It's rare that this website makes much mention of topics that are not directly related to golf or in the direct interests of many golfers that visit the Las Vegas area. However, it's also rare that a phenom from our area bursts onto the baseball scene with quite the fanfare as Bryce Harper has.

A product of Las Vegas High School on the east side of the city, Harper was recently called up to the majors with the Washington Nationals of baseball's National League on April 27th. From his early and mid teens, Harper has been on baseball's radar in addition to receiving numerous accolades and being featured on magazine covers.

Harper, through hard work on and off the field, put himself on the “fast track” to the big leagues. He was the first sophomore in high school to win Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year award after hitting 25 home runs and driving in 122 runs in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined.

The 2012 Masters Tournament is upon us to be played again in Augusta, GA, and after a year of Tiger Woods being either “off the map” or not being near the favored participants in the majors, he reclaims his top spot with the oddsmakers this week. This due to Woods' improved play of late, and his win two weeks ago at Bay Hill. Below is this year’s list of notables and where they are positioned as of the final week of March. Source for the odds this week is MGM Resorts International which owns 13 properties in the Las Vegas area. The odds are as follows:

**WINNER: Bubba Watson 20/1**

Tiger Woods 3/1
Rory McIlroy 9/2
Phil Mickelson 7/1
Dustin Johnson 8/1
Justin Rose 10/1
Keegan Bradley 10/1
Luke Donald 12/1
Lee Westwood 15/1
Adam Scott 18/1
Jason Day 18/1
Bubba Watson 20/1
Steve Stricker 25/1
Matt Kucher 25/1
Hunter Mahan 25/1
K.J. Choi 30/1
Nick Watney 35/1
Bill Haas 35/1
Webb Simpson 40/1
Sergio Garcia 40/1
Graeme McDowell 40/1
Charl Schwartzel 40/1
Rickie Fowler 40/1

Other Notables:
Anthony Kim 75/1
Padraig Harrington 60/1
Jim Furyk 60/1
Angel Cabrera 75/1
Retief Goosen 125/1

17th Hole

Aaron Rodgers

Michael Jordan

John Smoltz

Over 7,000 yards of Shadow Creek beauty, along with its slick greens, undulating fairways, and difficult par-3’s are typically enough to challenge golfers of any skill set. The final three holes coming home will bring most players to their knees alone. However, the story on Sunday, the final day of the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational was a silent golf killer in Las Vegas: the wind. Not just wind, but wind of the 20 to 30 miles per hour type. Stiff winds in southern Nevada can wreak havoc on anyone trying to shoot a good round on any of our golf courses. Wind is the way to make a semi-easy golf course quickly into a difficult one.

Greg Maddux

Alan Thicke

Brett Hull

Jason Taylor

Julius Erving

Michael Jordan

18th Hole

Dwight Freeney

While all of the participants this year have gained notoriety or acclaim on the field, court, or on the screen, their talents on the golf course were on display Saturday for the first round of the Michael Jordan Celebrity invitational in Las Vegas. The event returns to Sin City for the second consecutive year. From the long drives of Toni Kukoc and John Smoltz, to the excellent touch around the greens of Greg Maddux and Brett Hull, the skill level at Shadow Creek may not have been "Tour quality", but was impressive nonetheless. The female players at the event's first day showed equally as well, with Brandi Chastain, Angie Everhart, and Janet Jones-Gretzky all showing an excellent feel for the game as well as a strong competitive spirit. In fact, Chastain teamed with Smoltz to be among the leaders on the first day.

In what is fast becoming a popular, and star studded event, the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational celebrates its 2nd year in Las Vegas, and its 11th year overall. Previously the event was played in the Bahamas, but with the allure of Sin City, the event was moved here and hopes to grow even bigger. The event also features the ultra exclusive Shadow Creek Golf Club, which opens its doors to the general public for only the 2nd time, and annually is ranked in Golf Week’s Top Ten Courses. The event brings in some of the top names in sports and entertainment each year, and this year is scheduled to be no different.

The golf tournament is a fun and competitive affair, with the primary beneficiaries being the four charities it raises money for: the Make-A-Wish Foundation, UC San Diego Nevada Cancer Institute, James R. Jordan Foundation, and Cats Care. The Michael Jordan golf event has raised over $6 million since its inception.

Throughout our lives there are continuous examples of things that are undervalued and, possibly, underappreciated. For example, Tim Wakefield was no better than a number four or five starting pitcher in the Boston Red Sox rotation for an extended period of time - except that he did it and pitched an "innings-eating" yardstick of throwing over 180 innings a year for many of his 19 years. Wakefield served in numerous capacities within the pitching staff, and while not flashy, won 200 games in the process. Also as you walk through the casinos and venues of Las Vegas, you may take notice of the pristine lobby area or the grounds and landscaping. Someone actually keeps those areas clean, God doesn't "miracle" them clean. So the internal maintenance staff, it could be argued, is equally underappreciated and undervalued. In the golfing community, management, marketing, and promoting can potentially fall into this category.

In the Las Vegas golf market, there are well over 50 courses within an 80 mile radius of the city. One of the top golf course marketing, management, development, and consulting companies in the area is OB Sports.

A common question for employees inside the hotels and casinos is “How is Vegas doing?” or "How's business?" Members of various bell desks, valets, front desks, and dealers hear this question sometimes every week. The reality is, while Las Vegas still is one of the leading cities in terms of foreclosures and deals with a weak housing market still along with high unemployment, visitation and the local economy have now shown signs of consistent and steady improvement. While the “positive signs” of an improving local economy began to show in 2010 and were theoretically present, in 2011, those “signs” were backed up with tangible facts and numbers. Bolstered by strong gains in meetings and conventions held in Las Vegas, in addition to a national and global economy that has seen improvement and “upticks” in various statistical categories that are influential to tourism and travel, Sin City is on the verge of a possible record year ahead. Las Vegas continues to be a world leader in trade shows and the city houses some of the top hotels and casinos on earth.

DragonRidge Country Club in the southeastern portion of the Las Vegas area continues to be one of the most picturesque and scenic golf courses while providing pristine conditions at all times of the calendar year. While the Las Vegas area has had its share of struggles due to the global economic climate of 2008 and 2009, DragonRidge, with excellent ownership, management, service, and instruction, continues to flourish. As of early 2012, the country club is not far from its highest memberships seen in 2006 and continues to supply excellent service and amenities to its members.