Golfers visiting Las Vegas are drawn to two
beautiful Rees Jones-designed golf courses that promise high-end performance:
Rio Secco and Cascata Golf Clubs, owned by Caesar’s Entertainment. Each course
brings challenges and renown to the golfing experience, and IGM is proud to be
the maintenance contractor for both.
Eric Dutt, vice-president for golf
operations for Caesar’s Entertainment, selected IGM to take over maintenance
responsibilities for the courses in February 2014. “I’m very pleased with the relationship,” said Dutt. “Greg Plotner and Steve Gano (IGM’s Executive VP and VP of
Operations) visit regularly, so I get the
value of their expertise and insight, in addition to the director of
maintenance, Jon Dodds, who oversees the courses on a daily basis.”
Cascata Golf
Club in Boulder City, Nevada is now ranked 46th among top golf courses in the
country, up from 53rd in 2014, according to Golf Digest’s, America’s Top
100 Public Golf Courses. Dutt noted that Cascata is a 15-year-old course and
maintaining a ranking at that level, more so improving it, “is a testament to the quality of IGM’s work, particularly with no
capital outlay at this point.”
Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada is home to a
teaching facility run by Butch Harmon, often referred to as "the best golf
instructor in the world." Harmon’s
students have included Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, and he regularly brings
top touring professionals to the club. “Expectations
for superior performance at the course are very high,” said Dutt.
Without yet
making capital improvements, one of the major priorities at the courses has
been improving water utilization. “We
have dramatically increased water savings by basing irrigation on the principle
of evapotranspiration, or factoring in the different watering needs created by
sun, wind, humidity and other conditions,” said Steve Gano, VP of
Operations for IGM. “We’re also using the
latest technology in wetting agents, products that break surface tension and
allow more water to be absorbed. In
addition, we have raised and leveled sprinklers to improve distribution
uniformity.”
“Efficiency with
irrigation is a big deal in the desert; water is a precious, expensive
commodity,” noted Dutt. “We have
regular discussions about getting better performance at less cost.” With a
combined 56,000 rounds of golf played at the two courses each year, daily
maintenance is a priority.
Gano added
that maintenance director Dodds’ crew includes a designated detail crew. “They don’t ride the mowers. Their job is to
take care of the flowers, keep things pruned, and ensure the course looks
beautiful.”
Dutt is particularly happy from a business standpoint that
he is provided an accurate forecast of his annual maintenance expenses. “That’s especially important with the way
the golf industry has been hit. I operate two high-end golf courses, and I need
them maintained in a way that allows us to charge the greens fees we do,”
said Dutt. “We serve some well-known
clients who expect a certain level of performance and experience.”
Dutt
added, “The outsourcing model is out of
the box, but it’s a model course operators need to look at. Owners with
multiple facilities get the opportunity for economies of scale in such things
as overseeding. The team at IGM are agronomists as well as business people who
can help look at savings.”
