Reno-Tahoe: Tournament Tested

by Jeff Wallach

No. 3 at Montreux, home of the PGA Tour's Reno-Tahoe Open.

Nobody likes to argue more than golfers. What’s that? Fishermen? No, I don’t think so. Huh? What are you, a wise guy? Why I oughta ... As I was saying, nobody likes to argue more than golfers, especially when it comes to the quality of their favorite (or most recently played) course. Or even one they’ve seen on TV.

Take, for example, the debate about two award-winning tournament venues in Nevada: Edgewood Tahoe, home to the Celebrity Golf Championship, and Montrêux Golf and Country Club, host of the Reno-Tahoe Open. Each of these highly rated venues draws media attention and well-known participants. But for the sake of argument, which course is “better”?

The Vibe

Let’s start with Edgewood, as classic and sophisticated as a white button-down shirt and pressed khakis. George Fazio designed the course in 1968 and his nephew, Tom, has been keeping an eye on it since. The course leans right up against almost-too-blue Lake Tahoe, where the water is so clear you can see a golf ball 75 feet below the surface — and if you do, it’s probably one of mine.

In addition to the lake, Edgewood has pine-scented forests, clear streams and views of the snowy spines of the Sierra. At more than 6,200 feet of altitude, you might hit an 8-iron 190 yards, and what could be more beautiful than that? As for amenities, you can enjoy a great meal in the wood-and-glass clubhouse overlooking a golf course that combines the awesomely powerful visual poetry of Shaquille O’Neal in action with the refined manners and snappy good humor of Sir John Gielgud. On the other hand, from a number of Edgewood’s hallowed fairways, golfers can see casino towers, views of the road and other less-than-pristine visuals.

Montrêux Golf and Country Club is a brash young Jack Nicklaus design from 1997, exuding the confidence of a stylish silk shirt, black slacks, and a pair of Italian loafers. But this is evolved — as opposed to early — Jack. Although many holes favor a power fade and some present daunting tasks, Montrêux expresses subtleties at the same time that it takes a few chances. It’s the rich guy at the party who can really dance.

The course is set amid a very exclusive private community in the great-smelling high desert close to the Old West charms and ringing casinos of Reno. It features ear-popping elevation changes and never advertises where you’re headed, but rather surprises you with unexpected turns. It also boasts shot-enhancing altitude and great alpine views. Oh, and a sprawling French chateaux of a clubhouse that management may have to call security to convince you to leave. Everything is perfectly and immaculately maintained to within an inch of its life. There is no mistaking that Montrêux is a private club.

Advantage: Montrêux

The Tournaments

For the past 17 years, Edgewood has thrown a party now called the Celebrity Golf Championship, where athletes and entertainers with a 10 handicap or lower can compete for the $500,000 purse, and a host of others with handicaps higher than their MVP stats also hack it around for the fans. Favorites appearing here have included John Elway, George Brett, Michael Jordan, Mario Lemiux, Bryant Gumbel and many others. This year, soap star Jack Wagner notched his first win after coming close for a decade and a half.

Fans love this event, which is a cross between a golf tourney and SportsCenter. Kids line up five deep for autographs, and the lame-swinging but always-game Charles Barkley has been known to sign them for hours after each round.

In contrast, Montrêux has hosted the more staid yet Tour-popular Reno-Tahoe Open, a PGA event since 1999. While Montrêux can boast participation by 40 players who’ve won major championships — names such as Daly, Couples, Faldo and Price — and a purse of $3 million, the two-time defending champion going into this year was Vaughn Taylor. And virtual unknown Will Mackenzie topped the field. Insert polite golf clap here.

Advantage: Edgewood

The Courses

At Edgewood, the back tees play 7,445 yards with a 139 slope and 75.7 course rating. Fourteen holes have water, and as the course routes through meadows and forests and over and around lakes, trees occasionally stand sentry, both in fairways and fronting greens. But nothing at Edgewood seems tricked up or artificial, merely reverent.

The first couple of holes provide a clean, classic introduction, but No. 3 is Edgewood’s first great hole — an epic par-5 dogleg right with trouble-making fairway bunkers loitering at the landing areas like stoners outside a corner store. The second landing is further compromised by water on the opposite side of sand. From there, the hole snuggles into a chute and climbs to an elevated green hosting a congregation of trees and two front framing bunkers. No. 4 conjures both Spyglass and Shadow Creek with its pine clusters and rocky stream frolicking in the open. Trees first pose an impossible-to-ignore vertical hazard on the 220-yard par-3 No. 5, where a seemingly innocent pine guards the front left of the green, almost leaning in the doorway between bunkers and smoking a cigarette, thus discouraging a fade. No. 6 will shiver your timbers; the approach on this mid-length par 4 is more daunting than Oprah approaching a doughnut shop. If you’re short, pull out your swim fins. If you’re long and the pin is up front, you’ll face a slippery downhill shot on a slick green.

