow Creek is consistently ranked among the top golf courses globally, praised for its beauty, design, and exclusivity. It is considered a bucket-list experience for many golf enthusiasts​ Features and Facilities: The course is equipped with a 7-acre short game facility added during the 2008 redesign, showcasing Fazio's commitment to providing a comprehensive and elite golfing experience​. Shadow Creek continues to be a symbol of luxury and exclusivity in the golf world, offering a unique and unforgettable experience to those who have the privilege to play its grounds. Find out more about travel to Shadow Creek Golf Course Why not register today to be the 1st to Receive US Rankings releases for 2024. Lockhart Travel Club Concierge Services FAQ What is the Lockhart Travel Club? Lockhart Travel Club is dedicated to offering its members unique opportunities for world-class golf exploration and adventure. It connects members with like-minded individuals worldwide, aiming to fulfil their desire to play at the best golf courses globally. The club originated from Robert Lockhart's passion, a Scotsman who introduced golf to America in the late 19th century, and it continues to embody his spirit of golf travel​ (Lockhart Travel Club)​. Who are the members of the Lockhart Travel Club? Members are individuals from some of the world's greatest clubs, sharing a common passion for golf and adventure. The club welcomes golfers eager to travel, play, and check off their bucket list of courses. They are driven by the opportunity to see and play the best courses worldwide, taking advantage of the club's network​. What kind of experiences does Lockhart Travel Club offer? In 2023, the club provided opportunities to play in various top-ranked courses and locations, including the Sand Hills of Nebraska and Colorado, the best of Japan and Korea, the English Heathlands, the classic courses of France, and the best of New Zealand’s North Island. The 2024 schedule promises unique experiences in 19 different countries, including Thailand & China, Brazil, South Africa, the Northeast USA, and Australia​. How do I join Lockhart Travel Club? Interested individuals can inquire about membership by contacting the club directly via their official email. The club values connections among golf enthusiasts and strives to plan unique, unforgettable opportunities for its members throughout the year​. For more detailed inquiries or to apply for membership, please refer directly to the Lockhart Travel Club's official website or contact their membership services. Lockhart Travel Club About Us: Learn more about the club Top 100 Golf Courses - Lockhart Travel Club: Explore member experiences and trips

Troubled waters - golf's future in a thirsty world Some golf course operators will soon find themselves battling for enough water to keep their businesses afloat The United Nations has urged world leaders to put the looming crisis over water shortages at the top of the global agenda. In the U.S., there’s scarcely a region not taking stock of its water supplies and how they are governed. There’s also growing concern within the golf industry that its most important natural resource could be drying up. How worried should we be, and what can we do about it? One thing seems certain: to do nothing is to risk everything. More and more golf course operators today find themselves battling for enough water to keep their businesses afloat. The good sense of conserving even in times of plenty is hardly a new idea. The concept is central to the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Yet as history’s litany of failed economies and even empires affirms, it is a lesson man struggles to heed. The command of power and resources transitions constantly and fortunes move with that flow. As the United States ventures deeper into a 21st century of soaring oil prices and sinking financial confidence, concern over the fate of one resource, perhaps the ultimate resource, may come to override all else. Water. Record droughts across the country have drained lakes and rivers, forcing communities and lawmakers to take stock of water resources and the regulations that govern them. Even in areas spared the worst, irregular weather patterns, including floods and record snowfalls, have dealt their own problems. The net result is growing uncertainty about the constancy of supply. As one of the most visible and significant consumers of such a staple, golf often finds itself in the firing line. Unlike a manufacturing plant whose use of water plays out behind brick walls, golf courses are easy targets every time they run a sprinkler. That golf is a game where the product is a leisure activity, not food or medicine, further emboldens opponents. As a result, more and more golf course operators find themselves battling for enough water to keep their businesses afloat. Scarcity may not be new to the Western U.S. but its degree and what’s at risk is certainly on the rise. In California and Nevada, for example, local water districts are writing checks for as much as $3 per square foot to landowners, including golf courses, who get rid of turf in favor of low-water use landscaping. East of the Mississippi, the prospect that there might not be enough water to go around has arrived with an alarming jolt. South Carolina is suing North Carolina over withdrawals from the Catawba River that spans their border. Georgia wants to move its state line north to get more of the Tennessee River, contending it mistakenly lost a portion of the river in a flawed survey in 1818. Across the board, the stakes are high and the rules of engagement invariably hard to follow. Myriad governments, agencies, authorities and other groups have a say in who gets how much water and when. In some instances laws are changing. But even where laws remain unchanged, their interpretation is being redefined. Regardless of the method, the goal is the same: ensuring enough water for the not-so-rainy days. The upshot for golf course owners is an unavoidable battle on multiple fronts. It will not be enough to carry on blithely once rains return to drought areas or even in areas where water may be plentiful today. Golf will need to present a sound scientific case that its water use is clean and efficient. It will need to underpin that case with the economic rationale that more than just a sport, golf is an industry that delivers a $76 billion annual bounty, according to the latest economic impact study. That case will need to be presented to politicians and the public, all the while balanced with the ethical consideration that at the end of the day there are things in the life of a community more important than a game. Moreover, the case cannot be made and won overnight. On the contrary, many