August 20, 2008--As usual, there is an abundance of news surrounding Las Vegas golf courses, Las Vegas golf pros and Las Vegas golf events, so without farther ado, here is another round of news, notes and anecdotes from the world of Las Vegas golf. Stories include several Las Vegas pro golfers competing in the FedEx Cup, the PGA Tour Playoffs; several golfers with ties to Las Vegas making the cut at the U.S. Amateur; the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge coming to Las Vegas golf course Rio Secco Golf Club (pictured); an area course being featured in Tiger Woods' video game; and, as usual, plenty of Las Vegas golf courses offering the best rates and deals.

August 15, 2008--While the 2008 PGA Fall Golf Expo in Las Vegas isn't open to the general public, it still will affect what you will be buying, seeing and playing in your area golf retail store or golf shop and clubhouse. According to organizers, the event is seeing a surge in attendance and hundreds of golf companies will be on hand to show off the latest in golf. And attendees can attend a special demo day at Las Vegas golf course Badlands Golf Club to get a hands-on look at the newest golf club technology, and then soon that same stuff will be appearing at a store or golf course near you. Influential PGA Professionals and golf retailers attending the PGA Fall Expo will be able to personally test golf equipment and accessories from some 40 manufacturers during the PGA Fall Expo Demo Day, August 25,  11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Badlands Golf Club range, putting green and Demo Day Village. Participating manufacturers include Callaway, Nike, MacGregor, Bridgestone, Tour Edge and more. The general show is August 26-27.

August 4, 2008--Committee members of the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame are working to promote and honor some of the great Las Vegas golf history by inducting four new members into the newly-named Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame. PGA Tour champion and record holder Tommy Armour III, legendary Las Vegas PGA of America professional Jerry Roberts, successful amateur champion Louis Redden, and amateur champion and course operator Eric Dutt will be inducted in a ceremony on October 14 that coincides with the PGA Tour's Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. "The Las Vegas name is very powerful, and creating the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame reflects the magnitude of what the recognition means to inductees, in addition to capturing the vision that the committee has to promote, honor, and preserve the deep history—and exciting future--of golf in the Las Vegas area,” says Jack Sheehan, committee member, best-selling author and a person who has covered golf in Las Vegas for three decades.  “And this is the perfect class of diverse inductees to help ring in the new name and continue our worthwhile mission. Each is very deserving, and honored to have been chosen to receive this lifetime achievement award."

July 30, 2008--Sometimes the amount of Las Vegas golf news that happens on a daily or weekly basis is overwhelming, and picking and choosing what to write about becomes a bit of a challenge. So with that in mind, we bring to you a bunch of Las Vegas golf news and information that is cool and useful in a short amount of time and space. Look for more detailed articles about some of these subjects in the future, but for now enjoy this edition of "Las Vegas Golf Happenings: the Back Nine". We lead off with legendary designer Tom Fazio who spent some time this week at one of the most famous Las Vegas golf courses, Shadow Creek, checking out the progress of a major "re-design" project. The course that he designed is closed while some of the tees are being lengthened in addition to some other work. Shadow Creek is annually ranked as one of the world's best golf experiences and is owned by MGM Mirage. More to come. In other Las Vegas golf news, for those looking to support a worthy organization, check out the 2nd Annual Foundation For Recovery charity event at TPC Las Vegas, where the pros play. The event raises funds to make advocacy, awareness, research and scholarships available for addiction recovery programs in the Las Vegas community. Now continue reading for more Las Vegas golf scoops including who recently played in the worst conditions ever and what Las Vegas golf course Team USA basketball played.

