Shadow Creek
Played Shadow Creek in 2018. Came here right after the Eagles Super Bowl parade and actually went to a Flyers/Knights game and an E-A-G-L-E-S chant broke out several times.
Three of the highest ranking golf courses that weren’t blessed with the greatest real estate for golf but the designer made something great out of it are Winged Foot, Pine Tree in SEFL and Shadow Creek. Unlike the other two, Tom Fazio took the worst of the three parcels and completely transformed it into an interesting, rolling golf paradise. While Winged Foot ranks higher IMO because of the championship pedigree and history, Shadow Creek is a marvel that should be on anyone’s bucket list.
It was great to see the Tiger vs. Phil match here later in 2018 and would be nice if the course someday hosted a tournament or imagine a major in sin city!
We debate about which course in Vegas is greater – Shadow or Cascata. I’m in the minority that say Cascata but I played there when it was still exclusive to the whales and played Shadow Creek after they opened it up to anyone staying at an MGM property and having $500 burning a hole in their pocket. So the experience I had at Cascata was outrageous, Shadow? Not as much (but again my friends/relatives who played it in the exclusive days say it was on par). Regardless, I’m also a fan of mountain and desert golf courses and while there is eye candy on every hole at Shadow Creek, the desert and mountain landscape of Cascata edges out the manufactured oasis that is Shadow.
Surprisingly for a casino/Steve Wynn course, the clubhouse was super laid back. I didn’t expect that at all. The course was great. Awesome opener with the creek running along the left in the shadows. Get it!?! The ninth is the often-photographed hole with the creek cutting across the hole just beyond the tee-box and running along the left-hand side then back almost in front of the green. with the mountains in the background. The par threes all really stood out here (the photo above is of the 17th).
It was on our way home from this trip that my friend Laura and I discovered the final ingredient for the perfect bloody mary. Liquid Smoke. We had this unique tasting bloody in, of all places, an airport restaurant (Chilis?). We asked to see the mix and saw it listed Liquid Smoke. Mmm so I added it to my recipe and it makes a perfect flavor to my otherwise pretty spicy bloody recipe.
Golf Scrapbook 