History is well-preserved at Las Vegas National Golf Club, and there might not be a tournament field out there that’s more appreciative of it than the one gathered for this week’s Senior Desert Showdown.
As one of the oldest courses in town, it’s no surprise that Las Vegas National would have as many chapters to its story as it does. It’s where the Rat Pack used to hang out and as such, there are chairs in the bar with the nameplates of those famous entertainers. (The club restaurant is, fittingly, named the Rat Pack Bar and Grill.) The movie Casino was filmed here and the housing development where the course is located, Paradise Palms, was the place Hollywood stars resided in the 1960s.
“These guys will fit in perfect,” general manager Joe Kelly said of how much senior amateurs will appreciate the venue. “They’ll all know it. They’ll get a kick out of how it fits in with the tournament and the history of Las Vegas and the history of Las Vegas National.”
Las Vegas National is also site of the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame, which serves a broader audience of golf fans. Of course, Tiger Woods is forever enmeshed in the Sin City golf scene considering that in 1996, he won the Las Vegas Invitational, his first PGA Tour title at, you guessed it, Las Vegas National.
Kelly explained that a plaque on each hole helps tie all those elements together by telling the story of the well-known names who frequented the course but also what Woods made on the hole during the tournament.
“There’s a little history on every hole and it’s kind of neat because our tourists get a kick out of it,” he said.
While Kelly, a 74-year-old who came to Las Vegas in 1978 and has been part of the golf scene there ever since, acknowledges that the Hall of Fame, and wall dedicated to Woods’ win, certainly bring people to the golf course, that’s far from all Las Vegas National has to offer.
“It really is amazing that the Hall of Fame really brings people to our golf course and then they play the course and they go wow, we didn’t realize how good of a golf course this is,” said Kelly, who has been at Las Vegas National the past seven years. “I really call it a northeastern-type facility. It’s wall-to-wall grass, mature trees, 64-year-old golf course. There’s no desert landscaping or forced carries over desert areas. It’s really a pretty neat track. It’s different to what you would find in the desert areas.”
At the Senior Desert Showdown, the winner will prevail by being consistent – not hitting shots out of the fairway and into treed areas. A year ago, Las Vegas native Brady Exber, a close friend of Kelly’s who helped bring the event to Las Vegas National, won this event when it was played at Paiute Golf Resort.
Exber, who is in the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame, will return to the field this year at Las Vegas National, where he will find stiff competition. Bryan Hoops of Tempe, Arizona, is also in the field, and after a string of five victories earlier this spring – including back-to-back Golfweek titles in the California desert and the Trans-Mississippi Senior Championship, Hoops has become the man to beat in the Senior Division.
Other notable players in that division include Kevin VandenBerg and Todd Doss, ranked Nos. 1 and 3 (flanking Hoops) in the Golfweek Senior National Amateur Rankings.
In the Super Senior division, Greg Goode is also back to defend his title and Super Legend defending champ Richard Hunt is also in the field.
Read the full article here
