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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 3-time PGA Tour winner Billy Ray Brown who explains why he and Fred Couples were denied a round at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.

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The post Jason Kokrak: The greens at this public course are as good as Augusta National appeared first on Golf.

The post Jason Kokrak: The greens at this public course are as good as Augusta National appeared first on Golf.

It took Jason Kokrak 233 starts on the PGA Tour to bag his first victory. It took only 16 more to get his second. The 36-year-old Kokrak just put a bow on a monster 2020-21 season, which included two wins, 12 top 25s, a T11 at the Tour Championship and more than $5 million in earnings.

He recently joined GOLF’s Subpar Podcast with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz to discuss his season, how he got his putting on track and more.

Kokrak won The CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in October 2020 for his first win, and his second victory came at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May.

Features

At Shadow Creek, one of the most expensive public courses in the world, Kokrak finished 1st in Strokes Gained: Putting, gaining 10.291 strokes on the field. (That was also the key to his season; he ranked 6th in SG: Putting on the year after ranking 151st in that category the previous season.)

Kokrak credited a tweak to his putter length and his caddie’s superb green-reading skills as just some of the reasons for his turnaround on the greens, but he also said that for The CJ Cup at Shadow Creek, the greens were so perfect it made putting easy.

“Honestly, I’ve never played Shadow Creek that firm and fast before,” Kokrak said. “Normally it’s pristine, but kind of soft.”

“It’s immaculate,” Stoltz said. “Like Augusta Vegas.”

“Yeah, I would put them up against Augusta, that week, all day long, cause they were extremely fast,” Kokrak said. “I mean, they are always fast, but that week it was really fast.

“They were unbelievable,” he continued. “I mean, there wasn’t one spot on any part of the green that was a little bit bumpy. If you hit a good putt it would go in the hole.”

You can watch the full interview with Kokrak below.

Need help on the greens at your home course? Pick up a Green Book from our affiliate company, Golf Logix.

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The post Shadow Creek to host LPGA Tour’s inaugural Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play appeared first on Golf.

The post Shadow Creek to host LPGA Tour’s inaugural Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play appeared first on Golf.

Shadow Creek is getting its next match-play extravaganza. The same posh Las Vegas course that hosted the $9 million match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in 2018 will now be the venue for 64 of the best women’s players in the world.

The LPGA announced that the inaugural Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play will be played at Shadow Creek on May 26-30, 2021. The match-play competition was previously announced in December as one of the LPGA Tour’s new 2020-21 events, but the venue wasn’t made public until Thursday. It will also serve as the final prep for the U.S. Women’s Open, which will be held the following week at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

News

The Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play Hosted by Shadow Creek, its official name, will feature 64 players and dish out a $1.5 million purse. The 64 players will be divided into 16 groups of four and compete in three days of round-robin matches, with the winner of each group advancing to a 16-player single-elimination bracket for the final two days. It’s the same format the PGA Tour uses for the WGC Match Play.

Shadow Creek is owned by MGM Resorts International and only accessible to resort guests. Even still, at $600, it’s one of the most expensive tee times in the country. The 1989 Tom Fazio design recently hosted the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup in October, which was relocated from South Korea due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

This is the first time the LPGA will play a tournament at Shadow Creek and is its first match-play event since the 2017 Lorena Ochoa Match Play. All five rounds at Shadow Creek will be broadcast on Golf Channel.

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The post Best golf courses in Nevada, according to GOLF Magazine’s expert course raters appeared first on Golf.

The post Best golf courses in Nevada, according to GOLF Magazine’s expert course raters appeared first on Golf.

For every great course that made GOLF’s 2020-21 ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the U.S., dozens of more must-plays were left on the outside looking in — including at least a handful in your home state. Some of these designs just missed out on a Top 100 nomination, others finished deeper down the ranking, but all are worthy of your time. To shed light on the best courses in every state, we broke out the full results of our Top 100 Courses polling into state-by-state lists. Here’s a closer look at Nevada.

