Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course Offers World Class Setting
by Scott A. Sumner
Each year I have spent some time watching the interesting American Century Celebrity golf tournament from Lake Tahoe on television. When I got the chance to play that very course, Edgewood Tahoe, I knew it would be fun. In fact the natural setting of this beautiful course located right on South Lake Tahoe with soaring snow covered peaks as a backdrop provided a fantastic golf experience.
The Edgewood Tahoe course is now 40 years old, built in 1968. It was built because one of the hotel owners then at Lake Tahoe, Del Webb wanted a way to keep his customers here in the summer time. The clubhouse came afterwards. Overall the attractive course is situated
on 250 acres on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. The family ownership also owns another 150 acres around the course. The course designer is Tom Fazio and is the first golf course he worked on out of school taking over from original architect George Fazio. It is owned
by Park Cattle Company.
Edgewood Tahoe has received the honour of top 100 public course in US and top 500 hole, the 18th by Golf Digest. It is always in the top 2 or 3 courses in Nevada said Bryan Davis, Marketing Manager at Edgewood Tahoe. "We have a seasonal membership limited to 70 localresidents. Our course will do 18 to 19,000 rounds annually dependant on weather. We start early May usually and stay open to mid October and longer if the weather stays good. Once we hit November there is snow on the course that may melt off but throughout the season snow stays on the course," said Bryan Davis. "The majority of our players come from San Francisco, Sacramento and South California as well as Dallas and Houston. Everyone else are true destination golfers. By far we are the ultimate course at Lake Tahoe and the only one situated on the shores of the lake. The regulations to do a project like this as well as purchasing the land would be prohibitive today. " Bryan Davis is right about this. I was told Tiger Woods has just bought a waterfront house nearby for a price tag of over $25 million.
Incidently they stated he will spend 1 or 2 weeks a year here!
Edgewood Tahoe offers a range of green fee rates including- early season rates -mid week twilite is $100 working up to peak weekends July and August at $235 which includes range balls and cart with GPS using the 90 degree rule. The clubhouse is 25,000 feet in
size and is situated on a gorgeous setting on the shores of Lake Tahoe. There are two banquet rooms and two bars. Golf Digest has ranked Edgewood Tahoe in their top 50 19th holes in the US, one of only 17 public courses in the US as well as including only 2 in
Nevada, the other being the Wynn course in Las Vegas.
They have designed the clubhouse to fit the Lake setting. "The Edgewood restaurant is very popular 7 days a week. We run 130 to 140 people only per night and all have great views. Price range from $35 to $50 for entrees with a great wine selection. It is a higher end restaurant," said Davis. "The snow on the peaks you can see from the clubhouse will last to mid to late July. The peak there is 9800 feet and the highest peak in the basin is 10,300 feet. You will definitely gain a club or two in distance. The course is situated at 6200 feet. Most Colorado courses are in the 4500 feet to 5000 feet range."
" I play 15 to 20 times as the job keeps you busy, but everytime you get an opportunity to go out and play you take advantage of it. What I like the best about Edgewood Tahoe are the views around the lake, looking up at the mountain and the mature Tahoe trees- pine trees. As you look out you can see lake on almost every tee box. The finishing holes of 16, 17 and 18 are excellent finishing holes. 16 is a great par 5 that goes straight downhill towards the lake. 17 is a par 3 right along the beach that can play from 130 to 200 plus yards. 18 is a par 5 that is a slight dog leg to the right which ends up at the clubhouse finishing right on the water to the left. It is a great risk reward hole," said Davis. " The course is 7400 yards.When the celebraties come out they play at 6800. Our annual event is called the American Century Celebrity tournament. It is televised on NBC and ESPN this year and will be held July 11, 12, 13, 2008.Before that we have two days of Pro Ams with 80 celebrities. We get Michal Jordan, Jack Wagner, and many many others with the pro ams for 1 day costing $5000. It is an exciting time for the town. There are parties at Harrahs and Harveys casinos each night. There is a lot of activity here."
For a great destination to come and enjoy some fantastic golf, gambling, entertainment and just plain relaxing you should plan on visiting Lake Tahoe soon!
see www.edgewoodtahoe.com and www.harrahs.com
