(Updated): After brief closure, Legacy Golf Club receives new owners and second life

Editor's note: This story has been updated below.

If you needed another example as to why you should be cautious about buying a house in Las Vegas with a golf course in the backyard, the latest casualty is Legacy Golf Club in the suburb of Henderson.

The Las Vegas Review Journal's Sandy Lopez and Brian Hurlburt reported on July 3th that Legacy, operated by O.B. Sports, has been sold and is closing indefinitely as of July 4th. From the report:

Phil Green, chief operating officer of O.B. Sports, which manages the golf course, said Legacy will be closed starting Tuesday. Green said the company is reaching out to anyone that has a tee time set in the future and telling them the course is closed. O.B. Sports also operate Angel Park in Las Vegas and Green said they are trying to accommodate golfers at that course. “We knew the sale was happening, but we were totally surprised by it closing,” Green said. Real estate developer Rich MacDonald said he heard from a broker that the 177-acre property was sold to someone who has “decided to do residential development” in some form.

Within the last couple years, similar semi-private clubs in the Vegas area, 27-holers Silverstone and Badlands, have closed with the intention of developing the courses into additional housing. As evidenced by the aerial map at Legacy, there are a lot of homeowners with green space behind them who may be greeting new neighbors instead:

Aerial imagery of Legacy Golf Club.


Legacy was an Arthur Hills design that I played a few years back on a Las Vegas golf trip and it was a good experience with a really good clubhouse and practice facility along with stellar service from O.B. that made it a good mid-priced buddies trip option. It was an abrupt closure, and O.B. is advising those who have booked a future round at Legacy to call them and they can be moved to another O.B. area course, including Durango Hills and the two 18-hole courses at Angel Park.

This hardly feels like the last set of spikes to drop in the Vegas area. Legacy was sold by Colliers International, which the LVRJ reports has two other area clubs for sale: Rhodes Ranch and the The Golf Club at South Shore Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Wynn Golf Club, the posh experience located behind the Wynn Hotel, has been slated to close for years now, but no official timeline has been announced. The Strip's Bali Hai has also had similar murmurs for years, but that noise seems to have quieted, at least externally.

Update: Sept. 6th, 2017

Sandy Lopez of the Las Vegas Review Journal reports that new ownership have purchased the course and intend to reopen it with Las Vegas' fall peak golf season just around the corner.

The sudden change of heart is likely a result of deed restrictions from 1988:

“If the community wants a golf course, we want to work with them to figure out how to re-establish the course while being environmentally responsible,” Maalouf said. “We want to meet with the homeowners to discuss how we can ensure that the open space is to their benefit beyond the 21 years.” Property documents recorded with Clark County on Dec. 26, 1988, states that for 50 years the course can only be developed or improved as a golf course. “We just want it to be financially feasible and have excellent playing conditions,” Haddad said.

The announcement comes on the heels of Wynn Golf Club revealing they will close their luxury strip course by year's end. Meanwhile, Badlands and Silverstone, both of whom have neighborhood residents and/or members attempting to preserve the golf courses, continue efforts to revamp those shuttered properties.

Brandon Tucker is the Sr. Managing Editor for GolfPass and was the founding editor of Golf Advisor in 2014, he was the managing editor for Golf Channel Digital's Courses & Travel. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and nearly 600 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at @btuck34.
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(Updated): After brief closure, Legacy Golf Club receives new owners and second life