{"id":259,"date":"2009-08-30T17:45:31","date_gmt":"2009-08-31T00:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffwallach.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2011-03-02T17:53:45","modified_gmt":"2011-03-03T00:53:45","slug":"golfs-secret-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/259\/golfs-secret-garden","title":{"rendered":"Golf’s Secret Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo

Photo by Larry Lambrecht.<\/p><\/div>\n

Not far from Area 51 in the Nevada desert lurks a secret as well-protected as any alien spacecraft and no less unlikely.\u00a0 Tucked into the mountains above Boulder City thirty minutes from Las Vegas lies Cascata– a golf club so private that it has no members, a place so exclusive that the most powerful people in the golf business are afraid to talk about it.<\/p>\n

To appreciate Cascata\u2019s niche in American golf requires some context.\u00a0 In the late 1980s, Steve Wynn, who was chairman of the company that owned The Mirage Hotel and Casino, built Shadow Creek Golf Club on a flat piece of desert wasteland outside Vegas.\u00a0 Tom Fazio, who designed the course, has said that Wynn gave him an unlimited budget and he exceeded it.<\/p>\n

After opening in 1989, Shadow Creek began providing an elite clientele with a private golf enclave.\u00a0 To garner an invitation, you had to stay at The Mirage and either be famous or gamble a lot of money or both.\u00a0 Wynn reasoned that guests would spend enough in his casinos to off-set the expense of operating the course.\u00a0 By excluding most people, Shadow Creek\u2019s mystique grew to Vegas-style proportions.<\/p>\n

But three years ago Shadow Creek began offering tee times to any old Mirage guest willing to pony up $500 for the pleasure of whacking golf balls beside the likes of Michael Jordan and former President Bush.\u00a0 Some industry insiders site large deficits to explain the club\u2019s unexpected democratization.\u00a0 Whatever the reason, though, several years ago MGM decided to build an ultra-private golf course to rival Shadow Creek and possibly win over some high-rolling devotees of its own.\u00a0 MGM hired course architect Rees Jones to design a stunning high-budget venue (for a price tag rumored at upwards of $50 million) with huge elevation changes and dramatic water features in the desert outside Boulder City.\u00a0 But before crews finished building the place, MGM bought Mirage Resorts.\u00a0 Faced with owning two ultra-exclusive deficit-producing golf courses that cost a gazillion dollars, MGM sold off Cascata to Park Place Entertainment (PPE), a publicly-traded New Jersey gaming company that owns Caesar\u2019s Palace and other casino properties.<\/p>\n

Cascata opened quietly this past November without issuing a single press release, and without a journalist or public relations specialist in sight.\u00a0 They generated not a pica of hype.\u00a0 They staged no gala full of waltzing demi-dignitaries.\u00a0 The club\u2019s phone number remains unlisted.\u00a0 In fact, Park Place Entertainment has deflected all press requests to see the course, claiming they\u2019re just not ready for publicity yet.\u00a0 They have essentially waged an anti-marketing campaign.<\/p>\n

Failing to receive any kind of entree to Cascata through corporate and pr. channels, I tried to talk my way in as a potential client.\u00a0 Surely they must have potential clients, I reasoned.\u00a0 So I called Caesar\u2019s Palace and identified myself as a gambler who was coming to Vegas (I was<\/span> coming to Vegas) and wondering what it might take to play a round of golf at Cascata.\u00a0 A series of phone transfers eventually landed me on the line with a Senior Credit Executive, who evaded my inquires by saying that Cascata carried \u201ca high criteria.\u201d\u00a0 I implied that this wouldn\u2019t pose a problem, and asked if he could be a little more specific.\u00a0 He hesitantly suggested that I might, for example, want to open a casino line of credit for, say, $25,000 and gamble with that money.\u00a0 But $100,000 might better ensure my invitation.\u00a0 He was kind enough to add that I should only gamble at a level I was comfortable with.\u00a0 \u201cWhy blow $25,000 for a round of golf?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Unable to gather much more information about the golf course itself although I pursued a multitude of sources, I finally called architect Rees Jones\u2019s office.\u00a0 I figured that the designer of such a purportedly fabulous venue would want to talk about his work.\u00a0 When I told Jones\u2019s assistant what I was after she laughed good-naturedly and wished me luck.\u00a0 Jones himself, known for his media accessibility, said, \u201cThey\u2019re being very private about this. \u00a0I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m supposed to talk to you.\u00a0 I\u2019m probably in trouble already.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after receiving \u201cclearance\u201d from PPE, Jones was able to offer a few words about Cascata.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the eighth wonder of the golf world that they considered building a golf course on that site,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cWe made our own soil, blasted rock, recreated streams– it was a phenomenal undertaking.\u00a0 You can\u2019t imagine.\u00a0 I can tell you everything, but no matter how I pump it up, it will actually exceed what I tell you.\u00a0 You have to see it.”<\/p>\n

A week later, in Vegas on other business, I tried to do just that.\u00a0 I pulled off the highway at Boulder City, turned left past the \u201cPrivate: Do Not Enter\u201d sign, and eventually came to a lonely gate erected as if it could hold the desert at bay.\u00a0 First, I rang the buzzer and asked the voice that answered if I could just come in and have a look around.\u00a0 He told me: sorry, no.\u00a0 So I climbed out of my car and circumvented the gate on a rocky hill from the top of which I could see Cascata\u2019s sprawling clubhouse and a line of palms I knew defined Jones\u2019s artistry.\u00a0 But not wanting to be spotted, I circled back on a dirt road that ended close to where the course lay.\u00a0 As I prepared for a short cross-country walk, a shiny truck with the Cascata logo drove up to the other side of the padlocked fence where I\u2019d parked.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I help you?\u201d asked a security guard who was clearly not there to help me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for a place to hike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is private property,\u201d he said, rattling the fence with both hands as if strangling it.<\/p>\n

Rebuffed, I drove back toward town and stopped at the Rebel mini-mart half a mile from Cascata\u2019s entrance.\u00a0 As I paid for my coffee I asked the cashier if she knew anything about the new golf course up the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much.\u00a0 I know they\u2019re taking applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor membership?\u201d I asked, surprised.<\/p>\n

She looked at me strangely.\u00a0 \u201cFor maintenance jobs.\u00a0 They\u2019re paying $12 an hour!\u00a0 Just drive up and they\u2019ll buzz you in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just by writing about Cascata here we\u2019ve probably furthered the success of their anti-marketing campaign.\u00a0 Just by reading this story, you probably want to play golf at Cascata, too.\u00a0 Not only because it might be a great golf course, but precisely because you\u2019re not welcome.\u00a0 Unless you need a maintenance job.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Photo by Larry Lambrecht.<\/p><\/div>\n

A much-condensed version of this story appeared in <\/strong>Sports Illustrated<\/strong><\/em> in 2001.<\/strong><\/p>\n


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