For now, Lake Las Vegas' Falls and Reflection Bay courses are off the menu for Las Vegas golf vacations.
Not sure if you’ve been following this story, but two of the best courses to play on Las Vegas golf vacations have shut their doors.
Lake Las Vegas Resort (lakelasvegas.com), which filed for bankruptcy protection in July of last year, first closed its spectacular Tom Weiskopf-designed Falls Course on January 30. Then, on June 30 of this year, it closed Reflection Bay, its memorable Jack Nicklaus design.
Will those with Lake Las Vegas golf vacations already booked or planned travel to the desert only to be left out in the cold?
Not likely. The various hotels located at the resort are making arrangements for guests to play other Las Vegas golf courses.
For example, those who booked Lake Las Vegas golf packages at Loews can redeem the golf portion at Tuscany Golf Club, The Legacy, Royal Links, and the two courses at Anthem Golf & Country Club (Revere and Lexington). Despite what was reported elsewhere, the private DragonRidge Country Club is not one of the options.
The Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas is steering people to the courses above plus Rio Secco, Cascata (but at the full $500 plus a $50 caddie fee), and, until the end of the month, Southshore, the private course for the residents of Lake Las Vegas’ same-named community.
Why only until August 31? Well, according to the Las Vegas Sun, it, too, is on its way to foreclosure and will be sold on September 9th.
Want to know where the editors of Golf Odyssey recommend playing while on Las Vegas golf vacations? They published their most recent list of recommendations in the February 2009 issue. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can still get this issue (and access to the entire online archive of reviews) by taking a limited-time free trial.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Unbelievable! It’s amazing at how effective the recession has been in the Vegas area. Any word on Shadow Creek? Is it still going strong?
No, we haven’t heard any rumblings about Shadow Creek. But if Cascata is still charging $500 per round, you can bet Shadow Creek is, too. Now, it anyone is paying it — that’s another story. It’s probably safe to assume that there is more availability than ever.
Just awful. It is going to take years for Las Vegas to turn around. lake Las Vegas is turning into a ghost town.
Not sure if you read the comments on the Las Vegas Sun article mentioned above, but many say that the wind is whistling through the halls of the Lake Lake Vegas resort. Others say it’s been busy. Hard to tell what’s true and who (i.e. homeowners) have an interest in keeping up appearances.
Don’t cry for Las Vegas. There are still plenty of quality golf courses left to play and many equal in every way to the three courses at Lake Las Vegas (and a lot closer to the Strip.)
Not to be overlooked are Siena Golf Club, Arroyo Golf Club at Redrock, Bear’s Best and the three Pete Dye masterpieces at the Paiute Resort, Snow Mountain, Sun Mountain and the Wolf.
As big a disaster happened a few years ago when Stallion Mountain Golf Club (now defunct) began closing their three courses. I’ve golfed in Vegas for twenty years and the quality and number of courses today is profoundly superior to what it was two decades ago.
Agreed. Las Vegas is still full of great golf. But it always saddens us when two of the top courses are taken out of the mix.
Decent courses but way OVERPRICED. If American Golf or another golf operator moves in to take over they should price these courses competitively and provide for local rates.
That’s incredible. The Weiskopf course especially was spectacular. I know things have been off in Vegas market but those are two courses, with the Hyatt and Ritz Carlton there, that I would not expect to have died.
A bit out of the way from the strip…but really great golf.
Sad day.
I am not a golfer, but I did visit the Montelago Village last weekend at Lake Las Vegas. I live in the Pacific NW. While the mornings on the weekend were kinda slow, just after lunch, the village traffic picked up. The restaurants were all full at dinner time and there was an outdoor concert on Friday/Saturday night. I had heard the casino was dead, but about 2/3 of the slots were being used and about 1/2 of the tables open.
I heard the village used to be really packed, but it was plenty busy while I was there. The bars were full and had live bands. I really had a nice time.
The golf courses were still being maintained. The rumor is that both of them were bought by the same owner and should re-open in the fall. They closed because the debt was so high. Reflections had some $27 million in loans. The courses and much of the US has to reset things from the housing bubble that inflated so much of the real estate. Golf courses can’t sustain at that price and homeowners couldn’t either and their homes foreclosed.
Lake Las Vegas is too beautiful of a place to go bust. All resorts are slower in this economy. Also, I visited the strip. Not a ghost town either. I think I read in Time Magazine that flights are down 6% from last year. That means that 94% of the people are still going.
Craig, I’m considering buying a condo in Lake Las Vegas as the prices are great right now. I’ve read the Las Vegas Sun. There are a few posters, namely Bdover and NedNougat, who are the same person. I’m sure this person has more aliases. This person claims that LLV has dues of $1,200.00 a month. They are not. My real estate searching revealed that the most expensive is about 1/2 of that. This person is also attempting to guage the viability of a community by visiting the casino, mid-afternoon and mid-week. I had a friend who visited a few weeks ago and the village was sold out. Check out the “staycation” article in the sun. LLV was busy with locals.