Wahlberg’s Vegas playgrounds: Shadow Creek, F1 party on the Strip
If you were to check out Mark Wahlberg’s Instagram feed, you will detect a passion for golf.
The busy Las Vegas A-list actor and businessman is turning his zeal for the links in to a massive charity event. The inaugural Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation Celebrity Invitational (MWYFCI) is set for Dec. 1-2 at Shadow Creek Golf Course. The Cosmopolitan is the host resort.
These days, the legendarily exclusive Shadow Creek (opened by Steve Wynn in 1989) and the Cosmopolitan are both owned by MGM Resorts International.
The tournament is to attract “the biggest names in the worlds of sports and entertainment,” promises the event’s news release. Two days of special programming and competitive golf (which is typically all variety of golf) are on tap.
Wahlberg is also hosting an F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix VIP event along with the McLaren Formula 1 team Vista Terrace at Drai’s Beach Club’s rooftop party deck. Three-day packages run $5,495 (single-person access to the Drai’s deck) to $64,500 (VIP cabana for 10). The link to the offer doesn’t specify when Wahlberg will be on site.
Expect Wahlberg’s Flecha Azul Tequila and Municipal-brand apparel to be featured prominently.
The Wahlberg Youth Foundation golf tournament, meanwhile, sounds like it will be an annual event.
“There are so many organizations in Las Vegas that are doing wonderful work,” Wahlberg said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to supporting them and continuing to support the organizations that our Foundation has worked with over the years, through the funds raised at this event in our new home.”
Locals can seize on that “new home” reference. Wahlberg sent a ripple across the community last month by selling his townhouse at The Summit for $16.5 million. That led to speculation he might be leaving Las Vegas after moving here in the fall of 2022.
But Wahlberg reportedly plans to live in his 30,000-square-foot estate in the neighborhood, and has told People his family is happy in its new home.
This week, the 52-year-old actor said on the “Today” show, “When we decided to move (to Vegas) we wanted to move before school stated, so we moved in to a temporary place and we now moved into another place. The plan was always to build not only a studio, but a family home. we just moved from one house to another.”
The MWYFCI is scheduled to launch off Dec. 1 with a private welcome party at the Cosmopolitan. The celebrity-amateur tournament airs one a celeb with four amateur participants. That event is scheduled to start Dec. 2 at Shadow Creek, followed that evening by the tournament gala at the Cosmopolitan, featuring star-studded, live entertainment.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.