Nevada golf by the numbers:

Number of courses and U.S. rank: 109 (40)*
Number of golfers per capita rank: 45*
Average public-course greens fees: $$$ out of $$$*
Average daily temp and rank: 49.9 (28)
Annual precipitation and rank: 9.5 (50)

*Source: National Golf Foundation

Best Nevada golf courses (2020/2021)

1. Shadow Creek CC (North Las Vegas) [P]

This high-rollers’ redoubt, 20 minutes from the Strip, is both a work of architecture and a feat of engineering. Bankrolled by the casino magnate Steve Wynn, Tom Fazio busted out the bulldozers and backhoes to dig a giant footprint in the flat Nevada desert, moving a small planet’s worth of dirt and planting more than 20,000 mature pines, so that each hole stands in seclusion from the others. Gurgling streams and waterfalls enhance the sense of opulence, and the risk-rewards make for great match-play entertainment. Nowhere is this truer than on the par-5, par-3, par-5 finish, a rousing stage for settling bets. When the PGA Tour visited in 2020, players compared the course’s pristine conditioning to that of Augusta National’s.

Book a tee time at Shadow Creek.

2. Clear Creek Tahoe (Carson City)

3. Southern Highlands GC (Las Vegas)

4. The Summit Club (Las Vegas)

5. Cascata GC (Boulder City) [P]

Book a tee time at Cascata.

SYMBOL GUIDE

1 = GOLF Top 100 Course in the U.S.
2 = GOLF Top 100 Course in the World
3 = GOLF Top 100 Resort
P = Resort/public golf course

Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not receive enough votes.

Course spotlight: Southern Highlands GC (Las Vegas, Nev.), ranked 3rd in Nevada. It’s easy to see why touring professionals like Southern Highlands. The course is straightforward and right in front of the player.  The drivable 6th and the heroic 9th are quite good but the finishing three are outstanding with the split fairways at 16 and 18 being strategic architecture at its finest. — GOLF Top 100 Course Rater

How we rank America’s best golf courses

For the newly released 2020-21 U.S. list, each panelist was provided a list of 489 courses. Beside that list of courses were 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists considered a course to be among the top three in the country, they ticked that box. If they believed the course to be among Nos. 4-10 in the U.S., they checked that box, followed by 11-25, 26-50, and so on.

Panelists were also free to write in courses that they felt should have been included on the ballot (we had fewer than a handful of such additions in the U.S. vote).

Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its aggregate score by the number of votes. From those point tallies, the courses are then ranked accordingly. It is an intentionally simple and straightforward process. Why? Because it invariably produces results that are widely lauded. Like the game itself, there’s no need to unnecessarily overcomplicate things.

For much more on how we rate courses, click or tap here.

Meet our course raters

We empower and hold accountable a group of 97 well-traveled — and well-connected — golfers/aficionados, each capable of expressing their own sense of design excellence at the highest level. The group is seasoned and experienced — we look for raters who know what’s out there, what’s changing and what’s coming down the pike. And from judging posts across four continents, our panelists are positioned to place courses from different regions around the globe into proper context, one of the main reasons GOLF’s Top 100 Courses rankings are the most esteemed in the game.

Other ranking outlets employ thousands of raters. Our less-is-more approach creates a more meaningful and thoughtful list. Think about it: When you plan a golf trip, do you call every golfer you know for their take? No. You contact a handful of people whose opinions you value most.

Meet our full crew of panelists here.

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The post Tour Confidential: Tiger Woods returns, Shadow Creek shines and is Phil Mickelson a Masters threat? appeared first on Golf.

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Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com. This week, we discuss Tiger Woods at the Zozo, Shadow Creek Golf Course, Phil Mickelson on the Champions Tour, and more.

1. Tiger Woods will make his first start since the U.S. Open at this week’s Zozo Championship, at Sherwood CC, near Los Angeles. Woods is the defending champion of the Zozo, which last year was played in Japan, but in 2020, he has had just one top-10 finish, which came at the Farmers, back in January. What’s the biggest difference between Tiger’s game now vs. where it was a year ago?

