Part #2
My first reaction on the course was that Shadow Creek bears a striking resemblance to Sherwood. Both require a suspension of disbelief because of the strange environmental dichotomy. My body feels wicked heat, yet my eyes see a soothing creek meandering down a fairway lined with pine trees as if in Lake Tahoe.
Perhaps the illusion plays better in the winter, where the snow-covered peaks in the background give a different visual cue.
The other observation that struck me as we played the golf course is the feeling of absolute isolation of nearly every hole. The golf course unfolds like 18 separate vignettes, although stylistically it blends together seamlessly - so much so that I have to concentrate hard to recall the sequence of holes.
Sometimes this can be perceived as a negative - implying that each hole is not as memorable as Pine Valley for example, but then there is a course like Chechessee Creek which is astoundingly good but flows along with the same common thread.
One aspect that drew attention to itself -at least in my mind - was the sensation of playing each hole in a separate canyon or culvert. It seems like every green complex was set in an intimate, tree-covered amphitheater, necessitating a walk straight up a hill to the cart path.
Shadow Creek constantly wriggles, changing direction so often that by the third hole, I was completely disoriented. It felt much like driving down the highways on Florida, with no landmarks in the distance to set your bearings - only dense foliage mile after mile.
Steve Wynn was apparently intent on making each hole its own presentation, but I wonder if the whole thing might have worked better if, after pushing up mountains of dirt on the perimeter of the property, they had thought about creating some meandering internal ridges for the holes to play over and around instead of individual valleys.
Because of this, it seems like there was a lack of internal hazards and contour in the fairways. Bunkers were set at the perimeter of the playing areas most of the time, clearly defining the preferred line to the hole.
However, because everything is presented in such a carefully arranged manner, the golf course has an antiseptic quality - a perfection that mirrors the Italian plaza at Caesars Palace. Perfect, but so flawless as to seem unreal.
Except for the trees. Thousands of them. It is said that Steve Wynn decided to triple the tree plantings on a whim, thinking the course looked too sparse. Yes, it is tree covered, which diverts attention away from the sensation of confinement and artificiality.
Oddly enough, for such a meticulously planned golf course, some of the trees are clearly blocking a portion of the putting surface, and in two cases are directly along the line of play in front of a bunker. In an effort to look as realistic as possible, perhaps Steve Wynn and Fazio purposely put in couple of Green Committee gaffes.
It is not surprising that my favorite hole on the golf course has the quirkiest feature. The 5th hole is a long par-4 with an elevated green with an entrance divided between a ramp on the left that nudges the ball onto the green, and a severe chute to the right.
Hit you approach one inch short and right and the ball is deposited to the bottom of a 30 foot fall-off, leaving a blind wedge back up the hill. Great stuff - and a fun feature for the #1 handicap hole.
But for the most part, there is a lack of clever feature work or unexpected surprises. It seems the goal was to create something of astounding beauty, and to that end Fazio did a wonderful job. It is simple, and in truth, remarkably restrained.
Is it full of pointless eye candy? No, everything is there for a purpose, I just prefer more strategic content. It seems designed as an idyllic walk in the park not intended to stretch anyone’s intellect.
Given the same opportunity, I shudder to think what Ted Robinson would have produced.
That said, the cliff top waterfall 17th looked like a set from the movie “Blue Lagoon.” A hopelessly phony and out of place architectural non-sequitur given the restraint of the prior 16 holes. But even so, it was breathtakingly gorgeous and I’ll be the first to admit it. Steve Wynn is a showman, and there was no way he could resist the big finish.
I walked off the 17th tee and pulled aside the shrubbery behind the back markers. It summed up the wonder of Shadow Creek in one look. On one side, a horribly ugly wasteland of filthy railroad cars and a factory belching smoke into the scorching afternoon heat.
Now turn around and look down at a sparkling pond, with a cascading waterfall misting the walkway to a tiny green. We were told that Michael Jackson would often sit on a rock in front of the falls and stare for hours at a time.
I averted my eyes under the theory that because nobody is quite sure what causes pedophilia, it was best not to take chances.
The 18th hole is certainly eye-catching, a reachable par-5 over a creek-fed pond. Strategically, it works well and visually, the whole look is stunning. The clubhouse appears simple and tasteful, with nothing that detracts from the hole.
Strangely, the only flashy element on the property is Steve Wynn’s house - an enormous structure on the far side of the 18th fairway with golden roof tiles and a garden area with not a leaf out of place.
Naccarato, Adam and I were trying to come up with an unqualified evaluation in the limo back to the hotel, but it was difficult to put our collective fingers on exactly what we thought.
Taken just as a golf course, it is not in the class of NGLA, Shinnecock or Pine Valley, mostly because there is no escaping the feeling of unreality and detachment from the environment.
Yet for what it is, an engineering miracle of Lido-esque proportions, Shadow Creek almost belongs in its own category. If it does not represent a truly great golf course, it stands as a demonstration what is possible with a genius architect and unlimited money.
And isn’t that what Las Vegas is really about?
New York New York is not really Manhattan, Caesars Palace is not really Italy, but the pastrami and pasta taste almost as good.
Shadow Creek may not really be a great golf course in the purest sense of the word, but it is a great creation and completely unlike anything else in the world. To that end, it deserves all the kudos it gets and more.