Golfers green with envy of Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort
April 3, 2018 - 4:47 pm
Green is probably the main color golfers are thinking about this week, with the possible exception of Tiger Woods’s Sunday red.
The green jacket is up for grabs at the Masters starting Thursday, but here locally, the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort has gone “green” by putting in play 265 environmentally-friendly EZ-GO golf carts. The resort also recently earned prestigious recognition from golfers.
The Paiute is home to three Pete Dye signature golf courses and each finished at the top of 2017 GolfAdvisor.com reader-review Nevada rankings. The Wolf was first, Sun Mountain second, and Snow Mountain third, after more than 2,800 reviews were tabulated. The Wolf was also ranked 34th nationally.
“Our mission is to offer the ultimate guest experience and it is as simple as that,” general manager Jeff Reid said. “Our team continually looks at each area of our facility and we ask, ‘what can we do better?’ and it is always with our valued guests in mind.
”To be at the top of the review rankings out of thousands of reviews and compared to other high-quality and world-class Nevada golf courses is humbling.”
The new fleet of the energy-saving carts is the largest in the western United States. According to EZ-GO research, the carts are estimated to be up to 59 percent more energy efficient than competitor brands. The carts also feature enhanced driving performance, expanded comfort, interactive touch screen format for yardages and course information and score keeping.
The rest of the Nevada top 10 Golfadvisor.com rankings were TPC Las Vegas, Shadow Creek, Cascata, Conestoga, Mountain Falls, Boulder Creek and Reflection Bay.
Topgolf Shots heard ‘round Golf Channel
Shotmakers, a new series on Golf Channel, debuts Monday and was anchored at Topgolf Las Vegas. The show will feature head-to-head competitions that test precision, distance and control. It will air Monday and Tuesdays at 6 p.m. through April 30.
Nine two-player teams are made up of a male and female competitor and include a former PGA Tour player, mini-tour professional golfers, an Olympian, former collegiate athletes, a trick-shot artist, decorated military veterans and champions from the Topgolf Tour.
MGM Grand is sponsoring team Lightning, featuring Kenzie O’ Connell, 26, a teaching instructor from Denver and a Women with Drive ambassador; and amputee Chad Pfeifer, 36, a professional golfer and decorated retired U.S. Army Corporal from Caldwell, Idaho, who credits golf for saving his life.
Weekly deal
A Southern Nevada Golf Association Social Series event is April 16 at the private DragonRidge Country Club. The day will feature food, drink, and other surprises for $90 at SNGA.org.
Stars on, off course
LPGA Tour player Natalie Gulbis enjoyed the spring showing of the Bellago Gardens last week and worked on her swing at the Butch Harmon School of Golf at Rio Secco.
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.
Upcoming events
Friday: SNGA Short Game Championship, Desert Willow
Sunday-Tuesday: UNLV Women, Silverado Showdown, Napa, Calif.
April 14-15: UNLV Men, The Thunderbird, Phoenix
April 15: Legacy Challenge, Golf Channel Tour, Legacy
April 16: SNGA Social Series, DragonRidge April 17: SNGA Tour, NV State Qualifier, Aliante
April 17: UNLV Football Foundation Tournament, Spanish Trail
April 21-22: SNGA Nye County Championship, Mountain Falls
April 18-21: Derek Jeter Celebrity Invitational, Shadow Creek
April 28-29: RecruitLook Sunrise Junior Championship, Club at Sunrise
April 29-30: Wish Upon a Par 24 Hour Marathon, Angel Park Cloud Nine
May 5: Reflection Bay AJGA Qualifier, Reflection Bay
May 5-6: Boulder City 4-Ball, Boulder City GC
May 7: US Open Qualifier, Canyon Gate
May 10: SNGA Tour, (state amateur qualifier No. 2), Chimera
May 14-15: Women’s SNGA Sr. Am, Chimera
May 18-19: Tiger Jam, MGM, Shadow Creek, Topgolf
May 25: AJGA Junior-Am Fundraiser, Reflection Bay
May 28-31: Mesquite Amateur, CasaBlanca
June 11: United Way Benefit, Spanish Trail
Pro schedules
PGA Tour
What: The Masters
Where: Augusta (Georgia) National GC (7,435 yards, par 72).
When: Thursday-Friday, noon-4:30 p.m. (ESPN); Saturday, noon-4 p.m. (KLAS-8); Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (KLAS-8).
Purse: TBA ($11 million in 2017); winners share: TBA ($1,980,000 in 2017).
Defending champion: Sergio Garcia.
LPGA Tour
Last week: Pernilla Lindberg won the ANA Inspiration.
Next week: Lotte Championship in Hawaii.
Race to the CME Globe: Jin Young Ko.
PGA Tour Champions
Last tournament: Steve Stricker won the Rapiscan Systems Classic.
Next week: Mitsubishi Electric Classic on April 13-15.
Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker.
— The Associated Press