‘The Fifth Major’ lands in Vegas … on par-54 course
Phillip Tom's par-3 golf course that surrounds his home in the Scotch 80s is so diabolical that he issued a $100,000 challenge to the best players in the world.
Before someone jumps on the bet, they better read the fine print on the invitation to the Make-A-Wish Lakeshore Open.
"They don't get a practice round" for the 36-hole challenge, said Tom, a local money manager who figuratively and literally owns the 18-hole course.
He's won the charity tournament six times in its 16-year history. Participants can only use one golf club on what Tom has billed as "The Fifth Major." A few years ago he was surprised to find no one had registered "The Fifth Major" with the U.S. Trademark Office.
Tom held the Lakeshore Open for four years outside his home on the banks of Lake Washington in Seattle before moving to Las Vegas 12 years ago.
The name stuck, and so has the tradition that the winner receives a royal blue jacket, Las Vegas' answer to The Masters green jacket.
Tom, who won a poker tournament bracelet in 2008 against some of the best players in the world, estimates he has raised about $200,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through his wacky tournament. He sees that number growing much faster now that the tournament's popularity is taking off.
For the first time, about 20 companies and individuals paid $150 each for sponsor banners along the one-acre, 18-hole course. The entry fee is $50.
The fairways are impossibly narrow and some pin placements are a few feet apart. Par is 54 on a course which measures 440 yards from the championship tees.
During Saturday's two 18-hole rounds, one competitor found his ball in a peach tree.
One fairway is lined with more than a dozen cypress trees. A couple years ago, when Tom had two cypress removed, "there were well over 100 balls in both trees. I can safely say there are more than 1,000 balls in my hedges and tree right now."
On the finishing hole, which runs along one of the Scotch 80 streets, players can get a hole-in-one by hitting a stop sign or the stop sign pole from the tee.
While we were standing in the kitchen, young women in bikinis prepared lunch for participants taking practice rounds. When a player named Kenny walked through, Tom pointed out that the participants walk through the kitchen to play the back nine.
Though he's played the course more than 1,000 times, Tom said, the home advantage didn't make a difference this year.
Kenny Ebalo, a former caddie for PGA veteran Lee Janzen, staged a late rush to defend his title and win his second jacket.
It was an epic finish, said Tom. "With four to go, three or four were tied for the lead. Kenny birdied three of the last four holes to shoot 11-over par to win by five strokes over Ryan McCullough.
Ebalo recently gave up his management duties for PGA veteran Ryan Moore, the former UNLV great, to join a sports management firm.
Tom's black housecat, Pantera, is even mentioned in the tournament rules.
"If your ball should strike the one black cat on the premises or if the cat strikes your ball in movement, the ball is played where it lies. If your ball is at rest and the cat clubs it one direction or another, it is replaced at no penalty."
"Pantera did not come into play this year," said Tom.
Music to their ears
In a surprise appearance, Broadway and music star Frank Wildhorn led a musical tribute to The Smith Center's Myron Martin at the 19th annual Education Hero Award gala Saturday at the Mandarin Oriental.
Martin was the Champion of Children honoree.
The 2014 Champion of Children honoree, Clint Holmes, was unable to attend due to his commitment to a Frank Sinatra tribute in Omaha, Neb., but he lined up many of Martin's musical friends for the event.
Also performing during the segments: singers Susan Anton and Bruce Ewing and magician Mac King.
The Education Hero award went to John Guedry, and Beverly Mathis received the lifetime education achievement award.
Wildhorn, a longtime friend of Martin's, has composed a number of Broadway shows, including "Jekyll and Hyde" and Whitney Houston's hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go."
The scene and heard
Former teen idol and Las Vegas headliner David Cassidy is in hot water again. He was charged in Florida last month with leaving the scene of an accident after a crash and driving with an expired tag. Police said Cassidy sideswiped a truck and was seen trying to cover a license plate before driving away with a flat tire.
On this day
Oct. 5, 1982: Local mobster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal summons reporters for a bizarre interview, one day after he survives a car bombing in the parking lot outside of Tony Roma's restaurant on East Sahara Avenue. A steel plate under the driver's side of his Cadillac was credited with saving his life. He turns down an offer to be in the Witness Protection Program but leaves town for good a year later. Robert De Niro played a character loosely based on Rosenthal in the movie "Casino."
October 6, 1996: Tiger Woods defeats Davis Love III on the first playoff hold to win the Las Vegas Invitational. It's the first PGA win for Woods and came just six weeks after he turned pro. He'll make Las Vegas a frequent stop in the years to come, but not for golf. (Thanks to Mike Precker.)
Sightings
Beyonce and Jay Z, arriving at "Mystere" (T.I.) with their daughter Blue Ivy on Tuesday. It was Blue Ivy's first "Cirque du Soleil" show. Beyonce's mother, Tina Knowles, accompanied them. Beyonce was in town for a corporate engagement. ... Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil, onstage to wish the band Slaughter well during its appearance at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center over the weekend.
The punch line
"A man in Canada has pled guilty to trespassing into a home and doing laundry and feeding the owner's cat. The man is being described by authorities as marriage material." — Conan O'Brien
— Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow him: @Norm_Clarke
