MGM Resorts International’s Tom Fazio-designed masterpiece has earned awards, accolades from pros, media and amateurs alike
BILOXI, Miss. – Nov. 21, 2011 – Tom Lehman and Hale Irwin have driven its fairways and Ben Crenshaw and Loren Roberts have putted its greens. Nick Faldo and Paul Azinger have made TV memories there and governors and national-championship college football coaches alike have walked through its august clubhouse and enjoyed beverages at one of the best 19th holes in golf.
Not bad company to keep for a course barely out of the toddler stage.
Fallen Oak, Tom Fazio’s Gulf Coast masterpiece, just celebrated its fifth anniversary and the younger of the two MGM Resorts International courses has matured into one of the country’s finest and most acclaimed public-access courses.
“We are delighted to be celebrating this milestone,” said George P. Corchis, Jr., president and chief operating officer of MGM Resorts International’s Regional Operations. “In just five short years, many guests, golfers and legends of the game have had the opportunity to experience Fallen Oak and we take tremendous pride in providing what has become a true golf destination.”
In the process of becoming a must-play destination – much as designer Fazio predicted it would when the course opened in November 2006 – Fallen Oak has earned more than 25 awards from publications ranging from Golf Digest to the Robb Report. The latest honor came from Golfweek, which recently named the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino the No. 13 Golf Resort in the country – the fourth consecutive year it has earned that honor. The awards encompass elements ranging from its stately yet invitingly warm clubhouse to the overall resort experience golfers receive.
In 2008, Fallen Oak’s bar and restaurant was named one of the “Top 50 19th Holes in Golf” by Golf Digest. It received five “shot glasses” out of a possible five for service and mixology, the latter on the strength of its signature Bloody Mary. Sipping one of those while taking in the view from the sunken bar to the 18th green and the forested landscape beyond – a panorama personally inspired by MGM Resorts International President Bobby Baldwin – merely adds to the overall experience.
“As Fallen Oak evolves, it takes on a vastly different look than it did five years ago,” said Fallen Oak General Manager David Stinson. “As is with most things, Fallen Oak has only become better with age.
From the denser vegetation, the speed of the course, to the maturity of the turf, Fallen Oak is even more special now than when it was birthed five short years ago.”
How far Fallen Oak has come can be seen in the events it has played host to during that time: There was the second-annual Governor’s Cup in May 2007, which raised a record $2.75 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast. There was the inaugural “Faldo-Azinger Captain’s Challenge” which pitted 2008 Ryder Cup captains Paul Azinger (U.S.) and Sir Nick Faldo (Europe) in a made-for-TV series of challenges that culminated with an 18-hole match at Fallen Oak. That September 2008 Golf Channel broadcast put the camera eye on Fallen Oak for the first time.
It wouldn’t be the last time. A mere 19 months later, Fallen Oak would welcome many of the game’s legends to the Gulf Coast as the course played host to the Champions Tour’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. Major champions such as Azinger, Lehman, Bernhard Langer, Craig Stadler and Mark O’Meara, along with the likes of Peter Jacobsen, John Cook, Jay Haas and Loren Roberts, among others, gave Fallen Oak rave reviews for its aesthetics, challenge and overall layout.
“Condition-wise, the strength of the layout, this is easily in the top-five – if not the best course – we play,” Haas said.
“I think the par-5s out here are especially good. It’s not easy to make a great par-5. you can make a hard par-5, but to make one that’s fun to play and still strategic isn’t always simple,” said Lehman, who set the course record with an 8-under-par 64 en route to winning the 2011 Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. “I think the ones out here are pretty good. They look beautiful and they force you to be strategic with your second shots to go for the green in two. I think they’re fun to play and more than anything, that’s a key word for the course for me – it is a fun golf course. Golf is meant to be fun and this is a fun course.”
University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban enjoyed his round at Fallen Oak during the 2010 Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. Yet “fun” wasn’t exactly at the top of the adjective list when Fazio talked about what went into creating Fallen Oak. But when the noted architect described what he thought golfers would get out of a Fallen Oak experience, Fazio said the plot of land he had at his disposal — on the edge of the DeSoto National Forest – was among the best templates he ever had.
After all, it’s not every day you get 510 pristine acres of wetlands – along with more than 4,000 oaks, magnolias, pines and other hardwood trees framing the fairways, ponds, streams and wetlands – as your canvas. But Fazio added an element not seen on Gulf Coast courses – elevation changes. The complete package of nature mixed with the understanding of a master in how to bring out and enhance that natural element is what makes Fallen Oak the must-play masterpiece it became.
“Again, you can call it hype, you can call it grand marketing, you can do all that. But eventually, with anything of quality, you can only go so far with hype. You have to have substance and the substance is here,” Fazio said. “It’s the kind of golf course you have to come and see because it’s that special.”
The special course that is Fallen Oak joins the heralded Shadow Creek as the only golf courses built by MGM Resorts International for their guests. Stretching to a hearty 7,487 yards from the back tees, Fallen Oak offers golfers five sets of tees and strategic play options as each hole winds through ever-changing terrain and environments.
Fallen Oak is available exclusively for guests of Beau Rivage. Greens fees are $200. To make reservations, call 877.805.4657 or visit www.beaurivage.com.
About Beau Rivage
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, named one of the top 100 hotels in the continental United States and Canada by Travel + Leisure, is located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The resort features 1,740 elegantly appointed guest rooms and suites, 10 restaurants, four nightclubs and bars, a 1,550-seat theatre, an upscale shopping promenade, a world-class spa & salon and Fallen Oak, a Tom Fazio-designed championship golf course. Beau Rivage is a wholly owned subsidiary of MGM Resorts International, one of the world’s leading global hospitality companies. For more information or to make reservations, call (888) 56-ROOMS or visit www.beaurivage.com.
About Fazio Golf Course Designers
Throughout his 40 years in golf course design, Tom Fazio and his staff of talented designers have been recognized for creating award-winning courses throughout the United States. No living designer has more credits on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses and Golfweek’s collection of America’s Best. The Golf Digest poll for Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect was discontinued after Tom claimed the award three consecutive times, and he has also received The Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
About MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is one of the world’s leading global hospitality companies, operating a peerless portfolio of destination resort brands, including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and The Mirage. The Company has significant holdings in gaming, hospitality and entertainment, owns and operates 15 properties located in Nevada, Mississippi and Michigan, and has 50% investments in four other properties in Nevada, Illinois and Macau. One of those investments is CityCenter, an unprecedented urban resort destination on the Las Vegas Strip featuring its centerpiece ARIA Resort & Casino. Leveraging MGM Resorts’ unmatched amenities, the M life loyalty program delivers one-of-a-kind experiences, insider privileges and personalized rewards for guests at the Company’s renowned properties nationwide. Through its hospitality management subsidiary, the Company holds a growing number of development and management agreements for casino and non-casino resort projects around the world. MGM Resorts International supports responsible gaming and has implemented the American Gaming Association’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Gaming at its gaming properties. The Company has been honored with numerous awards and recognitions for its industry-leading Diversity Initiative, its community philanthropy programs and the Company’s commitment to sustainable development and operations. For more information about MGM Resorts International, visit the Company’s Web site at www.mgmresorts.com.
Contact:
Mary Cracchiolo Spain, Fallen Oak/Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, 228.386.7134
Brian Robin, Brener Zwikel & Associates, Inc., 818.462.5610
