Drive up Grand Hills Drive past the Seven Hills clubhouse this year and the signage looks different. The wordmark that said Rio Secco for nearly three decades is gone, replaced by a scorpion crest and a name most golfers had never heard before September 2025: Serket. If you live in Seven Hills, you have probably already asked the obvious question. What happened to the golf course that's been sitting at the center of your neighborhood since 1997?
The short answer is that the course did not change hands. The land is still owned by VICI Properties, the same company that has held the golf assets since they spun off from Caesars Entertainment in 2017. What changed is the operator running day-to-day operations, and that operator decided the old name was not worth what it now costs to keep.
An operator swap that predates the new sign
Cabot took over management of Rio Secco and Vici's other golf properties back in 2022, under a 20-year agreement. For three years the course kept its original name and branding while Cabot ran things behind the scenes. The rebrand did not happen until 2025, when the course closed for several months and reopened on September 20 as Serket.
That gap matters, because it tells you the name change was not a snap decision. Cabot is a golf-first operator with a portfolio that includes Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Cabot Saint Lucia, Cabot Highlands in Scotland and Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida, among others. Cabot's own leadership has described its mission as elevating every property in its portfolio so each one reflects its own character, and Rio Secco's name had always been a holdover from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino that built the course originally in 1997.
Why Serket, specifically
The new name comes from the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection, typically depicted with a scorpion, chosen for a course that sits in the Black Mountains and plays through actual desert canyon terrain. Cabot leaned into that symbolism hard: new signage, new scorecards, new tee markers, and a scorpion logo now stamped on merchandise in the pro shop.
But there is a more practical explanation floating around among regular players, and it is worth knowing if you have ever wondered why a beloved local course would give up a name with 28 years of recognition behind it. One golfer who plays the course regularly says he asked the head pro directly about the switch. The answer he got back was straightforward: the "Rio" name still carried a licensing fee tied to the old casino brand, and that fee had gone up. Rather than pass a rising licensing cost on to golfers through higher green fees, Cabot opted to drop the name and build something it owns outright.
That is a more mundane story than a goddess and a scorpion, but it is the one that explains why this happened now rather than in 2022 when Cabot first took over.
What stayed exactly the same
If you are the kind of Seven Hills resident who has family visiting for a milestone birthday and was planning to book time at the golf school on property, or you simply want to know whether the course you can see from parts of the neighborhood is still the same course, here is what did not move:
- The routing. Rees Jones designed the original layout in 1997 and returned in 2017 for a $2 million renovation that rebuilt every green and added new forward tees. That routing, six holes through steep canyons, six on a plateau with Strip views, six through a broad desert wash, is unchanged under the new name.
- The Butch Harmon School of Golf. Harmon coached Tiger Woods during his most dominant stretch, and Tiger still holds the course record at 64. The instruction school remains on site and has not been affected by the operator's branding decision.
- Janelas Restaurant & Bar. The clubhouse restaurant is still open to the public for breakfast and lunch, still the same room, same menu of salads, burgers and club sandwiches that regulars have relied on for years.
- The tournament history. The course has hosted the annual Tiger Woods Jam and events like the VegasGolfer Pro Showdown, and that pedigree carries forward under Serket.
What is genuinely different
Two things changed that are worth knowing if you play the course yourself or book it for guests.
The first is pricing. Serket now runs on a dynamic pricing model, meaning rates climb the closer you get to your tee time rather than staying fixed. In the slower months, June through August and mid-November through January, rates run roughly $79 to $169. During the busier stretch, February through May and September through mid-November, expect $119 to $259. If you have ever procrastinated booking a Saturday tee time a week out, that habit will cost you more under this system than it used to.
The second is packaging. Cabot now books Serket alongside its sister course Cascata on the same calendar, and offers a combined rate for golfers who play both within a five-day window. If you have out-of-town guests who want two rounds during their visit, that bundling is new since the rebrand.
The early reviews on course conditions have been mixed, which is worth acknowledging rather than glossing over. Several golfers who played in the weeks right after the September reopening noted patchy fairways and thin bunkers, the kind of rough patch you sometimes get after a course reseeds. Golf Digest's most recent course-ranking cycle placed the course 16th in Nevada for the 2025-26 season, down one spot from 15th the prior cycle. Other players who visited more recently describe the layout as back in strong shape, with the staff and pro shop drawing consistent praise throughout the transition. If you are booking a round for guests this fall, calling ahead to check conditions is a reasonable extra step during a name change year.
The course is still just part of the walk
For residents who never pick up a club, none of this changes much about daily life in Seven Hills. The neighborhood's paved trail system, a 2.6-mile loop that strings together Sonata, Vivaldi, Allegro and Puccini parks, still winds through the same rolling terrain with the same elevated views toward the mountains and the Strip. The golf course has always been scenery from that trail rather than something you need to play to enjoy. A new name on a scorecard does not change what the neighborhood looks like on an evening walk.
What it does change is a small piece of local shorthand. For years, telling someone you live near Rio Secco was enough to place you in Seven Hills. Now that reference point has a scorpion on it instead of a Rio logo, the same fairways, the same Butch Harmon lessons, the same clubhouse restaurant, just repackaged by an operator that decided the old name cost more than it was worth.
If you are weighing a move into Seven Hills or thinking about what a home near the golf corridor is actually worth in today's market, that is a conversation grounded in specifics, not brochure language. Joey Andron has spent years working these Henderson enclaves and can walk you through what a property along Serket's fairways, or anywhere else in Seven Hills, actually looks like up close. Let's Connect.
