Community rallies around iconic Las Vegas National Golf Course

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A roar of approval went up Friday night when residents in the Paradise Palms neighborhood heard the news: business is good at Las Vegas National Golf Course.

In a 20-plus-year drought, golf courses have had targets on their backs lately. But after seeing the list of casualties grow — Badlands, Silverstone, Black Mountain, and Desert Pines next on the chopping block — Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom wants residents to know he is committed to keeping the golf course in place.

Redevelop? “Over my dead body,” Segerblom said Friday.

“I have a personal commitment to that course,” he said. Segerblom said he was surprised that there was no covenant between the course and surrounding residents in Paradise Palms, the first master-planned community in Las Vegas.

The course itself is rich in history. It was the site of Tiger Woods’ first PGA Tour win, and photos on the clubhouse wall pay tribute to the game’s legends. The experience is like stepping back in time.

The neighborhood, which just recently received a wider net of protection under an expanded “Historic Neighborhood Overlay,” has watched what has happened elsewhere in the valley. The overlay won’t necessarily stop changes related to the golf course, but residents would be informed along the way.

Earlier this year, the City of Las Vegas moved forward with plans to redevelop the Desert Pines Golf Club at Bonanza Road and Pecos Road, with plans that call for affordable housing and a College of Southern Nevada workforce development training center. The site will include more than 1,500 apartments, 79 townhomes, 80 duplexes and 224 units for seniors.

A “central park” will be all that remains of the golf course when the project is complete. The course, which opened in 1996 and has four lakes, is still open as the city works toward a groundbreaking that could happen sometime in 2023.

That project is a mere 4.5 miles away from Las Vegas National.

About two years ago, Henderson approved a redevelopment plan for Black Mountain Golf and Country Club, which opened in 1958. That project is well under way along Horizon Drive, with more than 150 homes planned on the site.

The Badlands and Silverstone courses were subjects of much more contention.

Badlands, at Rampart Boulevard and Alta Drive, has been tied up in a legal dispute for years after a developer bought the course with plans to build houses in 2015. The City of Las Vegas is facing a $34 million judgment over the case and settlement talks appear to be stalled. Silverstone homeowners live around a dead golf course in the north valley near Buffalo Drive and Racel Street.