New Strip golf course has good timing

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Carving out a beautiful golf course in the lush green forests that blanket the South is hardly like converting desert land into a golfer's paradise.

Golf course developer Billy Walters was up to the challenge. And he was so confident he could transform 155 acres of dirt and rocks into one of the nation's premier courses, he was willing to spend millions to prove it.

Walters had no clue he would strike gold.

Shortly after backhoes began sculpting Walters' $32 million Bali Hai Golf Club on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, Steve Wynn bought the Desert Inn hotel-casino and announced plans to tear up its golf course.

In one year Bali Hai will be the only championship golf course on the world's most famous resort corridor. And the timing couldn't be better for Walters -- golf packages in Las Vegas are becoming as popular as show tickets.

"The explosion of golf in Las Vegas is phenomenal," said Jeff Reich of book4golf.com, a company that organizes golf packages for America West Airlines. "People around the nation are recognizing Las Vegas as an up-and-coming golf destination."

Reich said the course will be especially attractive to visitors staying at Strip resorts because they are only a few minutes away.

"It seems like 30 minutes is the maximum travel distance people are comfortable with unless it's a spectacular course," Reich said.

Bali Hai's location is not its only advantage. Unlike MGM Grand and the Rio, which have their own courses, Walter's project is not tied to any particular casino and therefore doesn't compete with neighboring hotels. Walters hopes hotels will be more willing to send guests his way.

Walters guided his golf cart along the course's green hills and around the white sand that lines the fairways, admiring what he believes will be one of the nation's top courses. But he isn't quite ready to label it a success.

"There is a lot of risk in this thing," Walters said. "We're a long ways from this being a no-brainer."

If his project was a no-brainer, more than three developers would have subjected themselves to a contentious, controversial and conflict-ridden war for the land in front of Clark County commissioners two years ago.

Walters wrested the Bureau of Land Management property from Tommy Baker, who had proposed a Formula One race track that he planned to serpentine throughout a championship golf course.

Because Baker's project had received preliminary approval and it was expected to bring at least $500,000 into county coffers each year, the final deal had critics accusing commissioners of bowing to Walters. Not only is Walters a respected golf course developer, but he is a major campaign contributor.

The board was so mired in ethics concerns, four commissioners abstained leaving three to vote on a piece of property that some believed was the most valuable undeveloped land in the valley.

Walters never imagined the Strip's only other full-sized course would close leaving him with a veritable gold mine, but he had a hunch about his new venture. That is why he rebuffed his wife's suggestion he drop out of the nasty feud for the land.

"There's only one Las Vegas Strip," Walters said of his persistence to secure the property. "To do something that will be here for many, many years after I'm gone is extremely rewarding."

In return for permission to build his golf course on the BLM parcel, which the county controls, Walters vowed to create a course like no other. He believes he has fulfilled his promise.

Some 3,500 palm trees that ranged in price from $3,000 to $20,000 dot the 18-hole course. Walters spent $300,000 on crushed marble to make the bunkers as white as possible. Black lava rock was imported from Utah to complete the South Seas look.

Seven lakes -- many of which are surrounded by beach bunkers -- adorn the course and a massive water pump keeps two creeks trickling along fairways.

Because the course is under flight paths at McCarran International Airport, Walters is required to keep large birds from settling on the course. He hopes two black Labradors named Birdie and Bogie -- each costing $2,200 -- will shoo away any unwelcome visitors.

"This is the best we can do," Walters said, looking up the 18th fairway where Las Vegas Strip resorts loom over the club house. "We can't do any better than this."

With Las Vegas second only behind Hawaii in the highest green fees charged to golfers, the cost to play was a subject heavily debated during public hearings two years ago.

Baker said his racetrack would subsidize the golf course, which would have allowed rates to hover around $50 per round. Baker took his project to Indianapolis, which is expecting to make $170 million on this weekend's inaugural race.

However, unlike municipal courses or those tied in with subdivisions or hotels, Walters must pay for amenities like water, and he has no subsidies.

Walters is quick to defend his green fees, which are expected to be in the neighborhood of about $250 a round during the peak season. Walters said his annual debt service will be $3.2 million, and he'll pay $500,000 a year for water.

Walters, who has a 50-year lease, keeps 60 percent of the net revenue from the course.

The bulk of the remaining 40 percent goes to the federal government for environmentally sensitive lands.

Pricey green fees are hardly a deterrent, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority officials. Tourists, who are typically high-rollers, take up most of the tee times leaving few for residents.

Because Walter's course is on federal land, he is prohibited from offering locals better rates. But, he emphasized, he fought for the property to give back to Las Vegas and that means catering to residents and visitors.

"I'm looking forward to doing business with every hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and every resident in Clark County," Walters said.