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Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): Aside from being a year older, which is no small thing for an athlete in his 40s … hmm. Not a lot of TIger sightings lately, but the ones we’ve had have shown him really struggling with his putter, a strange look for Woods. Maybe more worrisome, though, is that we’ve seen him walking gingerly more often than he played so well at the Zozo and then the Presidents Cup.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer: The biggest difference is that a year ago, he was six months removed from his 15th major and now he is 18 months away from his 15th major. It weirdly looks like semi-ancient history right now, not because of Tiger or his golf, but because the world is going in so many other directions at the moment. That doesn’t mean he can’t suddenly play good golf again. Because he can. Last year, he won that Zozo out of nowhere. But throughout his career, Tiger has tapered, like an Olympic swimmer. Those days are over.

Sean Zak, senior editor (@sean_zak): This time a year ago, I had no confidence in him. He had put together a pretty lame summer of golf. And then he won. So the difference is that I relearned to never doubt him. 

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): I am wholly confused. This year, we’ve seen Tiger look good — like, really good — and then look fully ordinary just a few holes later. (And yes, all Tour pros do this to an extent, but the swings have been un-Tiger-like.) I’m more confused than I was a year ago.

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer (@alanshipnuck): Last year’s Zozo was one of the best putting weeks in a career full of incredible putting. And in the year since, the wand has been hurting Tiger like never before. It’s that simple – but it’s not. Woods has looked less explosive and athletic than ever before. We never really know what’s going on with his body, but it feels like he’s more limited than even a year ago.

2. Woods has a strong track record at Sherwood, winning five World Challenges there. But given his recent form, do you expect Woods to finish in the top 10 at the Zozo? Why/why not?

Sens: Strong field + rusty Tiger = a finish outside the top 10. This week will be less about gunning for a title than tuning up for a certain other event just around the bend.

Bamberger: I think he will top-10, but that could be off three eh rounds and a 66 on Sunday. In other words, it wouldn’t mean much.

Zak: Top 10. Book it! Guy plays most courses well and some courses incredibly well. This is one of the latter. 

Dethier: Bamberger and I are usually the Tiger optimists, but it’s great to see Zak joining the ranks. I’m booking a top 10, but I’ve been wrong before. …

Shipnuck: That would be a pretty remarkable turnaround. I’d settle for a top-25, which would represent significant progress.

3. The golf world got a televised glimpse of Shadow Creek during the first edition of The Match, in 2018. But this week’s CJ Cup, won by Jason Kokrak, offered a more extensive reveal of what is one of the world’s most shielded courses. What did you take away from observing the best players in the world take on the best course in Vegas? 

Travel

Sens: It reminded me of the paradox of Shadow Creek: that a course that looks so unlike the rest of Vegas could only really exist in Vegas. Also: It’s as pretty on TV as it is in person.

Bamberger: I was there for Match I and was surprised. Looks like a very playable, enjoyable course if you play it from the right tees. It’s an excellent illustration of what you can do in golf, given an unlimited budget for bulldozers.

Zak: My takeaway is that it really just fits perfectly in the PGA Tour ecosystem. Fast greens, decent rough you can still swing through, 20-under gets it done. Ho-hum. 

Dethier: I was struck by the reaction the players and caddies had to the greens. They loved the greens. Loved ’em! Compared ’em to Augusta. Said they were the purest they’d ever played on Tour. They were smooth and fast and fun to watch the players negotiate. But in all, the rhythm of a PGA Tour event can tend to make every course seem somewhat same-y, so Shadow Creek can blend in with other fun Sunday finishes on less mystical courses.

Shipnuck: The whole place is a metaphor for golf in America. Didn’t do much for me.

4. Phil Mickelson won again on the Champions Tour (two for two!), shooting a final-round 65 at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic to win by three over Mike Weir. How much can we read into Phil’s form by his sterling play on his senior circuit? Asked another way, in your mind, is he more of a Masters threat than he was six weeks ago?

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Sens: Winning can never be a bad thing, and a confident Phil heading into Augusta can’t be written off entirely. But I don’t see how edging the likes of Mike Weir and Paul Goydos in a three-day event on a benign setup gives him any better odds of beating Bryson and the boys over four days at Augusta. I hope he’s in it down the stretch, but I don’t expect him to be.

Bamberger: With all due respect to the senior tour and Phil’s ability at golf, Phil’s win at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, against that field, on that course, is like Cody Bellinger facing 70 mph fastballs at a batting cage in Torrance. It tells you something about what he might do in the bigs. But not much.

