Page 59 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Fall 2019

Ryan Moore with Garry Goett Christina Hixson with the UNLV Men’s Golf Team

Garry Goett Christina

As the founder of Olympia Companies, Goett opened the prestigious
Southern Highlands in 1999, which is the home of the UNLV men’s Hixson
golf team and a former host of the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for
Children Open. Southern Highlands, home of the prestigious Southern
Highlands Collegiate event, was the final joint project by legendary ar- As the sole Lied Foundation trustee and the “pioneer” of UNLV men’s
chitect Robert Trent Jones and one of four courses created by Jones and golf, Hixson was the first to substantially donate when head coach
his son, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Southern Highlands hosts the annu- Dwaine Knight arrived in 1987, which helped set the foundation for the
al Governor’s Black Tie Invitational and other charity events that have 1998 NCAA title. Her generosity and foresight also helped attract some
raised more than $20 million. Goett continues to make a dramatic im- of the top golf recruits to UNLV and several have gone on to successful
pact on Southern Nevada through philanthropy and development. PGA Tour careers, bringing positive exposure to the university and Las
Vegas. Hixson continues the vision of Ernest F. Lied, making a hall of
Chris Armstrong, vice president, Olympia Companies on Garry Goett: fame impact on thousands since 1980 in Southern Nevada and beyond.
"Garry is a developer and he is a visionary," says Armstrong. "What he UNLV Hall of Fame men’s golf coach, Dwaine Knight, on Christina
has built at Southern Highlands, he's taken that quality throughout his Hixson:
entire company and community. He has done tremendous things for
the golf and development communities here in Southern Nevada. He “She sat down with me and asked me my goals shortly after I’d gotten to
has a high drive and is very motivated by doing things that are cutting UNLV, and I told her I wanted to win the national championship. She
edge and creative. It's interesting to think back to when he was planning kind of chuckled and said, ‘If I don’t help you, you probably won’t be
Southern Highlands. It was in the in middle of nowhere and people said here very long.’ She is very wise on a lot of decisions you have to make
to Garry, 'Garry,what are you doing? Nobody is going to come.' But in on building programs, building facilities and building teams. Whenever
reality, it was a case of 'build it and they will come.' And he has created a she said something, you could count on it, and that’s why we were able
tremendous asset and a value for the community." to build the type of program we have."

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