Page 59 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Winter 2019

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Longtime golf writer and former Oregon golfer Jack Sheehan has and Danielle Kang. His staff works with other pros including Charley
observed the Vegas pro golf phenomenon for decades and said quality Hoffman.
teachers are part of it, as is the overall Vegas vibe.
“Norman Xiong, Aaron Wise, Wyndham Clark and Maverick McNealy Those tour players who grew up here understand the pull of Las Vegas
are here because their teacher, Jeff Smith, is here,” Sheehan said. “But and appreciate how the community has grown to include so many of
they also appreciate the easier travel from Las Vegas than many cities, their peers.
great practice facilities, great women and so many other positives.
There are plenty of reasons why pros flock here.” “To be blunt, taxes are probably the number one reason, but there’s a lot
more to it than that,” says Craig Barlow, a Henderson native who played
Besides Smith, Golf Digest top-rated teacher Butch Harmon operates the PGA TOUR for many years and now is director of instruction at
his school at Rio Secco and works with Nick Watney, Natalie Gulbis Reflection Bay at Lake Las Vegas. “Besides Florida and Texas, I would

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