July 9, 2008--For Joe Kelly, a longtime Las Vegas PGA of America professional who now operates the three Las Vegas golf courses at Golf Summerlin (pictured), giving back to the game of golf has been a lifelong pursuit. Kelly has managed and worked at several Las Vegas golf courses over the last few decades, and during that time has been involved in many big events and causes, but possibly his most rewarding accomplishment was being one of several people who helped create the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association. Around 1976, Kelly, along with Joe Lepire, Jr., Scott Greer, Tim Webster, Dick Huff, and others, created the organization that focused on offering competitive tournaments for the area's best junior golfers. And over the years, the association produced many college golfers and a few pros, including Las Vegas PGA Tour golfers Robert Gamez, Craig Barlow, and Edward Fryatt, and LPGA Tour pro Stephanie Louden. Now, some 30 years later, Kelly, who took some time away from his volunteer efforts to focus on family and business, is back involved with The First Tee of Southern Nevada, and is very pleased to have come full circle.

June 28, 2008--The FullTiltPoker.net World Series of Golf is a unique golf event that was born in Las Vegas. The second-year event was played at Pete Dye's Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort that is the home of three Las Vegas Pete Dye-designed Las Vegas golf courses. The this Las Vegas golf tournament combines the skills of golf and poker, and awards the last player standing with $250,000. The event, that was decided in May, is airing on CBS television today and tomorrow. Check you local listings for times, but it is listed at 2 PM EST. "The World Series of Golf is about the personalities in the game, and our television broadcast focuses on an incredibly unique group of individuals," said Terry Leiweke, president of the World Series of Golf and NCAA football record holder. "The players in our event are golfers that any average guy can relate to. They talk trash, they love to gamble, and on any given day, they could drain a twenty-foot putt with some real money on the line." Celebrities including Ray Romano and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Ivey are competing.

June 22, 2008--By record, Brady Exber is the finest amateur golfer in the history of Las Vegas, and has dozens of tournament wins and an induction into the Southern Nevada Golf Hall-of-Fame to back up that assumption. And over three days last week at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, home of three Pete Dye-designed Las Vegas golf courses, Exber added another Nevada State Amateur championship to his resume. Exber also won the State Amateur in 1991. Exber is a multiple Major tournament champion, and has earned the Southern Nevada Golf Association Player of the Year title an unprecented eight times. Current PGA Tour player Robert Gamez has earned the next most player of the year honors, with four. Exber was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 2006, along with Butch Harmon and Tom Storey.

June 20, 2008--The American Junior Golf Association is the best junior golf tour in the world, and annually its participants nab lucrative college golf scholarships to the best colleges in the country. And this week a Las Vegas junior golfer, Max Marsico, coming off a foot injury, won the event, becoming the first male player from Las Vegas to win the prestigious tournament that annually brings many of the country's best junior golfers to Las Vegas. Stephanie Keever and Christine Fernandez, both from Southern Nevada, are past champions of the girls division. The event was held at Angel Park Golf Club (pictured), the home of two, Arnold Palmer designed 18 hole courses. "I'm on cloud nine," Marsico said. "This has always been a great tournament, and it is a dream come true to be healthy and to win." Click now for official tournament scores.

June 17, 2008--Angel Park Golf Club is the home of two, 18-hole Arnold Palmer Las Vegas golf courses, plus a lighted par 3 course, a large, lighted practice area, and an all-grass putting course. It is dubbed the "World's Most Complete Golf Experience" and this week 78 of the nation's best junior golfers will descend on the course for the playing of the 19th Annual Las Vegas American Junior Golf Association tournament. Past champions of the event include such notables as Chris Riley, Chez Reavie, Trip Kuehne, Stephanie Louden (then Keever), Christie Kerr and many others. Tiger Woods also once played in the tournament, but amazingly didn't win. Champions of the 2007 Las Vegas junior golf event were Ryan Sheffer of Arizona and the girls champion was Sarah Salvo of California. He is now playing golf at Notre Dame while she is playing golf at the University of New Mexico. Notables in this year's event include Henderson's AJ Mcinerney, California's Rachel Harris and Philip Chan, and Idaho's Tommy Higham. Official tournament info and results.