I think I got ahead of myself. I just jumped right into my experience at the Mesquite Amateur without explaining what it is. After all, it wasn’t that long ago I didn’t know what it was myself and I try to stay up on such things what with this blog and all so perhaps some of you are wondering just what the heck this thing is.
The golf
The Mesquite Amateur is a fun, well organized golf tournament that takes place in Mesquite, NV and the surrounding areas. Mesquite is about an hour northeast of Las Vegas. Amateur golfers of all skill levels bring their established handicaps (along with some bagfuls of sand in some cases) from all around the country to compete in the net event. There were even a few international players as well. The tournament is played on 8 golf courses in Mesquite, Coyote Springs and St. George, Utah. The courses are all open to competitors on the first day for practice rounds, then the tournament is played the following three days. Players are divided up by gender, age and handicap in their respective flights and assigned a course rotation. The top ten players in each flight at the end of the third day win cash prizes, and the top four from each flight go on to compete against one other one last day to crown an overall champion who wins a trophy and serious bragging rights. This was the 7th year of the Mesquite Amateur and I’m happy to report that, for the first time, a woman won the title. Congratulations to Sheila Stevenson of Austin, NV, on her final round of 84. Wait… with her 25 handicap that’s a net 59. Had to be the round of her life, right? Let’s hope so.
Nightly festivities
Each night after the golf, the players gathered in a giant tent at the Casablanca where dinner was served along with a show and prize drawings. There were plenty of buffet tables to accommodate all the players without bottlenecks, and people settled at their tables where they ate, drank, relived their rounds and watched the shows. There were also a lot of rules discussions from situations that arose during each round.
During the course of play, a video crew patrols the golf courses, filming various foursomes and catching the humorous antics of some players. The crew then compiles and edits all the footage from the day into a polished video segment for all to enjoy that night. Their fast and furious work is impressive and is highly anticipated entertainment each night. Take a 20 on a hole trying to get out of trouble in the desert? You’re probably going to end up on film. You know who you are. 😉
Happy Birthday, Mesquite!
The city of Mesquite celebrated its 25th birthday this year and the timing coincided with the Mesquite Am tournament. Each night was considered a birthday celebration and came with a theme. Though I couldn’t always logically follow the theme throughout the night, the dessert tables were fabulous.
Then there’s the hired talent.
This year the acts were entertaining –
though perhaps not in the way the “talent” intended. The first night we were subjected to presented with the Kid Fiddlers. A frilly, cowboy-clad family of children with marginal various levels of talent, ranging in age from what looked like 5 to 18. And their mother, of course. They fiddled, strummed, tap danced, and sang (I guess that’s what that was) their way through a handful of songs and took a shot at audience participation. Some of the kids looked as pained by what they were doing as we were watching. The act was mercifully short but still the lowlight of the day.
The Mesquite-Toes
Night two brought us the phenomenon known as the Mesquite-Toes. It’s a troupe of more than 50 female “dancers” with an average age of 66. And one man. They are raising money to take the entire group to China to perform on the Great Wall. They better install some kind of bumpers or side rails on that baby. Anyway, the team seemed to be endless in numbers as well as costumes and they just kept circling in and around the stage for what felt like hours. Each song had its own performers and associated costumes which got crazier with each change. The longer the show went on, the more it seemed to approach some level of grandma porn. The first song and dance was cute – “oh, that one looks like my grandma!” The second was variety – “oh look, new costumes.” And it just kept going and going … and going.
Magician Bram Charles
By far, the best nightly show was on Magic Night, when they brought in Las Vegas magician Bram Charles.
He was talented with the tricks, kept us entertained with stories and humor and had a great stage presence. He did one bit that had me laughing so hard I had to keep wiping the tears from my eyes. He was supposed to make a yellow bandanna disappear – only the ACME Magic Kit he received included a banana instead. Maybe you just gotta see him do it. After the tent event, we headed back to the pool where there was always an “after-event” and that night it was Cigars Under the Stars. Bram joined us and treated us to some bonus card tricks in the moonlight. The guy’s got skills. Here are a couple shots with audience volunteers including one with my new friend, Kathy (hi chickie!).
Speaking of Kathy
She is one golf chick who’s always up for a challenge. I foolishly joked that I wanted to wear one of the Mesquite-Toes hats during the next day’s round of golf and promised I would if she could get it for me. And, of course, she did. Oh boy. I think that was Margarita night. Silly me. At least she let me remove the attached pig-tails. Looks much better on The Goose.
Next post.
My “decision” to opt out for this blue moon celebration may have been aided by my recent oral surgery, sutures, antibiotics, vicodin and chipmunk cheeks, but who cares? It was a crap year and I’m kicking it out my own way. I even gave my Wii avatar her own golfchick-munk cheeks so she can play along.
The Commish that Saved the LPGA
Twenty years ago, the LPGA looked a lot like it does today. Sponsors and tournaments were dropping off like flies. The Commissioner was being removed from duty. Players were unhappy. Then the organization made a winning move by replacing Bill Blue with Charles Mechem. He developed a good relationship with the players and the media, conciliated the sponsors, grew the tour with more events and ultimately got the LPGA back on track and thriving. We need a Charlie Mechem for 2009. Charlie’s still involved in the golf world to a fashion, though I doubt he could be lured back to his old post at this point.
I recently spent a day with Charlie – talking, eating, and of course, playing golf. He is a charming, amiable man with a gracious spirit. When my golf ball rolled off the fairway and wedged into a dicey lie in the plants, he casually kicked it out and humorously issued a “commissioner’s ruling.” I wouldn’t accept that with anyone else, but who am I to argue with the commish? I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t like this man.
I told the story of how he became commissioner and saved the LPGA in this article (starts on page 12) for Jackson Hole Golfer Magazine, an annual publication issued in a beautiful hard cover book as well as a glossy magazine.
With Carolyn Bivens on her way out, the LPGA needs to find someone who can pull off what Charlie did, and I suspect it won’t be easy. (Hey Charlie, how about filling in while they conduct their search?)
In his article on what went wrong with Bivens, Alan Shipnuck offers up Judy Rankin as a suggested replacement with the logic that she’s “basically a female Mechem.” Sounds good to me.
Photo from Golf.com (David Cannon/Getty Images). Perhaps If Ms. Bivens appeased all the sponsors like she must have with this homage to Ronald McDonald, she’d be in less trouble today.
Next post.