One of Nevada’s top public golf courses—Wolf Creek Golf Club
in Mesquite—is poised to gain a new world of fans with the upcoming
launch of the highly anticipated Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 09 video game.

The game—released in late August for the Xbox 360 game and entertainment
system, the series of Sony PlayStation® systems (2, 3 and Portable),
and Nintendo’s Wii console—showcases Wolf Creek’s par-72, 7,018-yard
layout. And Wolf Creek’s General Manager, Joel Villanos, hopes that
the course’s presence in the game does more than just entertain “virtual”
enthusiasts.

The partnership came about when Tom Renedo, Business Affairs & Licensing
for EA Sports, contacted Wolf Creek in the fall of 2007, after having
sent a scouting group to the property. “Apparently they had come out
to play earlier in the year and raved about the unique golf course layout
we have,” explains Villanos. “They had mentioned it was a golf course
unlike anything they had played before, and felt our course would be
perfect for the game.”

Recognizing the kind of marketing and branding power EA Sports brings
to the table, Villanos felt the partnership would give the club another
opportunity to market the course and the region to a larger and broader
demographic they might not reach otherwise.

“EA Sports plans to sell 2.1 million copies [of the PGA TOUR game]
in 2009, 80% of which will be sold to actual golfers,” says Villanos.
“This translates to 1.7 million potential tourists who may want to
come and experience the ‘real thing.’ ”

Tiger Woods 09 – Hard Day

Wolf Creek, which is the only course in Nevada represented in the game,
is also collaboratively working on a cross-promotional program with
Golf Digest and The Golf Channel, along with EA Sports, to create a
sweepstakes-type promotion. The grand prize winner would be awarded
a trip to Mesquite to play golf at Wolf Creek and stay at its partner
hotel, the Eureka Casino Hotel; prizes such as a game station and a
copy of the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 game would also be awarded.