Zak: I don’t think he can play mistake-free rounds these days, but the Champions Tour allows him to fire at flags and quickly make up for the mistakes. Not so much on the PGA Tour, or Augusta. A champs Tour win doesn’t mean anything for beating the top 20 players in the world, sorry!

Dethier: He keeps talking about how aggressively he can play on the senior circuit, which he clearly likes. One place that approach could actually serve him well is at Augusta, where a free-swinging approach married with precision on a few select shots is a recipe for success. I’m not predicting Lefty will win the Masters, but I don’t think we should ignore his success altogether, either.

Shipnuck: I think it’s more meaningful for Phil than almost any other player. He’s such an emotional golfer so the boost in confidence and self-esteem is huge. Augusta National is already where he’s most dangerous and now even more so.

5. Yet more aerial photography from pilot David Dobbins last week showed that the much-speculated-about new back tee on Augusta National’s 13th hole is not likely to be ready for the November Masters. What other new wrinkle — to the course or the proceedings in general — would you like to see implemented for the 2020 tournament that would set it apart from the April Masters?   

News

Sens: Mix up the Sunday pin positions. Put the flag on the right side on the 3rd so it’s more tempting to try driving the green. Cut the cup on the back shelf on 18, where it was when Nicklaus won in ‘86. And for my irritable colleague Sean Zak’s sake, try a different pin on 16 as well. Surely, the green jackets know how tired Sean is of that one.

Bamberger: New rule: Drivers may not be more than 42.5 inches in length. Sorry, Bryson. It’s for the good of the game.

Zak: Yes, Sens! Make the Sunday pin on 16 a Saturday pin. Stick it back right on Sunday and make players hit an incredible shot to 4 feet. Not a 9-iron that funnels to the hole. 

Dethier: Fun to finally hear someone call Zak “irritable” in print. As for the Fall Masters, gimme some subtle fall foliage, and I’ll be a happy viewer buying fully into the wonder of golf’s biggest summit.

Shipnuck: I don’t understand what’s taking so long on the new tee – ANGC has built a small city in one calendar year. There must be a reason why they’re slow-playing this project, but for the life of me, I can’t figure it out. Anyway, I concur on the need for new Sunday pins, and how about some new tees? If they played 14 from 75-100 yards closer, it would be an incredible drivable par-4. More creative thinking would be appreciated.

6. Hoodiegate, ignited by Tyrrell Hatton winning a European Tour event a week ago in a hoodie, spilled into last week and triggered debates across social media about golf’s dress code, with many arguing that the game needs to loosen up if it’s going to attract new players. With the goal of making the game more welcoming, what long-standing custom, tradition or rule would you like to see softened or reimagined? 

News

Sens: I have a friend who can’t stand mandatory caddie rules. He thinks the right to carry one’s own bag should be in the Constitution. But I’m going to go with changing shoes in the parking lot. Why does anybody care? To quote Al Cervik, “It’s a parking lot. Come on, will ya?!” 

Bamberger: Along those lines, shirttails out. You can move better.

Zak: I’d like to see Pebble Beach soften its greens fee. But more realistically, the whole ban on wearing a hat inside the clubhouse has never made much sense to me. 

Dethier: There’s no reason golf courses need to have official dress codes, period.

Shipnuck: All the marking and pacing around on the greens is bizarre and confusing for new golfers. Continuous putting should be mandatory just to move things along.

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The post Jason Kokrak outduels Xander Schauffele in dramatic CJ Cup finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Jason Kokrak outduels Xander Schauffele in dramatic CJ Cup finish appeared first on Golf.

Through 15 holes, there was no daylight between them. Xander Schauffele and Jason Kokrak had battled to a tie at Shadow Creek, each 7 under par for his final round, 19 under par for the tournament. But it was Kokrak who took the reins, holding steady with two pars and a birdie to finish and clinch his first-ever PGA Tour win in the process.

In the end, it was the two closing par-5s that made the difference. Schauffele and Kokrak each found trouble off the 16th tee, a behemoth of a hole, and each punched out, then missed the green to the right. Golf is a game of misses, even when you’re 7 under for the day and tied for the PGA Tour lead, and Kokrak’s was a more recoverable miss; he splashed his bunker shot inside 4 feet while Schauffele battled to make bogey.

