I have played this course after the four courses at the Pebble Beach Resort and before I flew to Bandon Dunes, it was a sort of “I want to do it” location for me due to the hype that was created over the Woods and Mickelson match and even prior to that, I follow the course on social media and found it interesting from the stand point that the course appearances did not seem to match the desert environment where it was build, it almost seemed too green and uncharacteristic for this area to me and since it was ranked high on most of the sites I wanted to have a look for myself.

The first prerequisite for playing the course is that you stay at one of the MGM Resort Hotels in Vegas, the list is long and offers a variety of choices, there are also no minimal requirements regarding the number of night you need to stay at the resort (for advance booking Pebble Beach Links has a minimum of 2 night stay). After you have your reservation code from the hotel, you can call in and book your tee time at the club. The club’s system and the hotel system are linked, enabling you to conveniently put all the charges on your room bill.
It is hard to continue describing my experience without mentioning the main thing that separates this club from others in the area and also, in my opinion, makes it so special, that would be the treatment you receive. When you book you tee time, you also set a time for a limousine to pick you up at the resort hotel you are staying at, usually the time is one hour prior to the start of your game.
Since I did my booking about a month before my visit, and there was no confirmation mail or anything similar send to me, I hoped for the best and that I will not be forgotten, this is by the way the only negative comment I have regarding the booking process, some sort of communication (a confirmation/ welcome mail or similar) should happen at least a few days prior to ones arrival (same goes for the hotel, tons of promotional material about the shows that are happening, no confirmation though). It all worked out just fine, the room was booked and in the morning a stretch limo was waiting to take me to the course, quite a nice experience, for an average golfer, something you would usually not experience with other venues.

As you enter through the gates of the property, you seemed to be transported to another state. If you would not know that you are located in the middle of the desert in Nevada, you could easily be persuaded that you are in a forest area somewhere in Oregon or any other “green” area for example. The first impression of the property is truly breathtaking, not only but also due to the fact that you simply don’t expect this level of lavish green to be seen in what is essentially a dry dessert. To put it in perspective, I have been living in Qatar for the past 5 years and am quite used to seeing the scenery change from desert sand to golf green when I enter my home club or any other club in the middle east, and still, I was impressed with what was done with this piece of the desert.
The “VIP treatment” continues when you arrive at the clubhouse, it seems relatively modest on the outside, very nicely maintained, but modest compared to some I saw, however, it works excellent with the surrounding and is actually a lot more spacious from the inside than what you would expect, I would even say it has one of the best locker rooms I ever saw. You are warmly greeted by the staff and explained where everything is located, rules, schedule etc..
After a quick coffee and a walk around the house, I made my way to the practice area where I meet my caddie. I do not hire caddies unless the rule to have one is enforced by the club, as is the case here. The reason for that is that I do not need one (I’m not a pro golfer chasing a perfect score) and I just enjoy the time I spend on the course surrounded by nature and sometimes good friends (when we get a chance to play together), they also tend to make me nervous overexplaining all the brakes and slopes on the green or landing areas etc, again, not a professional golfer. In this case, it turned out my experience during the visit was drastically better due to Scott (that’s the name of the caddy), he’s a really “cool” person with a great sense for what, when and how to say to make your day. Not only does he know the course like his back pocket, but is also a very interesting person to talk to and what I appreciated, does not force a style of play on you, if for instance you want to hit a 4iron when you should be hitting a driver, go for it, want to hit a mulligan or a provisional, sure…
We had a short warm-up on the range which is very well maintained and offers everything you might need to get ready for the game (short/long game, putting etc…) and then it was off to the first tee.

The thing I need to note at this point is, that I did not see a single other player since I arrived and later during the round. Basically, when you visit, the club makes sure they do not overbook the tee time, they make sure you get all the privacy and attention you could possible want and most importantly, they want you to have a good time and associate the course with positive memories and feelings. All of this is done by other clubs of similar standard as well, but here, the way it is done is just somehow different, it makes you feel relaxed and attended to in a non-intrusive kind of a way. I usually don’t really respond well to the exaggerated (and mostly fake) level of kindness and forced catering you receive at some of the up-scale establishments, for instance, I like to carry my own clubs and bags, figure out little things on my own etc. and even though they do take care of you at Shadow Creek, it is somehow done exactly when you want it and in a way you want it to be done, they have figured out the hosting part very, very well!

For the course itself, I will not go into the details of every hole and how it plays, it’s a well-known course that featured many tournaments and was evaluated by people who are much more skilled in doing so than myself, therefore, just a high-level overview. Generally speaking, the course is not too long, I played it from the back tees and even though, there were some missed shots, for the most part, even an amateur golfer can reach the greens in the number of strokes the designed prescribed. From a layout and design perspective, the course plays great, lots of slopes, humps and bumps, water that comes into play (weather in the form of a creek or a lake), great elevated tees to strike from, well positioned sand trapes (but not in a way that would be scary or too demanding) and interesting greens. I liked how the course is designed in a way where you do have to strategies if you are gunning for a low score, but it still permits to have fun with your driver and not be overly punished if you slice or draw a bit. As for the maintenance, it is excellent, really good on all the levels, be it tee boxes, fairways or greens, I don’t really have any negatives on that aspect. The greens were amongst the fastest I played in that area and surly in best condition. The main appeal is however, really the feeling that you are not in Vegas, while being in Vegas, I have never such vegetation in any desert course, and the amount of material that had to be moved in order to make such a design possible must have been enormous, by that I mean the elevations, the angles of the fairways and the slops on it, the fact that it is not squeezed but rather gives the feeling of great space on and between the golf holes, it is visible on the pictures what I’m talking about, at least to an extent. I also liked how they made the effort to incorporate some of the, in other areas common, natural phenomena like waterfalls, and they are made quite well. All in all, extremely well-made golf course.

To summarize, from a strictly golf course perspective, I have played better (not in Vegas), but those courses were not built and had to be maintained in the desert, taking that into account, it is very impressive.
The main thing though, I don’t really remember a course that would have me felling as good as this one did when I left. The thing is, usually when I’m playing the more expensive courses (Pebble, Tara Iti, Royal Melbourne etc…), even when I really like them, I almost always feel like, financially speaking, they have won and that the expensive green fee is justifiable due to the “name” or “history” or “status”, in this case, and I don’t remember this happening before, I felt like the winner. And that, I think, is the “Vegas level of service” effect, from that perspective, definitely one of the best experiences I had so far and I’d be happy to repeat it if/when I return.

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