Columnist Victoria Sun: Palmer pays visit to Red Rock

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 9:57 a.m.

Victoria Sun is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Her golf column appears Wednesday. Reach her at 259-4078 or victoria@vegas.com

That wasn't the President of the United States who helicoptered onto the property of Red Rock Country Club Tuesday morning.

It was golf legend Arnold Palmer.

Palmer, 71, flew in to christen the construction of the club's 44,000 square-foot main clubhouse, scheduled to be completed in early 2001.

The four-time Masters champion helped design the Arnold Palmer Mountain and Arnold Palmer Arroyo courses for the club, which opened last June.

Both courses are still under construction. For now, club members are playing on a combination of the two courses, which had to be refurbished after a storm washed away a few of the holes last July.

Kris Klabik, director of golf at Red Rock, said that the club added 22 bunkers, 500 trees and 100 yards, giving it 6,965 yards to make it more challenging.

Once finished, the Mountain course will be 6,988 yards and the Arroyo course will be 6,973 yards.

"The golf course is going to be fun to play," Palmer said. "It's going to be one that will challenge you if you want a challenge or just be fun if you want to go out and play.

"It will vary (in) that respect. We can get it up to about 7,000 yards or we can bring it down to just where it's a little over 6,000 yards."

Kory Williams, a golf course architect with the Palmer Course Design Company, discussed the signature style of a Palmer course. Palmer, the winner of 60 PGA Tour events including eight major championships, has designed more than 100 courses all over the world.

"It's having gentle, rolling slopes," Williams said. "It's not a lot of gimmicks.

"All of the hazards and features should be seen if they come into play from wherever you're hitting the ball.

"We brought the mountains into play at (holes) 15, 16 and 17 and used the natural drainage ditches so the water would charge down from the mountain when it rained. We didn't want to disturb the natural environment around the course."

Palmer warmed up in front of a gallery of fans and answered their questions before participating in a media charity event. Afterwards, he played nine holes of the makeshift course.

Palmer, ever the gentlemen, was funny, witty and accommodating to the few people who asked him questions.

He told the crowd that he still gets up every morning around 4:30 to "keep in tone" by running a few miles and exercising.

At one point, he quipped with a sly grin, "I gotta get my Pennzoil tee out of the bag." Palmer is a pitchman for the oil company.

Palmer has collaborated with Golf magazine columnist James Dodson to write "A Golfer's Life," a New York Times best-seller chronicling his life and the evolution of golf through his eyes.

The 432-page autobiography is $15, and according to Palmer, a must-read.

" 'A Golfer's Life,' you'll like it," he said. "Once you start, you won't stop."

When he's not involved in corporate outings or working on new designs, Palmer can still be found doing what he loves to do most -- playing golf.

Palmer continues to play on the Senior PGA Tour and participates in a few PGA Tour events each year.

"I'm playing," he said. "I'm going to play this week. "With my game not (as) good as I'd like it to be, I'd rather get playing better and have some excitement about going to play. That's what I'm trying to do."

It's a safe bet that most hackers would love to have Palmer's skill, even on his worst day.

* WINNERS: Jim Saub Jr. took first place in the Black Mountain Amateur-Senior Division event over the weekend while Paudie O'Connor nabbed the top spot in the amateur-net division and Dana Wade captured the amateur-open division.

* JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS: The Spring Break Jr. Classic for kids 10 and under will be held March 26 at the Angel Park Golf Club on the Cloud Nine course. There will also be a tournament for kids 11 and older at the Callaway Golf Club on the same day. Entries for both fields are limited to the first 60 applicants and tee times start at 11 a.m. The cost is $15 per player. Entries must be received by March 17. For more information call the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association at 433-0626.