Tame The Wolf

Event

Tame the Wolf

You'd better bring you’re A-game!

Story by Bill Bowman

Photography provided by Wolf Creek Golf Club

If you’re looking for a challenge that epitomizes the ‘wow’ factor when it comes to golf, this is just what the doctor ordered: A tournament on a world-class golf course that is maxed out in length as well as difficulty.

Welcome to the Tame The Wolf challenge at Wolf Creek Golf Club.

Players will tee it up from as far back as the staff at Mesquite’s Wolf Creek Golf Club can place the tee markers. The two-man scramble will be held December 9, 2017. The cost is $300 per team (with a 30-team limit) with most of the fee going back into the prize fund. The event will have a 10 a.m. shotgun start.

Now if you think Wolf Creek is a tough test from any of the sets of tees, wait until you take on this beast from way, way back. At 6,939 yards, it’s not the longest course players will tackle. But add in a slope of 154 and this one will challenge even the best players.

“We make the course as tough as we can,” says Darren Stanek, general manager. “We place some of the pins on tiers, we get the greens rolling at 11 or 12 and with the back tees, some of the forced carries can be 230 to 240 yards so it’s a challenge.”

For your average Joe, well, you might want to bring along an extra sleeve of balls…or two…or three. But remember, this is a two-man scramble, so players will be able to get a little (or a lot) of help from a buddy

This is the fourth year the staff has held this promotion and most of the golfers who tee it up can really play the game. The best score anyone’s been able to post is a 12-under-par 58 (the course is changed to a par-70 for this event with two of the par 5s changed to long par 4s).

“We’ve had Tour players and club pros play, so that’s pretty cool,” Stanek says. “And as that score shows, good scoring is not only possible, but pretty normal. We’ve had a couple of scores in the mid 80s, but we get a lot of low scores.”

Wolf Creek is located an hour north of Las Vegas and plays 6,939 yards from the tips. But with that tough slope rating, it’s a daunting task. There are severe elevation changes, intimidating water features, brilliant bunkering, rolling fairways, and undulating greens. This one fills the bill when it comes to must-play courses.

How tough is this layout from the tips? Well, check out the par 3 eighth hole for example. From most of the sets of tees it will test players’ accuracy off the tee. But back it up to the tips, a jaw-dropping 248 yards, and that fear factor gets ramped up.

Then there’s the 562-yard, par 5 seventeenth. Now, that’s definitely not a lot of yardage for a par 5, but add in a long tee shot to even reach the fairway and a second shot to a near-island green (if players are trying to get home in two) and the numbers on the scorecard can rise…as well as the count for lost balls.

It’s not that we’re trying to scare people away. Just the opposite. This is the chance to feel like a pro for a day. Players will get the opportunity to bring their A game to an A rated course.

“Competition on the golf course is supposed to be fun,” Stanek says. “That’s what Wolf Creek is all about. You’ll have fun and take on the best that Wolf Creek has to offer.”

So, good luck. Winning the event is always a great goal. But in this case, survival is a close second.

Wolf Creek Golf Club

403 Paradise Pkwy, Mesquite

866-252-4653

www.golfwolfcreek.com