TPC sparked Summerlin golf culture, community

Summerlin was home to a championship, PGA Tour-owned golf course before many of the homes that now stand in the master-planned community were built

Tournament Players Club Summerlin opened in 1992 just in time to host the Las Vegas Invitational. Five years later, Tiger Woods won his first PGA tour championship there.

Today, TPC Summerlin remains the center of golf for the community that is home to nine golf courses, according to Chuck Bombard, general manager and director of golf for the course.

"TPC Summerlin not only enjoys the distinction of being one of only two Tournament Players Club facilities in Nevada -- both are in Summerlin -- it is also the place were golfers of all ages and abilities gather to enjoy the sport they love most," Bombard said. "From ladies' golf events and socials, men's' tournaments and weekend outings to junior events hosted by the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association, TPC Summerlin is a busy place."

According to Davene Forche, president of the TPC Summerlin Ladies Golf Association, the course was enough to lure her family to Summerlin more than 15 years ago, and it's the major reason they continue to stay.

"Golf is definitely a way of life for us," said Forche, who plays with friends a few times a week and with her husband nearly every Sunday.

Despite the fact that Forche plays the course frequently, she still considers it challenging. She has been an active member of the ladies' golf group for more than 10 years and looks forward to playing the course for several more decades.

"We play the other Summerlin courses as well," she said, "but we feel at home here."

According to Bombard, TPC Summerlin is a private facility and also serves as a gathering place for social events of all kinds.

Weddings, while always popular at a golf course, are about to become more frequent events here, thanks to a new outdoor area overlooking the 18th green," he said. "Created as a spectator viewing area for the recent FRYS.com Open, the hilltop on the south side of the 18th green is expected to become a hot spot for weddings and receptions by the busy spring wedding season next spring."

Developed by The Howard Hughes Corp., an affiliate of General Growth Properties Inc., Summerlin began to take shape in 1990.

The 22,500-acre master-planned community features a number of amenities and is home to more than 95,000 residents. It has about 7,500 acres still to develop, including its urban core, Summerlin Centre.

Summerlin is home to more than 100 neighborhood and village parks, more than 150 completed miles of the Summerlin trail system, nine golf courses, a dozen houses of worship, shopping centers, medical and cultural facilities, business parks, 22 public and private schools and more than 100 actively selling floor plans.

For more information, visit summerlin.com or call 888-898-5015.