Boulder City, Nevada – Talk about exclusive. If you’re a very special friend of the house, you might get tapped to go to Cascata. Blasted out of the Red River Mountains, not far from Las Vegas, this 800-acre property shelters a Riese Jones-designed golf course and a sumptuous Tuscan restaurant, the Grille. There are no prices on anyone’s menu (if you’re invited, you’re a guest), just 80 seats under the hand-painted Florentine beams, 20 out on the veranda, 24 in the wine room, and a dozen in the cigar room. From nearly every seat there’s a view of the club’s namesake waterfall, a torrent that drops 418 feet into the desert, then flows right into and under the clubhouse foyer.

Surrounded by that gentle roar, golfers board carts indoors, on the lower level, then motor out into the sunshine. Special scheduling means parties never see the group in front or behind. It’s like your own private course. All this just 20 minutes from the Las Vegas strip, where guests of Park Place Entertainment, owners of Caesar’s Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Bally’s, the Las Vegas Hilton, and many others dream about getting that magical invitation.

Fewer than 100 people have received the call to visit Cascata since its 18 holes opened on December 15. Construction figures are kept as private as the club, but with a second 18 holes currently being grafted onto the desert, Cascata is rumored to be the most expensive course ever built (significantly pricier than Mirage’s legendary Shadow Creek).

On a clear and warm January day, my lunch there was a quiet thrill, personally prepared by Robert Zito, vice president of F&B at Paris, Las Vegas. I shared bruschetta, Caesar salad, of crisp romaine hearts, seared Chilean sea bass with white bean puree, and loads of wild mushrooms (it was winter), drowned with a variety of super Tuscans in the company of restaurateur Larry Levy and executive vice president of Park Place Entertainment Mark Dodson. We were the only guests.