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More golf courses closed than opened in the United States last year, and the industry experienced a significant drop in rounds played. Yet at least one Amer­ican golf institution showed signs of life in 2010, thanks in part to a man who died more than 70 years ago. Charles Blair Macdonald, the country’s first homegrown […]

THE GIFT A four-night stay in a two-bedroom villa at the Mansion at MGM Grand for the recipient and three guests. A private tasting with Joël Robuchon in the kitchen of his eponymous restaurant at MGM Grand followed by a 16-course meal in the villa or the restaurant. A round of golf at Shadow Creek. […]

Randy Morton, president and chief operating officer of the Bellagio resort and casino in Las Vegas, has spent 30 years in the hotel business—after giving up his dream at age 17 of becoming a professional hockey player. But even from an early age, Morton showed a penchant for hospitality: When he was 6 years old, […]

When selecting a pro-am tournament, you should consider the obvious (quality of course, strength of field) and the not-so obvious (three rather than four amateurs per pro, walking and caddies, tee times rather than shotgun starts, additional special events). Individual spots typically cost between $4,000 and $10,000 and may include VIP passes and extra tickets […]

As we hovered over Paradise Peak—a 9,800-foot summit 25 miles west of Sun Valley, Idaho—my guide, Lel Tone, assured me that I would have no problem skiing the waist-deep powder below us. I have skied black-diamond-rated mountains throughout the world, but I rode chairlifts to the tops of all those groomed slopes; this was my […]

With nine children, 56 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, Jon and Karen Huntsman know all about family. They also have a good sense of what today’s families need: a place devoid of crowds, electronic gadgets, and other distractions, where children, parents, and grandparents can spend quality time together. Such is the philosophy behind Huntsman Springs, the […]

Caesars Palace has raised the stakes. The Las Vegas resort’s three Octavius Tower Villas—the property’s only individually designed suites—opened in September as part of an ongoing $1 billion expansion. Central to the development, the $375 million Octavius skyscraper was built to house 665 guest rooms and 71 suites, including this trio of second-floor retreats where […]

Las Vegas businessman Larry Ruvo believes success should be shared. As senior managing director of Nevada’s Southern Wine & Spirits, he has grown the company into one of the state’s largest importers and distributors. Yet the direction of his life changed when, in 1992, his father developed Alzheimer’s disease. The struggle to obtain an accurate […]

Shadow Creek is unlike any other golf club, public or private. The course has no members and was built specifically to woo whales. The vast majority of its tee times are reserved for these high-rolling gamblers, who pay nothing to play the course but must be a guest at one of MGM Mirage’s hotels (including […]