FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 4/21/2010 7:08:31 PM

Fallen Oak Prepares for Its Close-Up As Champions Tour's Newest Course

Tom Fazio-Designed Masterpiece Ready To Welcome Legends Of The Game

BILOXI, Miss. – When legendary architect Tom Fazio designed Fallen Oak, he did so intending to create a must-play golfing sanctuary. Because Fazio was so successful with this mission in the minds of golfers fortunate enough to play the highly regarded, award-winning course, Fallen Oak now reaps one of the rarest honors a course can earn.

Playing host to a PGA TOUR Champions Tour event.

The legends of the game will visit Fallen Oak April 26-May 2 for the inaugural Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic and when they do, they’ll find a course not only in pristine condition, but a course that by its mere presence as a Champions Tour course, instantly vaulted into the top echelon of courses the tour will visit in 2010.

On Golf Digest’s prestigious list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, only the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links (No. 1) is ranked ahead of Fallen Oak (No. 19) among courses that will play host to Champions Tour events in 2010.

“I think it will be a nice change of pace for them, because it’s a golf course that doesn’t have houses on it,” said Fallen Oak General Manager David Stinson. “So many of these TOUR players play on golf courses where they’re trying to sell real estate. Here, you have an unadulterated golf experience where there’s no huge signs on the golf course and you can appreciate its understated and natural beauty. And I think there’s something to be said for that.”

Because Fallen Oak is kept in such immaculate condition, Stinson and Director of Grounds Matt Hughes didn’t have a long list of things to do to get the course ready for its Golf Channel close-up. Hughes said most of the prep work involves changing the mowing patterns and evening out the depths of sand in Fallen Oak’s numerous and notorious bunkers to prevent fried-egg lies.

“The course isn’t too far out from where we keep it on a daily basis,” Hughes said. “We’re just tidying everything up to make it more player-friendly. We’ve had several meetings with the agronomy team and the rules officials and as far as they’re concerned, we don’t have any issues. They were happy with everything they saw out here.”

Stinson said that even with Fallen Oak’s typical pristine playing condition, there are areas he, Hughes and their staff are addressing. Areas like adding a step cut – or first cut – of 1-inch rough, narrowing the fairways five feet on each side and dealing with the effects of a cold winter that pushed preparations back five to six weeks as it altered the way Hughes and his staff could maintain the course.

“The course held up remarkably well, considering we were dealing with an overly brutal November through February,” Stinson said. “Where you get trouble is when it’s cold, then it’s warm and the grass comes out, then it’s cold again. That’s hard on the course and with the amount of rain we had, the bunkers were washed out. Those were all little things that came with having 22 inches of rain the last three months.”

This week, the Champions Tour’s advance staff will see the effects of that and the efforts Hughes and his staff have put in to get Fallen Oak ready to challenge and impress some of the marquee names in the game’s history. Already, one of those names – Paul Azinger – has experienced the challenges Fallen Oak poses.

“In order to build a terrific golf course, it should be visually appealing and maybe even slightly intimidating, but yet at the same time, play extremely fair,” Azinger said, calling upon his experiences playing Fallen Oak during the 2008 made-for-TV “Captain’s Challenge” match he played with fellow Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo. “And Fazio pulled it off at Fallen Oak.”

Stinson and Hughes are confident they, their staff and the more than 800 volunteers will pull it off. “My hope is the players will come off the course at the end of the tournament and say this is one of the best golf courses we play the entire year,” Stinson said. “Knowing what kind of special place Fallen Oak is, I think they will.”

Joining the heralded Shadow Creek (ranked No. 10 on Golfweek’s Best 100 Modern Courses) as the only golf courses built by MGM MIRAGE for their guests, Fallen Oak is located on a 510-acre tract at the edge of the DeSoto National Forest.

Stretching to a hearty 7,487 yards from the back tees, Fallen Oak offers golfers five sets of tees and strategic play options as each hole winds through ever-changing terrain and environments.

Fallen Oak is available exclusively for guests of Beau Rivage. Greens fees for this elite MGM MIRAGE golf experience are $200. To make reservations, call (877) 805-4657 or visit www.beaurivage.com.

###

For More Information:
Mary Cracchiolo-Spain, Beau Rivage
mcracchiolo@beaurivage.com
(228) 386-7134

Luxury golf, redefined