February 18, 2008–Many leaders of the free world have been golfers, and many of them have teed it up on the best Las Vegas golf courses including Las Vegas Country Club, Desert Inn, Southern Highlands Golf Club, Bali Hai Golf Club and Shadow Creek. Bill Clinton (pictured with Michael Jordan) sometimes walks right down the Las Vegas Strip to his Las Vegas golf round while George Bush #41 is the only guy allowed to fish on the hallowed grounds of the Tom Fazio Las Vegas golf course Shadow Creek, the exclusive golf course owned by MGM Mirage. And John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford were said to have tee'd it up at the old Desert Inn, one of Las Vegas' most historic golf courses that was razed to make room for a new Tom Fazio and Steve Wynn masterpiece.
Clinton was one of the first golfers to play the exclusive Southern Highlands Golf Club, the final golf course created by the father-son design duo of Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and Sr. He played with owner Garry Goett on opening day. Southern Highlands is the home Las Vegas golf course for the UNLV Men's Golf team, a perennial powerhouse that won the 1998 NCAA Championship. Current PGA Tour star and former Rebel Ryan Moore plays out of the club and also lives in the master-planned community. Clinton also welcomed the national champion Rebels to the White House to celebrate their impressive victory.
Clinton was once spotted walking with his entourage on the sidewalk of the Las Vegas Strip en route to a golf round with at Bali Hai Golf Club. Clinton was decked out in golf attire, and kept a brisk pace while the secret service and others kept up. A couple secret service vehicles also flanked the former president from the right-hand lane. Clinton had stayed at the Four Seasons that shadows Bali Hai Golf Club, and is just a short walk from the hotel.
Clinton also tee'd it up at Las Vegas Country Club during a different round with Michael Jordan, local business leader Brian Greenspun and former Nevada governor Bob Miller.
Bush plays a lot of golf at Shadow Creek, and keeps a special fishing rod in the clubhouse for the rare occasions when he has time to drop a line. Bush was also the subject of a GOLF Magazine "play with a celebrity" article written by local author Jack Sheehan and was saluted with a flyover by the USAF Thunderbirds during the round. It brought a tear to his eye. Also in the foursome was Mirage and Shadow Creek visionary (he has since sold the hotel and golf course and open WYNN Las Vegas) Steve Wynn.
Photo caption:
L to R: Secret Service, Bill Clinton, Michael Jordan, Brian Greenspun, Former Hawaii governor, former Nevada governor Bob Miller.