DON McDERMOTT / PVT The clubhouse at Willow Creek, formerly the Calvada Valley Golf & Country Club, located at Red Butte and Mt. Charleston Drive. DON McDERMOTT / PVT The clubhouse at the Lakeview Executive course, on Mt. Charleston Drive. Advertisement

Some people find the most comfortable way to chill is to play golf ... a leisurely 18 holes on a cool, misty morning or a hurry-up-let's-get-nine-holes-in-before-dinner round on a hot, hazy afternoon.

When Preferred Equities bought thousands of acres for millions of dollars in the early 1970s, one of their first objectives was to build two golf courses and a country club hotel, with $3 million as the price tag for such a project. Golf -- and the opportunity to play the game while on a trip to explore the possibilities of buying land in the valley -- was the best attraction the valley had. There were no major casinos and there were no other marketable enterprises in the area.

The first course put under construction in 1977 was on the Pahrump Ranch, in a section of land across the street from the new Pahrump Valley High School. It was then called the Calvada Valley Golf & Country Club; it would be an 18-hole, 7,000-yard PGA championship course when all of the work was completed.

It is now Willow Creek, where plans are being prepared to build a hotel and casino, along with a new clubhouse on the grounds.

The second course -- an 18-hole course designed for the business executive who had limited time to play -- would be just 3,500 yards long and play to a par 58. It opened in March 1984 on Mt. Charleston Road.

That course, now the Lakeview Executive, is the site for Pahrump Valley Junior Golf Association tournaments and the annual Inferno Open, a fund-raiser for kids golf. Junior golf also led to the start of the Quarter Auction, which annually raises more than $10,000 and funds scholarships, among other programs, for golfers 7 to 18 years old.

In 1978, the first nine holes at Calvada (a course encircled by Blagg Road, Calvada Blvd, Pahrump Valley Boulevard and Bourbon Street), were finished; the second nine were soon under construction and were completed in October 1979.

The clubhouse contract was awarded in 1980 to Schnelzer Construction; the building covered 5,000 square feet and included a pro shop, locker rooms and lounge. It was completed by May 1981.

In February 1982, Bob Betley was named the golf pro at Calvada Valley, replacing Paul Bullock, who had been in charge since the course opened.

Pahrump Valley High School did not have a team, but Calvada Valley hosted several high school regional and state championship tournaments, as well as hosting junior golf clinics. Betley was a PGA touring pro, competing on the tour briefly as well as winning more than 80 club tournaments.

In September 1986, the Pahrump Valley Junior Golf Founders Club was organized, with the ultimate goal to start high school teams. Tom Woods was the club pro, with guidance and assistance from Hollis Harris, Don Denkers, Dottie Lipsky, Darlene Howard and Darrell Bellamy, who would become the first golf coach at PVHS.

A sponsorship program was established, with the levels $1,000 (ace), $250 (double eagle), $150 (eagle) and $50 (birdie). The first Founders Club fund-raiser was Oct. 5, 1986. Several high school students played in that inaugural event.

More than $10,000 was raised by the club, which helped organize the first PVHS boys' golf team in 1987.

Larry Goins, who is still associated in the present-day Pahrump Valley Junior Golf Association, became involved in 1987. Purchased were 12 sets of golf clubs and other equipment for both boys and girls teams.

"One of the major reasons why I decided to move here was the golf course," said Larry Goins, who moved to Pahrump with his wife Elaine in 1985. "To see the cypress trees, the green grass ... and to be able to play golf on such a course. It was an outstanding course."

Joe Murrillo, Jason Bellak, J.T. Miller, Danny Clift, Bill Harris and Paul Giannotti were among the first players on PVHS's boys team, coached by Al Giannotti. Jason Tafoya and Mike Sluder were alternates.

The boys, while in Class A and 2-A over those early years, played a schedule dominated by teams from the Class 3-A Las Vegas League, including Chaparral, Bonanza, Western, Valley, Bishop Gorman and Clark.

Bellamy was also the first girls' coach; in 1987, the team included Dawn Curtis, Angie Bellamy, Kristen Gregory, Heather Lisk, Monica Fuentes, Teea LeBaron, Alleltia Bigoiming, Tiffany Hatcher and Siri Robinson.

Making her mark as an independent player was 14-year-old Peggy Dohlen, who would eventually play for the Lady Trojans, then coached by Julie Floyd. Dohlen, who early in her golf career took lessons from Calvada pro Randy Reedy and excelled in Southern Nevada Golf Association junior tournaments, moved to Boulder City to finish her prep golf career.

Paul Giannotti was perhaps the best boys' player in the early years of interscholastic golf at PVHS, consistently earning medalist honors for the Trojans.

Meanwhile, golf became a major recreational pursuit in the valley for men and women who lived and worked in the valley, as well as tourists and visitors from Las Vegas, who battled the treacherous road through the Spring Mountains pass to play.

And it remained a major marketing tool for Preferred Equities, which was in the business of marketing the possibilities of the Pahrump Valley. Tourist buses were always present at various valley locales; still others flew into the Calvada strip, then located on land between Highway 160 and Calvada Blvd.

In 1980, the first full year it was open, there were 10,316 rounds played at Calvada Valley. Statistics were revealed only for the next three years; afterwards, there were no high-profile announcements.

In 1981, there were 16,039 rounds, followed by 22,726 in 1982 and 27,374 rounds in 1983. The executive course opened in 1984.

Business was brisk for many years; according to reports, the Calvada Men's Golf Association averaged 526 rounds per week, or 75 per day. The executive course, in some years, closed during the summer months because of typical weather conditions -- hot, windy and no rain.

Numerous fund-raising golf tournaments were played throughout the year, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefitted everything from PVHS cheerleaders and drill teams to every service organization in the valley. It began a trend that continues today -- but not at Willow Creek or the Executive course.

Five years ago, certain decisions -- designed to improve the bottom line -- were made by Willow Creek owners. The high school golf teams, which had trained and played their league and championship matches there for 16 years, moved their operations to Mountain Falls, a PGA championship course off Manse Road that had opened in 2002. Some junior golf events were switched to Desert Greens, a pitch-and-putt-style course on Wilson Road.

Eroding the Willow Creek experience were two other events -- the course was closed twice for business reasons. And part of the course lost its unique qualities when Utilities Inc. -- a water and sewage company located on its grounds -- expanded and reduced the yardage on one of its toughest holes.

There was always the hope, when Willow Creek was closed, that the course would be rejuvenated and that it would once again have the mass appeal it had throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It did not happen and Pahrump had lost one of the attractions that gave the valley so much appeal in the early days.