Changes, champions, more as Las Vegas golf guide is updated

As in year’s past, the Las Vegas golf landscape evolved in different and unique ways over the last 12 months. The Review-Journal debuted its updated golf guide Tuesday, and it reveals some of that.

Here are some highlights:

■ Unfortunately for golfers, the trend of course closures continued when the historic Black Mountain Golf and Country Club was closed in November of 2018. The course opened in 1958.

■ In March, Club Champion, one of the nation’s top custom club fitting retailers, opened a first location in Las Vegas. The store boasts more than 35,000 club, shaft and head configurations.

■ In May, Las Vegas Golf &Tennis, owned by the Boreta family since the 1970s, was sold to Worldwide Golf Shops. The name was changed to Las Vegas Golf Superstore. Several longtime employees stayed through the transition, and the new ownership group invested in major renovations, enhancements and club inventory.

■ In October, Wynn Golf and Country Club, which was closed in 2017, reopened to much fanfare. The Tom Fazio-designed course was once a top 100 course in America. A strong contingent of local, national and international media covered the “reimagined” course opening.

■ In October, Las Vegas resident Kevin Na became just the second player to win multiple Shriners Hospitals for Children Open titles. Na won for the second time and joined Jim Furyk, a three-time Vegas champion.

■ Overall, a study released by several Nevada golf organizations and conducted by Golf 20/20, revealed that the indirect and direct economic of golf in the state is $1.907 billion.

What’s in store for 2020? Stay tuned.

Super, super

Dale Hahn, TPC Summerlin superintendent, was recently honored with the Bill Tomiyasu Award at the Desert Green Conference. According to Jeff Jensen, the Southwest regional field staff representative for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, it’s the highest honor for the green industry in Southern Nevada.

Prior wins

Former UNLV standout Elizabeth Prior won her first professional tournament at a Cactus Tour event played at Sundance Golf Club in Phoenix.

Stellar seniors

Fresh off qualifying for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open this summer, Ronda Henderson won the Nevada State Women’s Golf Association Senior Amateur at Highland Falls on Thursday. Winning net was German native Sigrid Shacher. Flight winners were Christy Atencio (50, gross), Teresa Summers (50, net), Deborah Rees (60, gross), Karen Schroeder (60, net), Karen Herness (70, gross) and Ida Adamczyk (70, net).

Santa Scramble benefit

The annual Santa Scramble for all ages and benefiting the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association is Dec. 8 at Reflection Bay at Lake Las Vegas. Sign up at SouthernNevadaJuniorGolf.org.

Southern Nevada defends border

A team of Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association members defeated a team from Utah 207.5 to 170.5 in the annual Jay Don Blake Border War, which was played at Highland Falls. Winning singles matches for Southern Nevada were Ben and Brett Sawaia, Ian Fritz, Cole Thompson, Skyler Ngo, Bradley Bourn and Aidan Goldstein. The Southern Nevada team captain was SNJGA alum Billy Harvey.

The golf notebook appears Wednesdays. Freelance writer Brian Hurlburt is a two-time author who has covered golf in Las Vegas for more than two decades. He can be reached at bhurlburt5@gmail.com or @LVGolfInsider.