After the two traded pars on 17, Kokrak stepped up to the 18th tee and striped a drive 342 yards down the fairway at the risk-reward finisher, effectively turning a par-5 into a par-4.

Schauffele, likely needing a look at eagle to force a playoff, missed the fairway to the left. While he hit a solid approach from there to the rough just over the green, his eagle chip ran out of gas some 10 feet short of the hole.

All that was left was Kokrak finding solid ground, and he did just that, flying a short iron pin-high and leaving himself less than 30 feet for eagle. When Schauffele missed his own birdie try, it took the pressure off Kokrak’s 3-footer, and no problem: he buried it for a two-shot win.

After the round, Schauffele had nothing but praise for his opponent.

“Him and his caddie have a really good relationship, they work really well,” Schauffele said of Kokrak. “He just — he beats the crap out of it. Like I said, he’s a foot taller than I am, swings it Ernie Els smooth-type swing. I couldn’t be happier for him. I think what proved was he finally started rolling in some putts and it kind of shows how dangerous he can be out here.”

For 35-year-old Kokrak, the win must have been emotional; it’s his first in nine years and 232 starts on Tour. Still, he made it all sound rather matter-of-fact afterwards.

“The game plan was simple: to hit fairways,” he said after the round. He did that, and claimed his caddie took care of the rest, guiding him around Shadow Creek’s slippery greens.

Whatever the formula, it added up to an 8-under 64 and a career-changing win in Las Vegas. “Very pleased with the win,” he said, typically understated. “And hopefully more to come.”

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It’s Sunday at Shadow Creek, and while the super-luxe club won’t have its typical array of dazzling amenities on display for the final round of the CJ Cup, there’s still plenty of intrigue afoot. Here’s all the information you need to know to watch the action in Las Vegas.

Previewing CJ Cup final round

Sure, the pros have left the limousines and personal caddies for the customers willing to pay Shadow Creek’s grandiose greens fees, but they’ve provided more than enough entertainment to make up for it through 54 holes.

Russell Henley holds the 54-hole lead at 15 under after consecutive rounds in the sixties to open the weekend. The journeyman pro is looking for his first win in three calendar years (since the 2017 Shell Houston Open) in just his second event played in the 2021 season. But while Henley’s three-stroke lead is a comfortable cushion heading into Sunday, it’s far from ironclad.

A bevy of big names trail Henley closely on the leaderboard, led by Xander Schauffele. Schauffele (who joined GOLF’s Dylan Dethier and Sean Zak on this week’s episode of The Drop Zone) jumped out to an early lead after shooting 66-64 to start the week and sits tied for second at 12 under heading into Sunday. The 26-year-old struggled some to open the weekend, his score raising some 10 strokes from Friday’s 64 to Saturday’s 2-over 74. But tied alongside the likes of Lanto Griffin and Talor Gooch, he sits well within striking distance headed into the final 18.

Joining Schauffele near the top of the leaderboard are Justin Thomas (-10), Jason Day (-10) and Collin Morikawa (-9), the trio of major-winners needing low rounds Sunday to put some pressure upon the late afternoon groups.

Rory McIlroy, in his first event since tweaking his driver setup and (hesitantly) declaring his entrance into golf’s distance race, is tied for 10th at 8 under for the week after a third-round 66.

How to watch the CJ Cup final round (TV, streaming)

For the second consecutive week, Golf Channel is the late-afternoon destination for fans looking to catch the final round of action. The network’s broadcast will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET, and will continue until the completion of the tournament.

Fans can also stream the action all day from the CJ Cup on PGA Tour Live (though a subscription is required), and can watch the television broadcast using their cable login credentials on golfchannel.com.

