Rees Jones remembers getting up in a helicopter near Las Vegas more than 25 years ago in search of the perfect property for a desert golf course.
Flying over towering red rock peaks and steep canyons situated in the expansive Mojave Desert, the world-renowned architect knew a layout within 30 minutes of the famous glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas Strip had to be something special for gamblers and golf travelers alike.
In addition, the proposed luxury resort course had a measuring stick of sorts from a decade earlier when Steve Wynn opened his pocket book to build Shadow Creek Golf Course, which in 1990 operated as his private club but later became an MGM property. It was $60 million to build — an astronomical amount at the time — and today costs a golfer a hefty $1,250 per round.
Jones believed he had one major edge on a location such as Shadow Creek — a natural desert landscape and plenty of property to design Cascata Golf Club.
“I don’t think there’s anything quite like it,” Jones said of the Boulder City, Nevada, course that opened in 2000. “There were these abandoned stream beds that we really brought back to life and pumped water into them, with a waterfall that actually goes through the clubhouse. It’s just a magical golf course.”
Jones made a total of 22 site visits during the construction of Cascata — an amount unheard of among top-tier golf architects.
“The budget was not restricted at the time,” says Jones, when asked about trucking in the course’s trees and vegetation. “I call it a desert links course because the rock outcrops look like dunes. I mean it’s one of the most spectacular golf course settings in the world. I run into people in airports all the time with the logo on and they talk about how it’s sort of a one-of-a-kind boutique golf course. We really worked very hard to make Cascata unlike any other desert golf with the long views all across the course.”
Cascata is now owned by VICI Properties, which has a portfolio that includes Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. VICI has teamed up with Cabot, which now manages Cascata and its sister Jones layout, the former Rio Secco Golf Club that launched a rebranding Sept. 20 as Serket Golf Club.
Since October 2022, Cabot has expanded its footprint with the introduction of Cabot-Managed Properties, which in addition to the two Las Vegas area courses includes Chariot Run in Indiana and Grand Bear in Mississippi.
Until three years ago, Cabot had mostly built its reputation in golf circles as a luxury developer of resort destinations, including Cabot Cape Breton, Cabot Saint Lucia and Cabot Citrus Farms.
“If you look at tiers of resort golf within Las Vegas Cascata is up there with the Shadow Creeks and the world — it’s a $500 green fee-type-of-experience,” says Jeff Krohn, executive vice president of Cabot-Managed Properties. “And Serket is probably a tier down at a $200-$250 green fee. Cascata is definitely a place if you’re coming to Las Vegas is a bucket list stop.”
With a wide variety of scenery and impressive elevation changes situated in Nevada’s Black Mountains — and a new name and logo — Serket’s front nine is highlighted by several holes routed through striking desert terrain, framed by canyon walls. The back nine begins with a climb to a plateau featuring views of The Strip and the entire Las Vegas valley. Several holes require carries over dramatic native desert canyons.
Krohn said Cabot had an internal competition on the renaming of the former Rio Secco course, which is located in Henderson, Nevada.
“We had two employees actually come up with the name Serket and the scorpion logo is unbelievable,” he said. “Having the new logo is huge. It just adds to the brand, the marketing and the social media — all the things that come along with what we do from the guest experience in the Cabot world.”
The new name has even spilled over into the restaurant and bar, where resort guests can partake in the course’s new Serket Sauce.
“You’re going to be able to put it on everything like burgers and tacos, with a little spice of scorpion pepper,” Krohn says. “We even have a spicy drink called the Serket Margarita. We’re having all kinds of fun with the logo — you know the scariness of a scorpion and all that comes with a new logo.”
Meanwhile, Cascata has a slope rating of 150 and a course rating of 73.8, making it a supreme challenge for any skill level.
October is the perfect weather for golf in Las Vegas with highs averaging 81 degrees and lows falling into the high 50s.
“Our two properties fit right in line with the best experiences you’re going to find in Las Vegas,” Krohn says.
“Those two golf courses are the best natural, dramatic golf courses in Las Vegas,” Jones says. “The other courses around Vegas have either sort of been created or are on flatter pieces of ground. “I just love those golf courses … and I’m glad to have the two best sites in Las Vegas.”