COURSE REVIEW

Boulder Creek
Golf Club rolls
out the welcome mat

By Murray Anderson,
Contributor

BOULDER CITY, Nev. (March 20, 2003) - Roy Jones Jr., who started his boxing career as a middleweight, decided to step in the boxing ring with a heavyweight and was not only competitive, but dominant.

•More golf course reviews • Las Vegas features • Boulder Creek opens in Boulder City

Boulder Creek Golf Club, in this small Southern Nevada town outside Las Vegas, is ready to go toe-to-toe with some of "Sin City's" heavyweight golf courses.

Las Vegas has gambling, boxing, a plethora of gentlemen's clubs and good golf, and all of it comes with an expensive price tag. Boulder City has a law against gambling, no strip clubs and affordable golf.

But don't think Southern Nevada's newest addition to the golf scene skimps on quality just because it's reasonably priced. Boulder Creek, with an $18.7-million price tag, can easily step into the heavyweight ring with any golf course and more than hold its own.

Boulder Creek opened in January and is quickly cornering the market as the "locals" headquarters for golf.

"The quality of the course and the playability of this course is at the same level of any golf course in the Las Vegas Valley," said Andy Schaper, head golf professional at Boulder Creek. "This is a fun and fair golf course."

When built out, Boulder Creek will have 27 championship holes, a double-ended, lighted practice range with an instruction facility, two chipping greens, five practice putting greens and a lighted par-3 course.

The course currently has 18 championship holes and the practice facilities. The par-3 course, final nine championship holes and lighting system are under construction and expected to be completed in the fall.

"The facility really speaks for itself," said Michelle Powers, Boulder Creek's marketing director. "The quality of our product is outstanding. If we were in Las Vegas, we would be a $200 a round course."

The two nine-hole courses currently open for play are the Desert Hawk and Coyote Run, with the Eldorado nine still under construction.

Mark Rathert, who has designed courses around the country as well as in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and France, built a forgiving experience at Boulder Creek.

In fact, forgiving is the key word when describing Boulder Creek. The fairways are wide and well-maintained. The greens are still new and a little hard but roll true and the rough is hardly rough at all.

As a matter of fact, there really is no rough.

"We really don't have any rough until that Bermuda grass matures," Schaper said. "A lot of courses just beat you up nowadays and we didn't want that. Golf courses can be intimidating places and we're trying to develop a course that is friendly and help people overcome the intimidation."

But just because the course is forgiving, is can still be a challenge with six sets of tees to meet any golfer's desire for abuse. From the championship set of tees to the junior golfer's tees, this course has something for every skill level.

Boulder Creek can measure up to 7,400 yards for the golf purist playing the tips with the par 3s ranging from 170 to 243 yards, the par 4s running from 400 to 490 yards and the par 5s measuring 535 to 633 yards.

The Desert Hawk nine features three holes with water, a couple of split fairways and arroyos running across a number of fairways forcing golfers to pay special attention to the GPS system in each cart.

The arroyos are generally about 15 to 25 yards wide and while a stray ball can be played out of the desert gully, you won't be happy to find your ball there.

As for the Coyote Run nine, not only do the arroyos come into play, but bunkers are prominent throughout the nine holes. About 40 bunkers are on Coyote Run, including seven each on the first and second holes.

Coyote Run No. 2 is intimidating off the tee box. Four bunkers sit around the landing area of the par 4, including the largest of the four waiting for any ball hit in the middle of the fairway.

"We've tried to make it a fun atmosphere for everybody but still put those challenges out there," Schaper said. "We want it fun for everyone from the beginning golfer to the women to the junior golfer to the hard-core golfer."

The extra wide fairways are popular among some of the local golfers.

"I had a real enjoyable time out there," said Stephen Martinez, a Las Vegas resident playing the course for the first time. "The course is forgiving and you can score well out there. The greens were really fast but they were smooth and rolled true. The practice greens helped because they were fast and tiered just like the real greens."

A major goal of the Boulder Creek Golf Foundation is to help junior golf programs prosper. The golf club is looking to get involved with the First Tee program of Southern Nevada and is planning to offer a Scorecard Program where local youngsters can play golf for free by improving their report cards.

Stay and play

Boulder Creek has teamed with the Railroad Pass Hotel & Casino to offer stay and play packages. Railroad Pass is located between Las Vegas and Boulder City and Powers said it is geared toward the true golfer who's not looking to be in the center of the action on the Las Vegas Strip.

To book stay and play packages, contact TravelGolf Vegas - 1-866-457-0062 (702-577-2220).

Eats

Montana's at Boulder Creek offers a full menu for the hungry duffer before or after the round.

The facility also includes a pavilion tent that has 8,000 square feet of meeting or banquet space. The pavilion overlooks the course and can accommodate up to 400 guests.

Summer rates will be reduced for all golfers.

Directions

From McCarran International Airport: Follow Interstate 215 East and connect with U.S. Highway 95 South. Stay on the highway past the Searchlight turnoff and turn right at Veteran's Memorial Drive in Boulder City and the clubhouse is about a mile down on the left side.

From the Strip: Take Interstate 15 North to the U.S. Highway 95 South connection. Stay on the highway for about 25 minutes, past the Searchlight turnoff and turn right at Veteran's Memorial Drive in Boulder City and the clubhouse is about a mile down on the left side.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.