Las Vegas, Nevada (October 11, 2013)–With the PGA Tour's Shriners Hospitals For Children Open teeing off at Las Vegas' TPC Summerlin in a few days, we have been reminiscing about previous PGA Tour and Champions PGA Tour events that have been played in Las Vegas. And just down the street from the current host course is TPC Las Vegas, formerly TPC at The Canyons. That course was one of the courses used in the PGA Tour rotation and also served as the host course for the Las Vegas Senior Classic. Champions who claimed titles at TPC Las Vegas included Jim Furyk, Hale Irwin, and Bill Glasson. TPC Las Vegas is a resort course so you can walk and play the same fairways as the pros. –By Brian Hurlburt, Like on Facebook. Follow @LVGolfInsider. Photo LV News Bureau.
Hale Irwin won the 1997 Las Vegas Senior Classic, the first Champions Tour event to be played at TPC Las Vegas. He followed that up with another win at the TPC Las Vegas in 1998. The other champions of the Las Vegas Senior Classic tournaments that were played at TPC Las Vegas were Vicente Fernandez (1999), Larry Nelson (2000), and Bruce Fleisher (2001). The 2001 event was the final Las Vegas Senior Classic to be played. Before moving to the TPC Las Vegas, the event was played at the old Desert Inn Golf Club (now the renovated Wynn Las Vegas) and at TPC Summerlin. Other champions of the Las Vegas Senior Classic were: 1996 Jim Colbert; 1995 Jim Colbert; 1994 Raymond Floyd; 1993 Gibby Gilbert; 1992 Lee Trevino; 1991 Chi Chi Rodriguez; 1990 Chi Chi Rodriguez; 1989 Charles Coody; 1988 Larry Mowry; 1987 Al Geiberger; and 1986 Bruce Crampton.
TPC Las Vegas was a host course for the PGA Tour from 1997-2007, before the event moved solely to TPC Summerlin in 2008 when Justin Timberlake moved in as host of the tournament. Timberlake is now gone but the Shriners organization is fully in charge and dedicated to making the Las Vegas PGA Tour event one of the best on Tour. The champions of Las Vegas' PGA Tour event with rounds held at TPC Las Vegas were: 1997 Bill Glasson; 1998 and 1999 Jim Furyk; 2000 Billy Andrade; 2001 Bob Estes; 2002 Phil Tautaranghi; 2003 Stuart Appleby; 2004 Andre Stolz; 2005 Wes Short, Jr.; 2006 Tory Matteson; 2007 George McNeil; and 2008 Marc Turnesa.
Want to play TPC Las Vegas? Click now to reserve your tee times in Las Vegas at the official website. Or reserve official Las Vegas golf vacation packages with nearby resorts including the JW Marriott and Red Rock Casino Resort.
TPC Las Vegas was designed by PGA Tour Design Services Lead Architect Bobby Weed with consultation by World Golf Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd. "As far as aesthetics and playability, I would put TPC Las Vegas up against any golf course you care to mention," Floyd has said about a course he considers among his best works. "It's as unique as they come and I'm very proud of the way it has turned out, especially given the challenges of designing a golf course on such a challenging piece of property. But I think a golf course is kind of like a fine wine. The best come from the toughest pieces of ground."
These days even though an official PGA Tour event isn't played at the course, the fairways of TPC Las Vegas still see plenty of PGA Tour action. The course serves as a main practice spot for Las Vegas Golf Region residents and Tour pros Charley Hoffman, Bill Lunde, Ryan Moore, Alex Prugh, and Alex Cejka among several others. There are so many who play and practice there that course management still dubs TPC Las Vegas as the "Home of Pro Golf in Las Vegas."