TPC Las Vegas - Hole 2 - Signature Hole

Getting To Know: TPC Las Vegas

An Insightful Interview With Joe Massanova, Director of Business Development

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Joe Massanova who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Located in the footsteps of the scenic Red Rock National Park, minutes away from the famous Las Vegas Strip, TPC Las Vegas is "desert elegance" on display. With a stunning backdrop of Red Rock Canyon, rugged natural landscape and the famed Las Vegas skyline, TPC Las Vegas (formerly known as TPC at The Canyons) is the only public PGA TOUR Facility in Nevada, making it a destination for celebrities, PGA TOUR players, novices and seasoned players alike. The Bobby Weed and Raymond Floyd design is a par 71, 7,104-yard layout providing multiple sets of tee boxes offering the ultimate experience in Las Vegas golf for players of all skill levels.

Over the last decade, TPC Las Vegas has highlighted superb conditioning, a beautiful layout, excellent customer service and the overall "Highest Standards in the Golf industry" as either host or co-host to PGA TOUR and Champions Tour events. TPC Las Vegas served as host of the Champions Tour's Las Vegas Senior Classic from 1997-1999 and the PGA TOUR's Shriner's Hospitals for Children Open from 2001 -2006. Playing at TPC Las Vegas offers golfers the chance to experience the same standards of quality and service that are typically reserved for the pros. Touring professionals that call TPC Las Vegas home include Kevin Na, Bill Lunde, Ryan Moore, Dean Wilson, Bob May, John Reigger, Alex Cejka, Ernie Gonzales, Craig Barlow, Charlie Hoffman and Bob Byman.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
As the most recognized golf brand in the world and home to numerous local PGA TOUR professionals, TPC Las Vegas is the most coveted golf environment in Las Vegas. Our exceptional course conditions, wonderful desert layout, top-shelf customer service and state of the art practice facility leave every guest feeling like its Championship Sunday!

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
1) TPC Las Vegas is located in Summerlin, at the base of the Spring Mountains. The natural geography of the area slopes toward the Las Vegas Strip. Therefore, all putts break toward the Strip.

2) Bring a "rock club" to hit your ball out of the desert.

3) Your ball will naturally carry further in the hot dry desert air.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
TPC Las Vegas was recently voted best course in Southern Nevada by Nevada Magazine for 2015. Other points of distinction would include being ranked 3rd in Las Vegas and 9th in the state of Nevada by Golf Advisor. For the past 15 years, TPC Las Vegas has been in the top 100 golf shops in the United States as ranked by Golf Digest/AGM. Older awards , but certainly noteworthy would include being ranked #1 in the state by Silver State Awards in 2013.

TPC Las Vegas was voted the "Best Upscale Resort Course" by Vegas Golfer and boasts a Four Star rating in Golf Digest's "Best Places to Play," as well as one of the "50 Best Golf Courses for Great Service in North America." Currently the 9th Ranked Course in Nevada (3rd in Las Vegas) by Golf Advisor, TPC Las Vegas is also known as one of the "Top Ten Best Golf Resorts in the USA" by Condé Nast Traveler. Honored with the 2013 Silver State Award, TPC Las Vegas has been named the best course in Nevada, allowing every guest to live the PGA TOUR experience, every day of the year. The TPC Las Vegas golf course is also prestigiously recognized as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The par-3 second hole of TPC Las Vegas is considered one of its signature holes and certainly ranks among the most photographed. Named "Canyon", this dramatic downhill par-3 offers beautiful views of the desert valley and an island green surrounded by a sea of desert terrain. Playing 196 from the back tees, the green is flanked by a barranca and protected on the right by a green side bunker. The hole plays a bit shorter than its measured distance, so club selection is at a premium.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Hole # 14 is our other signature hole and is aptly named "Gorge-ous." Playing at 365 yards, it is not an intimidating hole by length, but requires a blind tee shot to a hidden fairway with a hybrid or long iron off the tee. The beautiful Red Rock Canyon backdrops this hole, and in the morning, the colors can be inspirational. Once in the fairway, the green is situated on a ledge, fronted by a unique cavernous arroyo. While very rewarding to walk away with a par, TOUR professionals Charlie Hoffman and Phil Mickelson have simply elected to drive the green!

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The TPC Grille offers amazing views of the Spring Mountains and 18th fairway. Often imitated, but never duplicated, our All American Burger has been pleasing golfers for close to 20 years! With great Happy Hour specials, an expansive patio and four (4) specialty draught beers, the TPC Grille is a great way to either begin or end your day.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
John Daly, Steve Jones, Lee Janzen, Joel Edwards, Craig Barlow, Dan Forsman, Jay Williamson and Ryan Palmer at 62. All records established in tournament. Desperately seeking someone to shoot a 61 and break this log-jam!

Back Tee Stats
Par: 71
Yardage: 7104
Slope: 136
Rating: 73.4

More Information
TPC Las Vegas
9851 Canyon Run Drive
Las Vegas, NV, 89144
702-256-2500
www.tpc.com/lasvegas

More Information »

Revised: 11/18/2015 - Article Viewed 34,573 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.