COLUMN: Saturdays, Bear's Best and more

I keep saying, "I'm never moving again," but I keep moving. This move, however, is a simple one. Starting on May 4 -- that's this coming Saturday for those of you who are calendar-challenged -- this column will be appearing in the new Real Estate section. In keeping with the continuing real estate explosion in Las Vegas, there will be two Real Estate sections each weekend. The Saturday edition will focus on the new-home market and the Sunday edition will focus on the resale-home market. So, I'll see you Saturday.

-- It was a twosome -- we couldn't get another couple for a foursome. Real Estate Editor Gloria Savko and I went to the official opening of Jack Nicklaus' Bear's Best Las Vegas in Summerlin's The Ridges village. Savko is a golfer; I watch golf. So, we attended the news conference then repaired to the buffet line.

My favorite is the 19th hole -- nobody said which signature golf hole that was. Nicklaus was in good form, swinging at questions that were teed up by the crowd of adoring sports reporters. One ancient golf columnist had drool positively dripping out of the corners of his mouth as he groveled at the feet of the master.

From the news conference, the crowd scurried to the first tee, where Nicklaus was scheduled to give a golf clinic. Everyone was atwitter, waiting for the Golden Bear to change his shoes before making his appearance. Savko and I watched the proceedings from the coolness of the dining room. We were up close and personal while we watched the TV camera people as they chatted, the print guys as they nudged each other out of the way, and country club members as they brought out their personal cameras for a picture of the legend.

Bear's Best, an 18-hole, par-72, 7,194-yard, public-play, championship golf course, is a joint venture of the Nicklaus Cos. and ClubCorp. The course is the first of Nicklaus' new golf course concepts, replicating holes from some of his more memorable designs worldwide. Bear's Best Las Vegas replicates holes from the western United States and Mexico. The second Bear's Best is scheduled to open this summer in Atlanta.

"In many respects, it's easier to design a course from scratch than to attempt to fit in replications of holes I've already designed," Nicklaus said of Bear's Best Las Vegas. "Plus, the varied features and dramatic topography of this land in Summerlin have presented other challenges, which we've utilized to create a course that's interesting, diverse and unique."

The course scored a hole-in-one when it opened for play last fall. Homes are popping up along fairways and overlooking tees. Promontory is the first custom-home neighborhood in The Ridges, offering one-half acre to three-quarter acre lots priced from the high $300,000s to more than $1 million. Topaz Ridge by William Lyon Homes is the first noncustom, luxury neighborhood in the village, although if you see these homes from the clubhouse, you'd wonder whether they were custom or not. The homes range from 3,602 to 4,182 square feet and are priced from the half-million-dollar range. The gate-guarded village includes an 8-acre park with outdoor lighted tennis courts and Club Ridges, a community fitness center.

Needless to say, Bear's Best Las Vegas and The Ridges village reflect the attention to detail that is endemic in The Howard Hughes Corp.'s Summerlin master-planned community. All in all, a magnificent product. I give it a hole-in-one.

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ reviewjournal.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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