CJ Cup final round tee times

Tee No. 1

12:15 p.m. – Brian Harman, Marc Leishman, Justin Rose

12:26 p.m. – Adam Hadwin, Keegan Bradley, Sergio Garcia 

12:37 p.m. – Ian Poulter, Billy Horschel, Robby Shelton

12:48 p.m. – Si Woo Kim, Richy Werenski, Abraham Ancer

12:59 p.m. – Cameron Smith, Mark Hubbard, Daniel Berger

1:10 p.m. – Harris English, Kevin Streelman, Tyler Duncan

1:21 p.m. – Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Viktor Hovland

1:32 p.m. – Harry Higgs, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ryan Palmer

1:43 p.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Joaquin Niemann, Jon Rahm

1:54 p.m. – Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Sebastián Muñoz

2:05 p.m. – Justin Thomas, Tyrrell Hatton, Collin Morikawa

2:16 p.m. – Jason Kokrak, Xander Schauffele, Jason Day

2:27 p.m. – Russell Henley, Lanto Griffin, Talor Gooch

Tee No. 10 

12:15 p.m. – Byeong Hun An, Andrew Landry, Carlos Ortiz

12:26 p.m. – Kevin Na, Kevin Kisner, Joel Dahmen

12:37 p.m. – Hanbyeol Kim, Danny Lee, Tom Hoge

12:48 p.m. – Shane Lowry, Seonghyeon Kim, Cameron Champ

12:59 p.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Cantlay, Nick Taylor

1:10 p.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar

1:21 p.m. – Jim Herman, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners

1:32 p.m. – J.T. Poston, Scottie Scheffler, Paul Casey

1:43 p.m. – Dylan Frittelli, Joohyung Kim, Tommy Fleetwood

1:54 p.m. – Brendon Todd, Jeongwoo Ham, Kyoung-Hoon Lee

2:05 p.m. – Adam Long, Matthew Wolff, Jaekyeong Lee

2:16 p.m. – Brendan Steele, Sung Kang, Gary Woodland

2:27 p.m. – Michael Thompson, Alex Noren, Tae Hee Lee

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The post A day at Shadow Creek: Why the experience is worth the hefty price tag appeared first on Golf.

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The pros? They love Shadow Creek.

“It’s the first time ever at Shadow Creek, and I think everyone else that’s probably come in here before me is probably singing its praises. It’s such a cool place. It’s a great golf course,” Rory McIlroy said Wednesday. “I wouldn’t mind if we got to play a Tour event here every year. It’s really cool.” 

“Obviously I knew Shadow was kind of a prestigious course here. I expected it to be more of a resort golf course, if I’m honest — a little wider, a little easier — and I was blown away by the conditioning of it,” Justin Rose said Wednesday. “To have firm, bentgrass greens in the heat is just unbelievable. They’re the best greens I’ve played on outside of Augusta and potentially Muirfield Village, Jack’s tournament. By far the best greens that I’ve seen on Tour.”

“The course this week might be the best manicured course I’ve ever played… it is PURE!” Justin Thomas wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. 

The celebs? They, too, love Shadow Creek. 

Travel

“Shadow Creek is the place I would like to be buried when my days are done,” former NBA star Julius Irving said via Shadow’s website. “It’s my favorite place on the planet.”  

“If they blindfold you, flew you and then dropped you in the middle of Shadow Creek, you’d feel like you’re in a picture,” former MLB star John Smoltz said via Shadow’s website. 

“Shadow Creek doesn’t feel like Las Vegas,” NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on the website. “It is the toughest and prettiest I’ve ever played.”

Me? 

I’m neither a pro (I’m loosely a 13 handicap), nor a celebrity. (Piastowski doesn’t roll off the tongue quite like Hemsworth, and, yes, that is the only reason I wasn’t cast as Thor.) Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, site of this week’s CJ Cup, costs somewhere around $600 to play a round. Or the cost of about 60 rounds at my regular haunts. Shadow is filet. I’m a ham-and-egger. 

But.

I’ve played Shadow. Five years ago, through the graciousness of a friend, and the graciousness of my friend’s employer, I rode the limo in. I changed my shoes in the celeb-tested locker room. I drank the whiskey in the clubhouse. Two of them. And I played all 18.  

Me? 

Let’s play Shadow Creek again. 

The limo drive 

Travel

Shadow is Vegas. In the late 80s, designer Tom Fazio and casino magnate Steve Wynn turned a dirt pile in the desert into a diamond, not unlike how Sin City’s casinos rose from the rocks. And the course is as much the experience as it is the golf, not unlike, too, how a casino is as much the restaurants, bars and shows as it is the nickel slots. 

