The Las Vegas Country Club

The Las Vegas Country Club
A TRUE LAS VEGAS ICON
N
o golf Club in existence can match the
extraordinary and diverse history oozing from within
the clubhouse walls, neighborhood homes, tennis
courts, tee boxes, fairways, and greens of The Las
Vegas Country Club. Is that hyperbole? Not a chance.
As just one small example, can any other Club boast
Dean Martin playing the course every day for months
on end prior to it officially being open?
Las Vegas’ first truly private, equity country Club
was—and still is in many cases--the home-away-fromhome for Las Vegas’ kingmakers, developers, bankers,
mobsters, doctors, lawyers, politicos, and seemingly
every other notable Las Vegan who has made an
indelible impact on the city—and sometimes the
world--over the last five decades. There may be no
better reflection of the story of modern Las Vegas
than The Las Vegas Country Club.
Across the last five decades the paths of the city and
The Club intertwined in so many ways that it’s safe to
say the reality of Las Vegas was sparked in large part
by those that dreamt big and created The Las Vegas
Country Club. The men and women of The Las Vegas
Country Club helped shape the future of not only a
golf Club, but the path of a burgeoning city on its way
to making an international footprint.
There is no one easy way to define the place, but it
is special, unique, exclusive, bizarre, mysterious, closeknit, crazy, luxurious, and inimitable. The stories and
Members are so interesting that the plot of a major
Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorcese movie, Casino,
was based on the life and times of several Club
Members. The Members featured in the movie were
bookmaker and gaming icon Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal,
and his wife, Geri, and Tony Spilotro, one of the most
infamous mobsters in history. Club Members also
hosted and created the first million-dollar purse in
PGA Tour history in addition to high-level LPGA Tour
events. Champions included Paul Azinger, Cristie Kerr,
and Greg Norman, among others.
A
mong the other notables who co-mingled within
the small confines of the Club during the last half century
were and are: an owner of the Boston Celtics during the glory
years of 11 championships in 13 years (Marvin Kratter); a man
responsible for funding billions in Las Vegas development,
paving the way for dramatic expansion (Parry Thomas); a Las
Vegas developer and television magnate credited with bringing
the first hospital and high rise to Las Vegas, in addition to
helping create such television shows as Dallas, Dynasty, and
Full House (Irwin Molasky); and a casino king who re-shaped
how Las Vegas does business by creating over-the-top, billiondollar resorts while many scoffed at the grandiose plans
(Steve Wynn).
The Club was the host of the first
million-dollar purse in PGA Tour history.
Other notables include: one of the greatest tennis players in history and a native of Las Vegas (Andre Agassi);
another man, allegedly mobbed-up to the gills, but who became one of the most respected business leaders
and philanthropists in the history of Las Vegas (Moe Dalitz); an international business tycoon and owner of
a major film studio who could move the stock market with a single trade (Kirk Kerkorian) and two Mayors
helping to re-shape the City of Las Vegas (Oscar and Carolyn Goodman). Such are the varied backgrounds of
the many characters that frequent The Las Vegas Country Club.
From the start, the vision of this extraordinary place defied logic,
brimming to life at a time when Vegas was beginning to make a
mark at an international level, but still, at its roots, was a small
burg with no more than 100,000 people living within the Las
Vegas valley. Las Vegas has always been larger than life, a quality
that attracts a brazen group of gamblers, entrepreneurs, and star
gazers looking to line up their version of a triple 7 jackpot. Las
Vegas, for many, is the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end.
Such was the case in the mid-sixties when an aggressive real
estate magnate from New York hit Las Vegas in search of his
Vegas fortune.The multi-million dollar land deal between Marvin
Kratter, the New Yorker, and the estate of Joe W. Brown, the
Dean Martin played the course
everyday in the sixties.
oilman, set in motion a series of dramatic events. By 1967, the
Las Vegas International Country Club was alive, becoming the
crown jewel of a new real estate development, built on land once occupied by a moribund racetrack, and
minutes away from the heart of Las Vegas.
By 1970, Kratter’s dream had faded but four of Las Vegas’ most successful, influential, and benevolent
developers capitalized, taking ownership of Kratter’s Kingdom. Moe Dalitz, Irwin Molasky, Merv Adelson, and
Allard Roen bought the place, along with the support of a group that became known as “The 40”. A more
exclusive and prominent group is tough to fathom. Quite simply it is the place where Vegas happens.
“The precious land around this place is what
initially attracted me to buy assets that included
what is now The Las Vegas Country Club, which
blossomed into the social, athletic, and business
mecca, of, in my opinion, the world’s greatest
city.”
—Irwin Molasky, former LVCC owner
“The Las Vegas Country Club is one of the
few places in town that still exists and has that
original history… I do know that there’s a
certain aura when you bring people there, and
they feel they really become a part of the fabric
of the community.”
—Mark Fine, Developer
“It is astonishing to see such serenity,
such charm, and something so timeless,
in such proximity to the strip, the noisy
pulse of our city.… Golfers, tennis
players and many of the families that
are the fabric of Las Vegas take time to
connect and enjoy the refuge and the
beauty of nature in a way you could
not find anywhere else in our city. The
Las Vegas Country Club is a fixture in
our community and has played a vital
role in my professional tennis career. ”
—Andre Agassi, Tennis Hall of Famer