Tuesday, May 13, 2003 | 9:37 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
Exclusivity is a word with very specific characteristics.
If something is exclusive, it is, by its very nature, select, expensive, chic.
For a golf course to enjoy exclusivity, it must limit its access while all but embracing debauchery. The course and customer alike has to be pampered to excess, with a well-bred staff complying to the whims of each.
The Cascata Golf Course behind the Railroad Pass casino and near Boulder City meets the definition of exclusive. With its plush clubhouse and beautifully detailed design and landscaping, it epitomizes the plus side of wealth and ambition.
Seeing it up close Monday wasn't only an aesthetic pleasure, it was just short of breathtaking.
This is a course that was once off limits to all but the privileged few. And while it can still tap out those of modest means, it is -- as of last month -- now open for play by the masses.
But don't expect to encounter anything resembling the drudgery of slow play. A typical day sees no more than two dozen players on the course, and, for what it's worth, I took a sightseeing tour of the layout with head pro Brian Hawthorne and didn't see anyone other than maintenance personnel.
The lizards, birds and assorted wildlife -- including six or eight bighorn sheep -- all but had the course to themselves.
"It's a unique experience, a magical concept," Hawthorne says with obvious pride. "There's nothing else in the golf industry like this."
Owned by the hotel/casino conglomerate Park Place, Cascata is in the midst of a coming-out party of sorts. Aside from having eased the playing restrictions, the course will host the Michael Douglas & Friends Celebrity Golf Tournament this weekend and tickets are available to the general public.
The event includes clinics and the Lexus $1 million hole-in-one challenge and will culminate with a 9-hole celebrity scramble Sunday. Admission is $25 for adults and $15 for children.
ABC will televise highlights July 20.
Douglas' tournament will benefit the Motion Picture & Television Fund.
"No one knew much about what was going on out here when this place was being built," Hawthorne said of a course so secluded that it is barely visible from the highway. "It's been an unknown.
"But now as we get requests (for interviews or stories) we'll accept some on a case-by-case basis instead of declining them all."
Having once gotten only as far as the front gate, I could relate. But Park Place has had a change of heart on Cascata and, it can safely be surmised, would like to see the course break into Golf Digest's annual list of the top 100 courses in America.
"We're doing some things in that direction," Hawthorne admitted.
Cascata covers 450 acres and is built into the foothills of the River Mountain Range. It includes 13 acres of water and springs, with a cascade that flows delightfully beneath the clubhouse. (A problem with water residue flowing from the course and into Boulder City was alleviated by the construction of a lined holding pond.)
Golfers are greeted by an army of would-be servants, are apprised of the weather conditions and can examine the amenities -- including a $25,000 throw rug that is 100 years old -- before being turned loose on the course with a forecaddie.
Players find a scenic, impeccably groomed course at their disposal and will be tempted, as I was, to reach down and touch the grass to make sure it is real. There is not a blade out of place.
The course winds through arroyos and canyons, climbs 800 feet in elevation and does not return to the clubhouse until No. 18. Each hole is a sanctuary of sorts and the only time a player can see a fairway other than the one he is on is while standing on the tee at No. 3.
But convenience is never far away. Players can order food from their golf carts and have it delivered in picnic baskets that fit into a special dashboard compartment.
The course plays from a minimum of 5,500 yards to a maximum of 7,100 yards and -- unlike many of its mountaineering counterparts -- includes very few forced carries.
The course record is a 64 and PGA tour star Jesper Parnevik holds the professional record with a 67.
Homes will not be built around the course, as Park Place has a land-lease agreement with the City of Boulder City, which has its own controlled-growth restrictions as well.
Built by noted developer Rees Jones, Cascata was acquired by Park Place from MGM-Mirage for $60 million shortly before it opened in December of 2000.
While playing privileges were once limited to the firm's high rollers, today the course is open to anyone with a room at one of Park Place's five local hotels. Greens fees are $350 Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and $500 Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There is no mandatory fee for the forecaddie, yet a minimum of $100 per group is a good starting point.
"The forecaddies will put the player at ease," Hawthorne said. "They're like a tour guide. They give expert advice and can answer any questions, and they take the nervousness out of playing here."
Upon completion of a round, a player can refresh in a locker room that includes showers with preset temperatures, and then relax and dine in a restaurant that also includes banquet facilities.
Spiffy and conducive to goodwill, the Cascata experience is driven by taste and administered by professionals.
It's just what it appeared it might be, back when a passerby could get no closer than the front gate and only glance and wonder at what might lay beyond.
archive
