Columnist Dean Juipe: D.I. course may be on its last legs

Dean Juipe

Friday, Oct. 15, 1999 | 10:36 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@vegas.com or 259-4084.

It's a beautiful old course, with every blade of grass seemingly manicured to perfection.

But like a couple of its predecessors that once lined the Strip, the Desert Inn Golf Club may someday be sacrificed under the guise its acreage is more valuable as a real-estate development.

Similar decisions have cost the city two once-marvelous courses, the Tropicana and the Dunes. Those were sad, sad days when those courses were plowed under to make way for sprawling casino projects, and it'll be sadder yet if they ever ransack the D.I.

Horrible thought that it is, the Desert Inn course's future is in doubt.

The property, including the casino, is currently owned by Starwood but is being sold to Sun International Hotels. Once that paperwork is completed, Sun International will step in and there are inferences it will do something drastic.

For starters, it has 32 acres that are unoccupied on the property's southwest corner. But with Sun International supposedly thinking big and with a history of extravagant attractions, 32 acres may be insufficient for what it has in mind.

In addition, or as if that isn't enough, there is talk of taking all or part of the golf course to use for time-share condominiums.

Any decision that eliminates the golf course will come as an unwelcome one to those Las Vegans who not only golf but who enjoy the course's presence and scenic benefits. That said, all the advance lamenting in the world won't have a nickel's worth of impact on those who own the property and are charged with turning it into some spectacular resort.

They're going to do what their pocketbooks tell them to do, just as they did with the Trop and the Dunes.

Funny thing about the old Tropicana course, though: If the MGM had it to do over, it might keep the golf course (or at least nine holes of it) and forget the ersatz theme park it built in its stead. The park has fizzled and the MGM is back in the golf business, looking to build a course near Boulder City.

The Dunes, while a little plain compared to the hilly Trop, was nonetheless an attractive course and it seemed to deserve a better fate than to be paved over and turned into the Bellagio. But, here again, fanciers of golf courses were not consulted on the matter.

The Desert Inn Golf Club has a long history and has been a significant contributor to Las Vegas golf lore. While increasingly expensive to play, it has hosted countless events and is, in fact, serving as a host course for the first three days of the Las Vegas Invitational this week.

As always, the course has been well received during the LVI and is incessantly lauded for its immaculate condition and beauty. Subconsciously, it's seen as a part of "old Las Vegas" that has not only withstood the test of time but adds to the city's diversity and personality.

While buildings get old and structures of every kind eventually show their age, there is no statute of limitations on golf courses. With proper care, the outstanding ones can remain outstanding ad infinitum.

But in Las Vegas, nothing is forever. And a fabulous golf course that has provided so many wonderful memories, is, regrettably, inching toward the endangered list.