New Primm golf course is challenging

Monday, May 18, 1998 | 10:11 a.m.

PRIMM -- On the outside, the landscape is barren, brown and mean.

But on the inside, the grass is lush, the waterfalls sing and pine trees line the lakes.

Welcome to Primm Valley Golf Club, a mirage in the middle of the Mojave and an oasis Tom Fazio has transformed into a recreational paradise.

Three miles south of Primm on the west side of Interstate 15, Primm Valley is home to two golf courses, the 6,945-yard par 71 Lakes Course, which opened last year, and the 7,060-yard par 72 Desert Course that was played for the first time last week.

Cacti, palm trees and wheatgrass as tall as your beltline characterize the new course. Some of the mean terrain that surrounds Primm Valley has leaked onto the desert course.

Still, Fazio, who built Steve Wynn's Shadow Creek course in North Las Vegas, has designed a track that is both challenging and forgiving. Many of the fairway contours are designed to keep a slightly off-line shot in play. While there aren't as many forced carries as, say, the Badlands golf course in Las Vegas, it's still punishing if a player's ball finds the desert. And a player hitting into the wheatgrass can almost forget about ever seeing his ball again.

Golfers who have experienced both the Lakes side and the Desert side say the new course is more challenging and that a Desert player will enjoy the transition to the Lakes side more than a Lakes player taking on the Desert course.

In addition to the two courses, Primm Valley has an 18-hole putting green, a driving range, a clubhouse and the CompSport Academy of Golf.

Founded by Ralph Mann, CompuSport uses the science of biomechanics -- the study of human motion -- to develop a good golf swing. Two video cameras and a computer help golfers improve their mechanics in academy instruction.

Primm Valley is another attraction Primadonna Resorts Inc. is using to turn the small border town into a destination resort.

Guests at the three resorts get preferential tee times at the golf club but the courses are open to the public. Greens fees are $110, Monday through Friday, and $125, Saturday and Sunday.