The experience starts with a black stretch limo ride. Of course it does. You think the Shadow parking lot is going to be filled with rentals and minivans? We were picked up at the Mirage (Shadow is playable only if you stay at an MGM property) and gave our bags to the driver, and we were there in about a half-hour. 

I had been in a limo one time before. This was the second. And it was to play golf. 

The locker room

1/4

2/4

3/4

4/4

We checked in. 

“You have access to anything you need in the locker room, the clubhouse or the restaurant,” the attendant said. 

Any. Thing. 

It’s been five years, so those might not be the exact words, but anything definitely was. You remember that. Your mind does race for a sec. Anything anything? Like, what are we talking here? But I’m a modest man. I asked for just a beer — a craft one, though! — and went to the locker room. 

I was assigned a locker, all of which were wooden, with golden name plates. Some are reserved. Mine was next to poker-playing legend Phil Hellmuth. A few doors down was one for MJ. Michael Jordan! Across the way was one for Barack Obama. Barack Obama! Who had played Shadow the week before. 

I had been that close to a president once before. My family went to Washington when I was a kid. This was the second. And it was to play golf. 

The caddie 

We were assigned a forecaddie. He would ride on the back of our cart.     

“Let me see you guys hit about a dozen balls,” he said as we all walked to the range. 

Poor guy. 

He was checking our yardages. And our ball flight. He had our games sized up after five minutes. Of course, the joke would be that he could probably tell that when we opened the limo door, but he kept a straight face throughout.

It was also the first time I had played with a caddie. It helped on my second shot. I found the fairway on 1. I had an iron in to a flag in the back-left portion of the green. 

“Don’t aim at the pin. Hit it short right, and it’ll feed in,” he said. 

I did. And the ball did. I parred it. 

The course 

1/9

2/9

3/9

4/9

5/9

6/9

7/9

8/9

9/9

Shadow, with its pine trees and streams and waterfalls and immaculate greens, is as beautiful and pure as seeing Ace-10 in front of you. Blackjack! 

Smoltz said above that it feels as if you are dropped in a photo. I took several. Which you can. Shadow books only a handful of groups a day and spreads them out. And the holes are shaped such that you never really see another hole. So for the four hours we were out there, the only people we saw were each other. And an attendant with another beer. It feels like it is completely your course. 

I shot a 15-over 87, my friend a 17-over 89. In the ballpark of our averages. My caddie told me where to hit it nearly every shot. And I tried to. Someone did my thinking for me, which, despite what you may believe after reading this story, is no small task. I tipped him every dollar I had. 

The clubhouse 

We ate lunch in the clubhouse afterward. A whiskey before and a whiskey after. And a burger and fries. (I know, I know, but, hey, you have to act like you’ve been there before. When you score your first touchdown, you don’t do a five-minute dance and a 10-minute speech. You hand the ball to the ref, and say you’ll be back several times more.) 

We saw our first people here, too. Two other guys, a bit older. Immediately, my friend and I began texting about their potential backgrounds. Businessmen? Lawyers? Hollywood execs? They were likely not texting about us.  

We hopped in the limo and drove back. 

I felt like I was stealing. A full-on, Danny Ocean Vegas robbery. I was picked up and dropped off by a limo. I put my shoes in a locker next to MJ’s and Obama’s. I drank the whiskey in the clubhouse. I played on what felt like my own course, with my own caddie. Somebody stop that man! 

Me? 

Let’s play Shadow Creek again. 

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The post 2020 CJ Cup live coverage: How to watch, tee times for Round 3 Saturday appeared first on Golf.

The post 2020 CJ Cup live coverage: How to watch, tee times for Round 3 Saturday appeared first on Golf.

Xander Schauffele leads and Tyrrell Hatton chases after 36 holes of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas. Schauffele shot an eight-under 64 on Friday to get to 14 under and leads Hatton by three at the midway point.

Russell Henley is alone in third at 10 under, four back to Schauffele. 2020 PGA champ Collin Morikawa is eight under, Justin Thomas is six under and Jon Rahm sits at four under. You can see the leaderboard here, and viewing options and tee times for Saturday are below.

