Las Vegas Golf Celebrities

June 1, 2008--The World Series of Poker is underway in Las Vegas at the Rio. The Rio is the home hotel of the Rees Jones-designed Rio Secco Golf Club, a Las Vegas golf course that is the official site of the Butch Harmon School of Golf. Thousands of poker players are vying for the millions and millions of dollars that are on the line in the many different events that are being played over the next month or so. Many of the poker pros are also golfers, and because of that, Las Vegas' dealership of Southwest Putting Greens has installed a practice putting green in the VIP area of the World Series of Poker. Southwest owner Randy Kleiner says the green was a big hit last year and organizers asked for a larger one this year. And, Kleiner says, he is in the final construction stages of a 3,000-foot Nicklaus Design green at the home of Daniel Negreanu, one of the poker world's biggest stars. Click here to check out the official Southwest Putting Greens website.

May 28, 2008--Las Vegas golf courses are continually the sites for major Las Vegas charity golf tournaments, and there's no telling how much money has been raised by these many Las Vegas golf events. From Tiger Jam to Danny Gans' Partee Fore Kids to the PGA Tour's Justin Timberlake Shriners Hopsitals for Children Open and many, many more, Las Vegas golf courses are the place to be to raise big money for char-i-tee. And UNLV head basketball coach and former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lon Kruger has been busy this off season raising dollars for various causes including the Nevada Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, and for UNLV's upcoming exhibition trip to Australia. In total, Kruger helped net $152,000 for the cancer cause, and $72,000 for his program in two separate events played at Las Vegas golf courses Southern Highlands Golf Club (pictured), TPC Summerlin and Spanish Trail Golf and Country Club.

May 14, 2008--The Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort is an open-to-the-public facility that is the home of the only three Pete Dye-designed Las Vegas golf courses in this area. And this week, the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort is the site of the 2nd FullTilt,net World Series of Golf event that pits golfers against each other in a format inspired by both poker and golf. And Ray Romano and Alan Thicke are just two of the notables teeing it up in the event that will be televised by CBS on June 28-29. Romano is a huge golfer who performs regularly at The Mirage, while Thicke is also a long-time golfer. Romano is off to a good start, reportedly having made it into the final 20 players. The champion will earn a $250,000 first prize. You, too, can play Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort. Click now for easy, online Las Vegas golf tee times.

April 21, 2008--Tiger Jam XI is in the books, and more than $1.5 million is reported to be going to the Tiger Woods Foundation. Celebrities attending the event that included golf at Las Vegas resort course Cascata were Dwayne Wade, Alonzo Mourning, Dr. J, Kristi Yamaguchi and Dancing With the Stars partner Mark Ballas, Jason Sehorn, Scott Hamilton and others, in addition to members of Van Halen who were the stars of this Tiger Jam in more ways than one. Not only did they rock the Mandalay Events Center but they donated $200,000--$100,000 of it from singer David Lee Roth while Fender donated an Eddie Van Halen (pictured with Roth and brother Alex) autographed custom guitar--of their own money to the cause. Cascata is a Harrah's Golf resort course that anyone can play and is the sister course to Rio Secco Golf Club, home of the world-famous Butch Harmon School of Golf, where Tiger Woods trained for many years. Official Cascata and Rio Secco Las Vegas golf packages are available at HarrahsGolfPackages.com. Read on for more official news and pictures from Tiger Jam XI. 

April 6, 2008--Angel Park Golf Club is the home of two Arnold Palmer-designed Las Vegas golf courses, a lighted par 3 course, and an all-grass putting course, among other nice golfing amenities. It is billed as the "World's Most Complete Golf Experience", and now after a segment for the VH-1 Rock of Love with Bret Michaels series was filmed there, the slogan might take on a whole new meaning. "This is where you can possibly make love right on the golf course in the middle of the night ... I have never seen golf played with such verocity," said Michaels, following the scene with two of the ladies who are dueling for his "love". The "threesome" was hosted by Jed Francese, sales manager at Angel Park, who is also a local musician. Click here to watch the action at Angel Park.

April 4, 2008--Earth, Wind and Fire is sweeping through Southern Highlands Golf Club, the final golf masterpiece created by the father/son design duo of Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and Sr., iconic golf architects on the worldwide stage. The nationally-ranked course, that elegantly mingles within the Southern Highlands community, is home this weekend to the Governor's Black Tie Invitational, an event that raises millions for area charities. Southern Highlands Golf Club is headed by president Garry Goett and his Olympia Development business partner, Guy Inzalaco, and has a long history of generosity. The course is donated as the home of the nationally-ranked UNLV Men's golf team, and hosts several charity events annually, highlighted by the Governor's event--in honor of Nevada governor Jim Gibbons--that this year features performances by Earth, Wind and Fire in addition to ventriloquest Terry Fator, recent winner of America's Got Talent.

February 19, 2008--It's not much of a secret that Tiger Woods loves Las Vegas, and for many different reasons. He worked with Las Vegas pro Butch Harmon for many years (Butch Harmon School of Golf), he likes the entertainment and fun the city offers, and he almost attended college golf powerhouse UNLV. And for the last several years, Woods has held his annual Tiger Woods Foundation fundraiser--Tiger Jam--in the city that glitters with high-level entertainment acts and celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Bon Jovi, Seal, Michael Jordan, Pamela Anderson, Will Ferrell (pictured with Tiger in 2007) and many others performing and attending. And April 19, 2008, Van Halen will headline Tiger Jam XI that includes a golf tournament at prestigous Las Vegas golf course Cascata in addition to the concert and VIP dinner at Mandalay Bay. Eddie Van Halen, founding guitarist, is a golfer that plays to about an 18 handicap and is reportedly a member at Lakeside in California.

January 13, 2008--Several celebrities took part in the annual benefit golf tournament presented by Canon that was played at TPC Las Vegas, a PGA Tour experience and one of just a few Las Vegas golf courses that has hosted both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour events. Celebrities playing in the Canon National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Celebrity Golf Tournament included rocker Alice Cooper, actors Blair Underwood, Robert Hayes and Gary Valentine, former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien, and TV personality John Daly. And all four members of Las Vegas' own The Scintas (pictured with Cooper) were spotted on the red carpet hanging with the crowd at the pre-party, and doing good for the community.

December 24, 2007--Over this past weekend, the world watched on ABC as the LPGA Tour, PGA Tour and Champions Tour competed in the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge over the 18 holes of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Reflection Bay Golf Club, one of three Las Vegas golf courses at the world-class Lake Las Vegas Resort. But before the event, actually played about a month ago, some of the competitors and those covering it for ABC, took time out to tell GolfLasVegasNow.com about Lake Las Vegas Resort and Las Vegas in general. "It's just beautiful," said ABC's Judy Rankin, while walking to the first tee to begin her broadcast. "Reflection Bay is right there with a lot of the great golf courses in the world." The good news? You can play this course, just like the pros.