Weekly golf column will explore links in Las Vegas

Here we go. The first official golf notebook of 2016, and it marks the return of a weekly golf column.

I am a lifelong resident of Las Vegas and have a passion for the history, present and future of golf in this remarkable city. I have chronicled Vegas golf for about two decades and am honored to have been chosen to write about the grand ole game moving forward.

From our tour pros and PGA Tour tournament, to news and deals from area courses, to the nationally ranked UNLV golf teams, to the celebrities who play here, to everything in between, there will be plenty to chronicle, but I also hope readers will get involved and share ideas.

Vegas Tour talk

A scan of the PGA Tour Fed Ex Cup standings reveals no fewer than 10 players with deep ties to Las Vegas (in all, there are about two dozen pros with Vegas ties playing major tours). Kevin Na, a Summerlin resident and 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open champ, leads the locals in the standings at sixth. Fellow Summerlin resident Alex Cejka is 12th, and former UNLV player Adam Scott is 14th.

Over the weekend, Cejka led the local contingent with a 21st-place finish at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, an event that originated in Las Vegas in 1953 when it was played at the old Desert Inn. Al Besselink won, and Vegas legend Wilbur Clark presented him with 10,000 silver dollars.

Golf deal time

Is your New Year's resolution to improve your game? Here's a spot: play and practice all day/night on the lighted range and nine-hole course for $39.95 or practice-only for $15 ($10 through Jan. 31) at TaylorMade Golf Experience across from Town Square.

Dynasty continues for PGA of America professional

Mike Davis, the lead instructor of the Walters Golf Academy at Royal Links and a featured instructor on Golf Channel's Swing Fix, has now earned a combined 17 Teacher of the Year awards on a local and regional level. Davis was one of several professionals honored during the Southwest Section, Southern Nevada Chapter, PGA of America awards dinner at Las Vegas Country Club on Tuesday.

Davis is also ranked second in Nevada by Golf Digest, behind Butch Harmon, who has been rated as America's top instructor for more than a decade.

The other evening honorees were: Greg Brockelman, Professional of the Year; Collins Tamashiro, Assistant Professional of the Year; Andy Schaper, Youth Player Development Award; Lee Smith, Bill Strausbaugh Award; Ross McCullough, Horton Smith Award; Jane Schafer, Player Development Award; Mason Spaulding, Merchandiser of the Year; Troy Helseth, Player of the Year; Wes Weston, Senior Player of the Year.

Also, Coronado High School boys and girls golf coach Joe Sawaia earned Citizen of the Year. Eric Dutt, the vice president of golf operations for Rio Secco and Cascata and a Las Vegas Golf Hall of Famer, was the guest speaker.

Freelance writer Brian Hurlburt is a two-time author who has covered golf in Las Vegas for more than two decades. He can be reached at bhurlburt5@gmail.com or @LVGolfInsider.

CALENDAR

Today — 12th annual Players Trust Charity Golf Tournament, Cascata (playerstrust.org)

Sunday-Monday — LV Muni Junior Amateur, Las Vegas GC (lvjga.org)

Jan. 23-24 — SNGA Tournament of Champions, Rio Secco Golf Club (SNGA.org)

Jan. 23-24 — Pahrump Junior Championship, Mountain Falls GC (recruitlookjuniorgolf.com)

Feb. 1-2 — UNLV men's golf at LMU-Higgins Invitational at Reflection Bay GC

Feb. 4-6 — Duel in the Desert, Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort (gcamtour.com)

Feb. 7-9 — UNLV women's golf at Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (Palos Verdes, Calif.)

ON THE TOURS

PGA TOUR: Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, today through Sunday.

TV: Today, Friday and Saturday, 4-7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 3-7 p.m.; on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: One week after squandering a four-shot lead down the stretch and losing in a playoff to Patrick Reed in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Jimmy Walker played the weekend in 62-63 in his title defense at Waialae to win by a whopping nine strokes over Scott Piercy. Walker joined Hubert Green (1978-79), Corey Pavin (1986-87) and Ernie Els (2003-04) as the only players to win the tournament two years in a row. Walker eclipsed Paul Azinger's tournament record for margin of victory, seven strokes over Stuart Appleby in 2000, by recording the most lopsided victory on the PGA Tour since Brian Gay won the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head by 10 shots in 2009. Walker claimed his fifth victory on the circuit, then added the Valero Texas Open later in the year for No. 6, all since he turned 33 in 2013.

LPGA TOUR: Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic at Ocean Club Golf Course in Paradise Island, Bahamas, Jan. 28-31.

TV: Jan. 28, 29, 8:30-11:30 a.m.; Jan. 30, 31, TBA; on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Rookie Sei Young Kim of South Korea sank a 4-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to turn back Sun Young Yoo, also of South Korea, and another rookie, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand. The 22-year-old Kim, who claimed four of her five Korean LPGA Tour victories in playoffs, sank a 3-foot putt on the final hole of regulation for her sixth birdie of the round to close out a 5-under-par 68. Jutanugarn eagled the fourth hole and added four birdies in her 69, while Yoo, the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner, made a costly bogey on the 16th hole for her only miscue in a 70.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Golf Club in Ka'upulehu-Kona, Hawaii, Jan. 21-23.

TV: Jan. 21, 22, 23, 4-7 p.m., on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain birdied six of the last nine holes to claim his second victory in his first three starts on the Champions Tour, beating Mark O'Meara by one stroke. Jimenez, who shot 6-under-par 66 in the final round, holed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 17 to break a tie with O'Meara and secured the victory with a closing par. The Spaniard, who has won 21 times on the European Tour, captured the 2014 Greater Gwinnett Championship and tied for eighth in the Senior British Open later that year. O'Meara, who has won twice on the Senior Circuit, closed with a 64 but still finished second for the 15th time on the 50-and-over tour.