Special Places - TPC Summerlin

The Fall Series on the PGA Tour begins on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada with the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, hosted at TPC Summerlin. The Tournament Players Club (TPC) network - currently comprising 25 courses in 10 states - was created by the PGA Tour to provide superlative venues to host Tour events and at the same time give ordinary fans the chance to play the layouts which golfing superstars compete on.

Summerlin is a suburb of around 100,000 people and the golf course is central to the community. Golf architect Bobby Weed - former head superintendent at TPC Sawgrass - was commissioned to design TPC Summerlin with two-time major winner Fuzzy Zoeller as his player assistant. The course is carved out of rugged desert terrain, meandering through arid canyons with honey mesquite and pine trees creating a dramatic contrast to raw landscape features. The layout is a stadium design with natural amphitheatres and strategically placed spectator mounds affording unrestricted views of tee shots, fairway approaches and putting.

TPC Summerlin is a 6700m par 71 course that will give up its fair share of birdies to accurate and aggressive play. The lush bentgrass greens allow the putts to roll purely and water is in play on only four holes, the 12th and the three finishing holes. Holes to watch will include the well-crafted and demanding 175m par 3 5th where the tee shot must carry a wash that fronts the wickedly left-to-right sloping green. Par is always a good score here. The final four holes will make or break the round.

The tempting and driveable short par 4 15th with a long narrow, elevated green generates a lot of excitement and ranks among the easiest holes. Risk and reward are stamped all over the par 5 16th where anything from 3 to 8+ will be carded. The downhill par 3 17th and the 410m par 4 18th can produce a birdie finish, but with Sunday pin placements close to the water nerves will be jangling for those in contention down the stretch.

TPC Summerlin is an outstanding and beautiful oasis in the Nevada desert with the Spring Mountains as a stunning backdrop. Innovative design in a pristine natural setting ensures that the course's reputation will flourish in the years to come.

Golfweather Editorial