Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 9:30 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
Anyone who wonders where Las Vegas is going to put all the newcomers who continue to descend upon the valley hasn't really examined the outskirts of town.
There's still plenty of room, plenty of undeveloped land.
And those who own The Ridges gated community near the valley's far west border are going to use the PGA tour to try to sell a little more of it.
The Ridges sits a fraction north and west of the Bear's Best golf course, which will become part of the Las Vegas Invitational's three-course rotation when the tour is here Oct. 7-10. A visit to the site Tuesday reinforced the image of the Bear's Best as a lush layout with country club amenities available for daily-fee play, while serving as a reminder that the city still has plenty of room to grow.
The PGA tour was neither formed nor initially meant to serve as a real-estate selling device, but that's what it has become in Las Vegas. Gated communities at Spanish Trail (1986 through 1990), Sunrise (1991) and Southern Highlands (2000 through 2003) utilized the exposure gained via the men's tour to sell plots and homes until developers were satisfied and the communities were saturated.
The Ridges, via Bear's Best, intends to do the same.
But for those less concerned with selling new homes than the golf that is going to be played, Bear's Best runs the risk of being not only conquered but tamed by the pros who will each play it one day during the four-day event.
"Well, I think any of the desert courses used in the tournament (are susceptible to very low scores)," said Bear's Best director of golf Adam Owen. "Our course was built to attract high-end customers, but when it's exposed to the pros there's a good chance we'll see a lot of scores in the low 60s."
Yikes! This isn't going to be Chip Beck all over again, is it?
Beck is the former journeyman pro who embarrassed many of the tournament's executives -- and many more of the city's golf fans -- when he shot a 59 at Sunrise (now Stallion Mountain) during the LVI in '91. While everyone appreciates a low score, Beck's 59 had more than a hint of illegitimacy to it due to Sunrise playing so easy by professional standards.
Owen said he wouldn't cringe if a tour player goes that low on his course, yet it's obvious he's seeing (and selling) a broader picture.
"If there's a 59 or a 58 on your course, you get a little notoriety," he said.
I haven't played Bear's Best -- its greens fees range from $125 to $245 -- but I'm told it's definitely going to yield a flock of low scores when the tour is here in October.
"It's still a pretty long course (at 7,194 yards from the tips, albeit at an elevation of 3,200 feet)," Owen pointed out while admitting the course record of 65 held by one of the facility's caddies will be very much in jeopardy.
He said he would not be permitted to "trick up" the course, even if he was inclined.
Bear's Best is a Jack Nicklaus course that showcases exact replicas of his favorite holes from among the 200 courses he has designed, and it brings a cute, fresh presence to the LVI.
But it's in the tournament rotation for one reason alone: Southern Highlands got what it wanted out of the LVI and in steps Bear's Best as a focal point to selling the land around it.
archive