predict it will become as much a part of taking care of business as negotiating insurance rates or complying with labor laws. As Bruce Charlton told members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects when they elected him president early in 2008, water is the “bloodstream” of any golf course. “And the water issue will be ongoing and will only rise in importance.” Populations and therefore consumption continue to grow. One recent Virginia Tech projection suggested that the U.S. could be home to as many as one billion people by the end of this century. Pitted against a finite resource, any increase in demand diminishes the share available. As long as golf needs water it will need to say so. The immediate question is whether golf can get its act together soon enough and astutely enough to shape its fate or whether regulators will do so first. Dr. Bob Carrow, a University of Georgia professor who is the lead scientist developing a comprehensive educational program on water conservation on golf courses for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, says the window of opportunity for golf to get in ahead of stringent, potentially damaging regulation is closing. There are two fundamental obstacles for golf course owners. One is physical. No two golf courses are created equal; so while water supply might be in clear and present danger for one owner, another just a few miles down the road may not share that sense of urgency. Some owners have their own legal representation. Many independent owners do not. Getting a critical mass and necessary resources behind any campaign could be tough. The second consideration is cultural. As one attorney representing the industry’s claim to water observed: “Golf course owners are not used to kicking and clawing and scraping to get what they want.” Property taxes and depreciation prompted toes into those waters, but for the most part issues affecting golf operations have been local and dealt with from facility to facility. In contrast, many other industries devote significant resources to protecting their collective interests. In addition to lawyers, they retain lobbyists and channel money to political candidates. Golf is so disparate, with multiple business models and stakeholders, that such long-term, unified campaigning is virtually unknown. If golf course owners have been slow to rally, industry suppliers including irrigation companies, turfgrass growers, and chemical manufacturers have been highly active. Along with researchers, their efforts and innovations have markedly improved golf’s record on prudent water use. Water is now applied more precisely and efficiently than ever. New turf varieties require less water or get by on lesser quality water; products exist to help plants get more out of what rain does fall, and soil moisture sensors dictate irrigation on the basis of need not intuition. That is all good news that needs telling to the right people. That was the rationale for the first National Golf Day in Washington, D.C., in April 2008. Golf course owners, superintendents, builders, PGA professionals and club managers, came together to present golf’s story to lawmakers and media. David Fay, World Golf Foundation chairman and United States Golf Association executive director, told an audience at the National Press Club that attendees represented a “very strong industry coalition.” Fay stressed golf’s “extremely positive” impact on the nation’s economic health, its “environmental stewardship” as well as the industry’s “very positive charitable and human impact” on society. Those three elements – economy, environment, community – offer sturdy legs for a stool on which any future industry campaign could stand. Still, it takes time to win hearts and minds. It is worth noting that a week after the first National Golf Day, Earth Day, conceived to generate awareness of environmental degradation, celebrated its 38th anniversary. That is not to say that golf has not won political gains or at least concessions on the water front in some parts of the country. But ask anyone who has fought those battles in Florida, California, Georgia, Colorado, or the Carolinas, and they will tell you it is hard going. Especially when supply is low and emotions are high. Their experience suggests, like that of the Pharaoh in Joseph’s story, that it makes more sense to take action when you can afford to, rather than waiting until you must. From: AsianGolfBusiness

17th July 2008 Vegas golf club removes turf It's not often you see the general manager of a golf course hugging the man who's digging up the grass on his fairways and replacing it with something similar to desert gravel. That though is exactly what Stephen Goldstein, who's in charge of the Black Mountain Golf and Country Club outside Las Vegas did, after bringing his golf cart to an abrupt stop on the way back to the club house. Mr Goldstein is having 55 acres (22 hectares) of the grass on his course removed, out of a total of 168 acres It's costing between $2m and $3m (£1m - £1.5m) to have done. It should save him more than $50,000 (£25,000) a year. "The main reason was financial", says Mr Goldstein. "We knew that as time went on that water costs were going to increase." "There was going to be a time when we would either be mandated to reduce our water consumption or obviously from a financial condition it would be difficult for us to water all the areas." Water in Las Vegas is at a premium. One of the most important cities in the United States is slap-bang in the middle of one of the driest areas in the world. The reason Mr Goldstein can afford to tear up some of his grass is because the Southern Nevada Water Authority is so keen to get people and businesses here to use less water that it's paying them $1.50 for each square foot of grass they remove. So for example there will only be grass on the top of the Tee Boxes, not on the sides, and the rough will now be predominately gravel, with hardy trees and cacti growing on them So some domestic gardens now no longer have grass and thirsty shrubs in them. They have gravel, desert landscaping, and cacti. Indeed new housing developments are not allowed to put in gardens. This part of the US has suffered almost a decade of drought. Las Vegas is at the sharp end, but all the states in the region are affected. There's plenty of disagreement about what's causing the drought. Many here say it's just a dry spell, that the rains will return. But the General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Patricia Mulroy, says there's no doubt in her mind that man-made climate change is to blame. "We're going to have to change our whole approach to water management in this part of the United States", she says. By: Matthew Price - BBC