April 13, 2008--The cup runneth over for the World's Number One golf instructor, as voted recently by Golf Digest. Butch Harmon, who operates the Butch Harmon School of Golf at Las Vegas' Rio Secco Golf Club, has landed another world-class golfer as multiple major champion Ernie Els has left David Leadbetter and is seeking advice from Harmon. The list is long of pro golfers who already spend much time at the Harmon facility that rests on the back of the Rio Secco driving range. Other pros that currently work with Harmon--or other high qualified teachers on his staff--include Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, Natalie Gulbis, Fred Couples, Nick Watney, Tom Purtzer, Charley Hoffman, In-Bee Park, and several others, so many that it is tough to keep track of them all. And Harmon is also said to be working with Chris Dimarco as well. For more ...

April 7, 2008--About a couple dozen touring professionals have deep ties to Las Vegas (many live here, grew up here or played college golf at UNLV). A quick scan of the various money lists as of April 8, 2008, shows no less than 22 pros sitting at some level on the money lists of the world's top tours. Six Las Vegas golfers are among the top 150 on the Nationwide Tour money list while another 14 are listed on the PGA Tour money list from a high of 20th (Chad Campbell, fresh off a runner over the weekend) all the way down to 236th (Skip Kendall, who is also 75th on the Nationwide Tour) and there are another five on the LPGA Tour money list, led by In-Bee Park at 25th. Unfortunately, there are only two Las Vegas golfers in the field at the Masters this weekend. Adam Scott, the Sports Illustrated Golf Plus cover boy and Nick Watney, are teeing it up. For more ...

March 28, 2008 (UPDATED MARCH 31) --Dean Wilson is one of a couple dozen touring pros that either lives in Las Vegas, grew up playing Las Vegas golf courses, and/or has other deep ties to Las Vegas golf. For Wilson, he moved here a few years ago, and is one of several Las Vegas pro golfers (Alex Cejka, Charley Hoffman, Bob May, Erica Blasberg are others) that practices at TPC Las Vegas and TPC Summerlin, sometimes playing fun, money games (as he did during a recent break) to pass the time. Wilson fired a first-round 66 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and sat atop the leaderboard. And he jokingly (?) said that it was all because he recently underwent a procedure. "... Just a little lobotomy, which is what I needed," said Wilson, when asked if a technical or other change made his low score possible. Click now For LIVE SCORING and results. Unfortunately the lobotomy didn't take as he ended up in a tie for 42nd. Tommy Armour III led golfers with Las Vegas ties aftera final-round 66 catapulted him into a tie for 7th. For more ...

March 15, 2008--There's something about talking to a guy who is confident. It fires you up almost as much as the person doing to the speaking. That was the case this week when we touched base with Las Vegas golfer--and member of the 1998 UNLV NCAA Championship golf team--Jeremy Anderson. Anderson has played the PGA Tour, the mini tours and the Nationwide Tour, but hasn't had the breakout season that many expect from him. He has fought injuries along the way, and a few bouts of having little confidence in his game. Not so these days. "I will win on the Nationwide Tour this year, no question, finish in the top 25 on the money list, and be back out on the PGA Tour next year," says Anderson, speaking from spring training in Arizona, a day after watching the UNLV basketball team win a Mountain West Conference tournament game in Las Vegas. For more ...

March 3, 2008--Las Vegas is known as the World's Most Exciting Golf Destination--as dubbed by VegasGolfer Magazine--and there are now more than 20 PGA, Champions, Nationwide, and LPGA Tour golf pros that live here or have deep ties to this mecca that is home to more than 50 Las Vegas golf courses in an around the region. And as of today, there are 13 of those Las Vegas golfers amongst the top 169 money leaders on the official PGA Tour money list but our guess is that none of them are satisfied with thier standings early in 2008. The leader among Las Vegas golfers is former UNLV Golf All-American Chad Campbell (pictured) who is at 33rd with $462,452 with new Henderson resident and Butch Harmon disciple Nick Watney (the Butch Harmon School of Golf is located at Rio Secco Golf Club) next in 66th with $259,720. For more ...

February 29, 2008--Former BYU Cougar golfer Jake Ellison won his first event on the Butch Harmon Vegas Golf Tour, played at the Revere Golf Club, home of two Billy Casper and Greg Nash-designed Las Vegas golf courses where you can play good Las Vegas golf. After four weeks of the new Butch Harmon Vegas Tour Winter Series, Ellison stands at number four on the money list with $11,850. John Passmore is in first with $16,700 while former PGA Tour player and Henderson resident Jeff Gallagher is in second at $15,450. The Revere Golf Club is an award winning facility that is open for public play. The Lexington and Concord Las Vegas golf courses feature dramatic holes in a desert setting with majestic views of the Las Vegas valley. For more ...

February 14, 2008--Most of us with a day job and career work hard to figure out ways to play more golf. Ask most any golfer if they have played recently and the reply is "Not nearly enough." But that wasn't the case for Las Vegas golfer Bill Lunde, a former UNLV All-American and member of the 1998 UNLV National Championship team. He was grinding it out on the mini tours, miserable, he says, trying to spend as little time as possible on the course. And when he did play, he was pretty horrible. But a cocktail of some time off--basically he quit pro golf--with his own 9-5 thrown in, and a splash of fate has led Lunde to exempt status on the 2008 Nationwide Tour and a spot in 8th place on the money list through two events. "Here I am,'' he recently told Dave Lagarde of PGATOUR.com. "This has been bizarre, but things happen for a reason. I honestly believe I have the ability to stay positive and upbeat now.'' For more ...

February 12, 2008--Bill Walters, President of the Walters Group and owner of three Las Vegas golf courses including Bali Hai Golf Club--pictured--, finished a record-setting 10 shots clear at the PGA Tour's historic AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, played over Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Poppy Hills on the famous 17-mile drive in California. Walters partnered with PGA Tour player Fredrik Jacobson to fire rounds (with Walters receiving an 11 handicap) of 65-62-62-61--250. Walters owns Las Vegas golf courses Royal Links Golf Club, Bali Hai Golf Club and Desert Pines Golf Club, and he was shown several times on the Sunday CBS telecast with the announcers--CBS' David Feherty endorses Walters Golf--commenting that they had played some golf with him before and he was "a very good player who was willing to play for just about anything." Walters says that "It was the most phenomenal week of golf that I've ever had." Five of the PGA Tour pros with Las Vegas golf ties, led by Chris Riley who finished 24th, made the cut. For more ...