The Desert Inn Golf Club was one of the most famous courses in the country, having hosted a lineup of not only the game's greatest players, but an eclectic mix of world leaders, movie stars and business people in its nearly 50 years of existence.

Those who walked what they considered its hallowed grounds might not recognize its successor.

The Wynn Las Vegas Golf Course & Country Club, which will host "The Ultimate Game," a $2 million winner-take-all tournament on June 6-8, 2007, has a dramatically different design.

There were few, if any, elevation changes at the Desert Inn, but the first hole at Wynn Las Vegas has a 37-foot elevation change from tee to green.

Chad Brownstein, a 33-year-old businessman from Los Angeles and a former member of the Tulane golf team, has played both courses and likes what he sees of Wynn.

"I played it the week it opened (in 2005) and I've been back two or three times since and it's matured extremely well," Brownstein, an 8-handicap, said of the 7,042-yard, par-70 course. "They did an excellent job with it."

Brownstein concurred with Brian Hawthorne, Wynn's director of golf, who termed it a "second-shot course."

Wynn Las Vegas was co-designed by resort chairman Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio, a tandem that also designed the acclaimed Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas.

Brownstein said Shadow Creek puts a premium on driving the ball and Wynn requires a player to hit a good shot from the fairway.

"It's a very strategic golf course," he said. "The strategy is much different there than at Shadow Creek. At Shadow Creek, if you're not in position on your drives, you're in trouble. At Wynn, it challenges you to make the proper approach."

There are many undulations in the greens and they are shaped in ways that makes it difficult to land a ball on them and keep it there, even with short irons.

The 18th hole, a 448-yard par-4 with a massive waterfall backdrop, is one of the most difficult approach shots on the course, Brownstein said. The fairway is wide and the green looks inviting from the fairway, he said.

"When you get up close, you see it's thin and without a lot of depth," he said. "You can wind up going over very easily or you can be short, even if you think you've hit a good shot. It's no guarantee (of par), even if you feel you hit a good shot."

Brownstein called the rough "friendly." But he said if officials of "The Ultimate Game" choose to grow the rough and speed up the greens, the players are going to have a difficult time breaking par. Wynn staff member Ken Jarner holds the course record with a 7-under-par 63.

But that was set in the normal resort conditions and not in tournament conditions with thick rough and fast, hard greens.

"If they set it up like (a U.S.) Open course, forget about it, because it will be absolutely brutal," Brownstein said.

• NEW RECRUIT -- The UNLV men's golf team landed a player who coach Dwaine Knight thinks is a dark-horse talent. Mitchell Fox, the 2005 Canadian Junior Amateur champion and a semifinalist in the 2005 Canadian Amateur, signed a national letter of intent Tuesday.

Fox is a native Canadian Indian who qualifies for government aid, so UNLV has to give him only a partial scholarship.

Knight praised Fox for his accuracy and said he has improved rapidly.

"Everybody we talked to who knows him was so impressed with how hard he's worked and how much he's improved," Knight said. "He really controls the golf ball well. We have to work with him on his strength a little, but I like the thought of a guy who has the kind of dedication and commitment he has."

Fox is UNLV's second and final recruit in this class. The Rebels previously signed Roberto Galletti of suburban San Francisco. He is the third-ranked junior player in the country.

• WHAT A FEAT -- A double eagle is the rarest shot in golf, far less common than a hole in one.

But in a practice round at Reno's Wolf Run Golf Club on April 7, the UNR men's team had back-to-back double eagles.

Freshman Jeff Freund made a 2 on the 527-yard par-5 18th by holing out after a 352-yard drive.

The next shot was hit by freshman Matt Rippy, and it also went in.

"I thought it was truly unbelievable and one of those things you had to see to believe," Wolf Pack coach Rich Merritt, who was standing by the 18th green and saw both balls drop, said in an e-mail.

Kevin Iole's local golf notes are published Thursday. He can be reached at 396-4428 or kiole@reviewjournal.com.