Vegas Vacation: One of My Favorite Courses May Be Bulldozed

In 2004, I made my first trip to Las Vegas.  (Since, I've been back three other times, and an annual mancation to Sin City was a spoken agreement between my then fiance and I before marriage.)  Every time I have been to Nevada, I've played golf.  

The first time that I went in '04, though, I was just (?) a fledgling golf podcast host that almost no one had ever heard of - save for a cryptic e-mail from Sean McManus' administrative assistant asking if I had some time to talk to the CBS honcho after I laid out their coverage in some dark corner of the Internet.

Going to Vegas, I talked to a few courses to see if I could sneak on and play in exchange for a course review.  Almost instantly, I heard back from the good folks at the Walters Group.  Billy Walters, the namesake for the company, made a slew of cash in sports betting and other gambling.  Ultimately, he went "legit" and invested his money in a slew of business, including four golf courses in the city.

Bali Hai was his baby, though.  The course was the lone 18 hole layout on the strip accessible to the public.  (The Wynn's golf course is very nice, but for guests only, and costs some $500 to play.)  The Walters people said I could come down and play that, experiencing Strip golf, for just $90.  The round was typically $300, so I gladly accepted the deep discount.

Being young and stupid, I only packed a black polo shirt for Vegas golf in July.  It was 100 degrees when I left around 7:30 in the morning to go play.  A taxi took me down there all the way from the Golden Nugget - aka Indonesia.  I arrived, walked into the clubhouse to pay (even as a recent college grad shouldn't), and was told there was no bill.

Really?  Great review on the way, sir!

That day, I was paired with a gentleman from Philadelphia or that area, at least.  He worked in real estate and had made quite a fortune for himself.  Like I aspire now, he always went to Vegas each year (with his wife most years).  We had a great time playing and conversing - seemingly the only two people stupid enough to play in 106 degree heat.  It really is a dry heat.

The course itself was decent, but largely pretty forgettable like most desert golf courses tend to be.  Hitting a tee shot and approach shot toward Mandalay Bay were the highlights of the round.  I played pretty well - shot in the low 80s - and my real estate friend broke the 4 iron from his rented set.

Years later, my experience was relived when Bali Hai was the first course that the digital World Golf Tour rendered for play.  It reminded me of the fun that I had that day, and the general enjoyment that I get out of meeting completely random people when I step onto a golf course by myself (and now with my wife).

Unfortunately, the whole point of the above story was to tell you that Bali Hai may now be bulldozed by Walters himself.  Blaming the economy and citing that he has sunk some $40 million into the course - a desert course with tons of grass? Who'da guessed?! - Walters wants to turn the space into a 2 million square foot industrial park.

Go ahead.  Knock it down.  No one was playing it, really.  Too expensive at $300 per round.  Hell, too expensive at more than $75.  The Strip is a place for lavish consumerism, not golf.  Respites in the desert harbor the Vegas area's best tracks.  But, it is sad for me that the next time I return to Vegas, a course with such a memorable story in my golf experience will be gone.

[H/T Golf.com]