Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/498649
corridors and habitat on golf courses, maintaining wetlands, reclaiming water, and greatly reducing the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemi- cal fertilizers. Although it adds to the cost of operations, "it's just the right thing to do," he says. "Steve loves animals, and he's going to do it even if people don't care. It's like the course itself: At one point, everyone was asking, 'Why would he build a golf course on such valuable land?' But he's a golf nut, and it's a great and unique amenity for the hotel and a wonderful green space for Las Vegas." Given the improbable setting—amidst 40 million annual tourists in the heart of the Strip—it's hard to talk about Wynn Golf Club and not use the word "oasis." "Picking Fazio was a really smart decision," says Reger. "He kept trees and added even more, so when you're playing you really don't even think you're in a desert." Both parklike and environmentally friendly, the course is obsessively and immaculately maintained—to the point that the garbage receptacles have been buried so as not to be eyesores and approaches to the greens are hand-mowed in elaborate checkerboard patterns, just for visual appeal. "A lot of the things we do for the guest expe- rience are very labor-intensive," says Brian Hawthorne, Wynn's Director of Golf. "Steve Wynn is famous for saying, 'Things don't make people happy; people make people happy,' and that philosophy extends to our golf staff." Overlooking the 18th green and its signature waterfall is the indoor/ outdoor restaurant The Country Club, a hidden gem known locally as a power-lunch spot and, like the course itself, a surprising oasis in a desert theme park. The space is decorated with old black-and-white photos from when the Desert Inn golf club stood on this spot, home to a PGA Tour event known as the Tournament of Champions and past golf luminaries like Slammin' Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer. The Country Club replicates the masculine, dark-wood aesthetic of the Desert Inn club, and the photos are a reminder of how Wynn and Fazio respected the site's long golf tradition. Even the koi from the original course (kept in holding tanks during years of construction) now live happily in streams like the one along the third hole. More than 1,200 mature trees from the old course were replanted—along with 7,000 new ones—except for a few ancient Aleppo and stone pines too big to move, like the giant now shadowing the second tee. While its history was preserved, the site was also vastly improved. The holes that originally ran east–west, into either shadow or blinding sun, are now a more player-friendly north–south. Massive amounts of earth—800,000 cubic yards—were moved, creating elevation changes that are stunning by desert standards and sunken fairways flanked by ridges separating each hole. The precisely designed course with views to the horizon feels like 18 separate private holes divided by slopes and forests, all near one of the busiest intersections in the country. "Everything Steve does is second to none, and this was no exception," says Fazio. "When you work for a guy who has done a golf course before, there are high expectations, and he said, 'Tom, how do we make this site exciting?' Usually what we do is showcase long-range views, like mountains, but this is the middle of the city. So what we did was frame the holes with trees to give golfers great views. We dug up the trees on-site, put them in nurseries, and then brought them back. We isolated each hole and created a lot of close visual interest to keep the golfer focused on the hole itself. Finally, we added wow-factor features like the elevation changes and the waterfall on 18 that you finish by driving your cart behind. Why put a tunnel inside a waterfall? What I learned from Steve Wynn is to think outside the box. It's always about doing things that have never been done before." n "STEVE Wynn IS FAMOUS FOR SAyInG, 'THInGS DOn'T MAkE PEOPLE HAPPy; PEOPLE MAkE PEOPLE HAPPy,' AnD THAT PHILOSOPHy ExTEnDS TO OUR GOLF STAFF." —brian hawthorne above, from left: The secluded 15th hole is a veritable oasis in the desert; Wynn Golf Club locker-room attendants unpack travel cases, clean clubs, hang guest outfts in lockers, polish and respike shoes, and afx engraved gold metal bag tags. wynn 71