Las Vegas Valley golf courses up for sale

Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

The high-profile developer of several Southern Nevada golf courses has put three of them on the market.

Bill Walters, who has made his mark in sports wagering as well as real estate development in Las Vegas, has placed an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal to sell the Royal Links Golf Club, Desert Pines Golf Club and Stallion Mountain Country Club with an asking price of $85 million.

Walters said today no sale is imminent, but he's testing the waters on the market.

"I'm a businessman like everybody else and I buy and sell things from time to time," Walters said.

An advertisement that appeared in Wednesday's edition of the Journal said the sale is listed with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, Houston. The ad indicates the courses are being offered as a portfolio or as individual properties.

The ad notes the courses' proximity to the Strip, Las Vegas' vibrant tourism economy, the area's population growth and that the courses have long-term water contracts.

The three courses on the market have had different track histories.

The Las Vegas City Council chose Walters to develop Desert Pines on city-owned land at Bonanza and Pecos roads. Billed as an affordable public course near the center of the city, Desert Pines opened in 1996.

Stallion Mountain, formerly known as Sunrise Country Club, is actually three 18-hole courses on East Flamingo Road, east of Boulder Highway. Walters acquired the club from tour professional Jim Colbert and Las Vegas businessman Chuck Ruthe in 1997.

Royal Links, an 18-hole track featuring replicas of famous British Open golf courses, was opened in 1998 on Vegas Valley Boulevard.

Walters also owns the Bali Hai Golf Club on Las Vegas Boulevard South near Mandalay Bay. Walters, considered one of the nation's top sports bettors, has had plans to develop El Grande Hombre, which he said would be the longest golf course in the world, in southwest Las Vegas. But the lack of water availability has scuttled those plans, he said.