The middle holes on the back side are crucial to scoring. Then Edgewood eases up with a finish that’s more dramatic than difficult. Rip your drive past the fairway tree on 564-yard No. 16 for your first close encounter with Lake Tahoe, which has lurked on the edge of consciousness for the past three hours. You knew it was there all along. You felt the clean pull of its clear, blue waters. And finally, the course delivers it to you at just the right time. Lay up 125 yards in front of a green horseshoed by bunkers and backdropped by the lake. No. 17 presents a perky par 3 running parallel to the water over a windy beach. Edgewood finishes with perhaps the easiest birdie hole on the course — unless you’re basketball great Bill Laimbeer, who launched three balls into a water hazard (since dubbed “Lake Laimbeer”) from 75 yards when leading the Celebrity one year. Daring players might reach the green of this par 5 in two by massaging a fairway wood or long iron over the neck of water craning in from the left.

Nicklaus’ Montrêux is a more painterly course, artfully carved out of the forest but sometimes showing the designer’s brush strokes. It also packs a wallop — 7,472 yards from the tips, with a 146 slope and rating of 76.5. The course is not only difficult but difficult in a bold, bright way that says “Bring it on” — with more credibility than when a certain president uttered those words. It doesn’t have one of the bluest lakes on earth, but it can still wow you with water features, the quiet, remote beauty of pine forests, distant mountain views and sheer design mojo. It will also require you to hit the ball in the air, not only on the difficult 3-pars but on many holes that feature greens with up-front protection that Tony Soprano would envy.

Montrêux opens with a moderately downhill par 4 with a two-tiered green that runs away faster than Osama Bin Laden. Two bunkers and a lake right and another free-form bunker left protect the putting surface. For sheer variety, an uphill par 5 (with a pine guarding the middle of the fairway) and a short par 3 (with the green nestled in front of a rock outcropping) follow.

No. 4 is all about elevation, and you might need a rope and harness if you land in the punishing fairway bunkers to the right. A couple more trees in the fairway on No. 5 precede the so-called Bear Trap (in this world of marketing can the Bear’s buttocks be far behind?), three holes that begin with a rare Nicklaus right-to-left requirement, followed by the shortest par 3 (all carry over water) and the longest par 5 — 636 yards of shock and awe with a lake and other trouble.

The back nine (the front during the Reno-Tahoe Open) begins uneventfully, but the par 3 No. 11 requests a semi-blind uphill shot to a large green protected by a ravine and bunkers left and framed by pines. Ravines continue to taunt, joined in by nefarious pines that block the entrance on the short 518-yard par-5 No. 13.

Things toughen further near the end. No. 15 presents one of the hardest holes on the course, requiring a tight drive and avoidance of a tricky chipping area near the green. No. 16 plays 220 downhill yards, but No. 17 is the crowd-pleaser, its tee box hanging 138 feet above a fairway dissected by snaking Galena Creek. You descend back to earth and the clubhouse on a doglegging finishing hole that dares you to reach the green — 616 yards away and camped out beside a lake — in two shots if you can hit a low, running hook drive.

In addition to the terrific golf course, Montrêux boasts three practice holes, one of which — a par 3 over a ravine — could be the signature hole on most good courses.

In sum, Edgewood is a layout you could feel comfortable playing every day and getting to know intimately, whereas Montrêux has the feeling of a special occasion venue.

Advantage: undecided. With two courses like this, you didn’t actually think I was going to take sides, did you? FG

Montrêux/Edgewood Tahoe

Montrêux Golf & Country Club | Reno, Nev. | 775.849.9496 | www.montreuxgolf.com

Edgewood Tahoe Golf Club | Stateline, Nev. | 775.588.3566 | www.edgewood-tahoe.com

To the Scorecard

Montreux Golf & Country Club

Par: 72

Yardage: 7,472 yards. Slope/Rating: 146/76.5

Fees: Private; guest fees vary. Caddies available.

Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course

Par: 72

Yardage: 7,445 yards. Slope/Rating: 139/75.7

Fees: $200; stay-and-play packages available through hotel-casinos in Stateline and Reno

And the Winner is …

Challenge: Montrêux — Tougher and less forgiving, though shorter

Memorability: Can’t remember

Design quality: Edgewood, in an old-school, purist way

Originality: Montrêux, with some daring design elements

Beauty/setting: Edgewood, can’t beat that darn lake

Service: Montrêux

Walkability: Edgewood

Fun: Montrêux

Tourney cachet: Edgewood