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Las Vegas golf: Michael Jordan brings celebrity event back to Shadow Creek

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SAMMAMISH, WA - JUNE 09: Hall of Famer, Annika Sorenstam greets Inbee Park of South Korea at her induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame during the first round of the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at the Sahalee Country Club on June 09, 2016 in Sammamish, Washington. (Photo by Montana Pritchard/The PGA of America via Getty Images)

The exclusivity of Shadow Creek is done in part to keep celebrities who love golf safely hidden inside its gates.

Those gates swing open to the general public once a year for the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, set for April 3-6. This is Shadow Creek’s fourth year hosting the event, which has raised nearly $7 million for charities since its 2001 inception. This year’s beneficiaries include Make-A-Wish, James R. Jordan Foundation, Keep Memory Alive, Opportunity Village and Cats Care, the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats’ charity arm.

Tickets range from $30 for a daily pass to $500 for a four-day VIP experience. Complimentary shuttles are available from the host ARIA Resort & Casino to Shadow Creek.

Just the chance to walk Tom Fazio’s immaculate design is alone worth the price of admission. A tee time at Shadow Creek normally costs $500, plus a night’s stay at an MGM Resorts International property such as Aria or Bellagio.


More: Deegan on his recent round of golf at Shadow Creek


Ray Romano, Luke Wilson, Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Roger Clemens, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Griffey Jr., Penny Hardaway, Toni Kukoc, Mario Lemieux and Aaron Rodgers are among the stars playing golf. The Celebrity-Amateur tournament, which pairs one celebrity with four amateurs, will be April 3-4. The two-person, 36-hole scramble for celebrities only will take place on the weekend.

More top shelf golf for high rollers in Vegas

More high roller golf on the Vegas strip awaits at tropical-themed Bail Hai Golf Club.

Shadow Creek is just one of a handful of outstanding golf experiences near Las Vegas. Fazio’s Wynn Golf & Country Club sells luxury akin to Shadow Creek right on the Strip. Caddies, an empty course and a magnificent waterfall behind the 18th green highlight any round at Wynn.

Bali Hai Golf Club, the premier course run by Walters Golf, was built on the south end of the Strip next to Mandalay Bay with a tropical motif. Palm trees, blue lagoons and bright white bunkers look striking against the backdrop of the mountains and the Vegas skyline.

The TPC Las Vegas, a former host of the Champions Tour and PGA Tour near the resort community of Summerlin, finishes with a flourish when a daunting canyon intersects its back nine. Full panoramic views of Sin City can be seen from higher elevations at the Rio Secco Golf Club, a demanding Rees Jones design in Henderson, and Bear’s Best, a unique Jack Nicklaus course with replica holes from his best designs around the world. Cascata, located in Boulder City, translates in Italian to “waterfall.” The 418-foot manmade waterfall winding through the layout, the range and the lavish Tuscan clubhouse is just one of the reasons Jones called Cascata the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. That might sound like the Vegas hype machine spouting off again, but it really is a modern marvel worth seeing.