Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, has reopened its golf course following an extensive redesign by Tom Fazio.
The architect – who originally designed the course in 2005 – worked with his son Logan on the project, which has included the introduction of eight entirely new holes and a substantial reworking of the other 10.
“We are so excited about the return of the Wynn Golf Club,” said Fazio. “The quality of the Wynn golf experience matches the ultra-high level that everyone expects from a Wynn resort. The playability of the course is second to none and the challenge of play for all golfers is exceptional.”
More than 400,000 cubic yards of earth and 300 trees have been relocated in the process of creating wider landing areas, new contouring and elevation change throughout the course, as well as alterations to bunkers to allow easier access. Every green has been expanded and recontoured to create new hole locations and, in places, surrounds have been contoured to feed balls towards putting surfaces.
Fazio embraced the Las Vegas location and surroundings for his redesign. “We’re in Las Vegas, we’re on the Strip, we have these magnificent structures all around us and this magnificent environment of buildings and fun and excitement,” he said. “There’s no way to hide them.”
The eighteenth hole, for example, is framed by a 35-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide waterfall. It has been transformed from a par four to a three, requiring a long tee shot to avoid the lagoon on the left side of the green.
Fazio explains that the location of golf holes was chosen to preserve much of the existing vegetation. “There’s even some vegetation from the original Desert Inn golf course, where we kept some of the huge big trees. It gave us the opportunity for mature framing and definition. The shaping evolved to whatever view we had. We put the best shape into the frame of the golf hole and didn't try to manipulate the shape of the land to what was in the distant view.”
Marilyn Spiegel, president of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, said: “Tom Fazio has outdone himself designing a beautiful and unique new course that is even better than the one before. We look forward to welcoming players back with a world-class golf experience that captures both the luxury of our resort and the excitement of Las Vegas.”