Biloxi's future: A mini Las Vegas?

Fallen Oak, Biloxi’s newest post-Katrina golf course, is a humdinger, a big, bold, even spectacular track by an “A-list” architect, Tom Fazio.

It’s financed by MGM Mirage and only guests of the Beau Rivage Casino are invited to share the glory. That’s not all: They won’t even allow you to take pictures out here; only officially approved photos will ever grace the pages of non-MGM Mirage publications. Nor have they released construction costs. They’re a little anal about this sort of thing, but they have the course to back it up.

While technically it isn’t private, it is exclusive, doing a third of the rounds of some other top-notch Biloxi area courses. It’s a course that should retain its pristine conditioning.

Fallen Oak elevates golf in Biloxi, literally and figuratively. It’s one of the few golf courses in coastal Mississippi with substantial elevation changes, and its mere presence will attract golfers to a place that needs visiting golfers badly. It’s that good. Look for the full review coming soon.

Fallen Oak and the other new course, The Preserve, are just what Biloxi needs: two, superb, high-end courses that the casino high-rollers can enjoy.

Biloxi already has a plethora of good, affordable golf. It needs more of the kind of courses that make golfers want to take the trouble to get there, and who don’t even think about green fees. These two will do that. There may be more coming.