How to watch CJ Cup Round 3 on TV

Golf Channel will air the third round of the CJ Cup from 5-8 p.m. ET on Saturday. It will replay from 9 p.m. to midnight, also on Golf Channel.

How to stream CJ Cup Round 3 online

The third round of the CJ Cup can be streamed on golfchannel.com. The action can also be streamed on PGA Tour Live from 11:25 a.m. to 8 p.m., though you will need a subscription to access both options.

CJ Cup tee times for Round 3 (ET)

Tee No. 1

12:25 p.m. – Cameron Champ, Joel Dahmen, Cameron Smith
12:36 p.m. – Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Cantlay, Hanbyeol Kim
12:47 p.m. – Richy Werenski, Abraham Ancer, Tom Hoge
12:58 p.m. – Kevin Na, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy
1:09 p.m. – Sergio Garcia, Brian Harman, Rickie Fowler
1:20 p.m. – Mark Hubbard, Daniel Berger, Sebastián Muñoz
1:31 p.m. – Joaquin Niemann, Viktor Hovland, Harris English
1:42 p.m. – Andrew Landry, Jason Day, Jon Rahm
1:53 p.m. – Harry Higgs, Ian Poulter, Billy Horschel
2:04 p.m. – Kevin Streelman, Tyler Duncan, Hideki Matsuyama
2:15 p.m. – Matthew Fitzpatrick, Lanto Griffin, Justin Thomas
2:26 p.m. – Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Collin Morikawa
2:37 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley

Tee No. 10

12:25 p.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, Bubba Watson, Si Woo Kim
12:36 p.m. – Danny Lee, Robby Shelton, Ryan Palmer
12:47 p.m. – Adam Hadwin, Marc Leishman, Sung Kang
12:58 p.m. – Matt Kuchar, Keegan Bradley, Nick Taylor
1:09 p.m. – Dylan Frittelli, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose
1:20 p.m. – Byeong Hun An, Joohyung Kim, Jim Herman
1:31 p.m. – Sungjae Im, Seonghyeon Kim, Corey Conners
1:42 p.m. – Gary Woodland, Kevin Kisner, J.T. Poston
1:53 p.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood
2:04 p.m. – Jordan Spieth, Tae Hee Lee, Alex Noren
2:15 p.m. – Adam Long, Brendon Todd, Jeongwoo Ham
2:26 p.m. – Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Paul Casey, Michael Thompson
2:37 p.m. – Brendan Steele, Jaekyeong Lee, Matthew Wolff

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The post Shadow Creek rates: How much a tee time at swanky Shadow Creek costs appeared first on Golf.

The post Shadow Creek rates: How much a tee time at swanky Shadow Creek costs appeared first on Golf.

Shadow Creek has long been one of the most exclusive and lavish golf courses in the United States, and certainly in Las Vegas.

Tom Fazio designed the North Las Vegas course, which debuted in 1990, and he renovated it in 2008. At one point it was invite-only, but it’s since open to the public — as long as you are a guest at MGM Resorts International (or a celebrity or famous athlete).

The tee time itself will cost you, though. At $600, it’s one of the most expensive public courses in the world. Although it might be the only tee time that includes a limo picking you up and taking you through the front gates to the clubhouse. We’ll say that’s a nice perk.

The course weaves through pines, lakes and waterfalls and was the site of The Match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in 2018. This week it’s being used as a fill-in venue for the CJ Cup, which is usually in South Korea.

Travel

“It’s the first time ever at Shadow Creek and I think everyone else that’s probably come in here before me is probably singing its praises,” said Rory McIlroy on Wednesday. “It’s such a cool place, it’s a great golf course. I wouldn’t mind if we got to play a Tour event here every year. It’s really cool.”

Justin Thomas admitted he didn’t know a lot about the course’s history, but said, “I know that pretty much everybody who’s anybody has been here.” Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky, for starters, are members.

“I mean, I’ve been here when the players aren’t in the locker room, and just going through and looking at the nameplates, it’s pretty impressive and unbelievable just the names that are on some of those lockers,” Thomas said.

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