FEATURE STORY

Las Vegas Million
Dollar Shootout puts
the money and the
pressure on your swing

By Chris Baldwin,
Contributor

LAS VEGAS (March 28, 2005) - Everyone above the age of 10 who's played golf has stood over a "money" putt. This is usually a $2 Nassau or maybe, if you're really daring, a bet with your wife over a foot massage.

But how you react if faced with a true money putt? Say, oh, about half a million on the line.

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"I wonder if I could even move the club with that much money in the balance,'' golfer Jack Stoberski said.

Stoberski laughed. He and the other Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout organizers are betting there will be plenty of amateur golfers wondering the same thing, willing to put their money down to answer that eternal question.

How good am I under pressure? Forget that, how good is my golf swing under pressure? What will my putter yips be like if there's a potential life-changing small fortune on the line?

These may not be the Socrates questions of life, but you can be sure they've kept more than a few golf nuts up at night.

This is the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout's target audience. This tournament is bringing the high-dollar, pressure-packed amateur golf showdowns of the shadows into the light of official scorekeepers and tournament officials. On May 17-20 at the Paiute courses you can play for big cash without worrying about your kneecaps getting bashed in.

"This is Las Vegas,'' Stoberski said. "You get a lot of groups of high rollers that end up playing for a lot of money on the sly."

"Maybe, it's time to get golf out of the closet."

Adding to the uniqueness of this shootout is that it encourages more common-man golfers than most big-money tournaments of its kind. While Stoberski admits he doesn't expect anyone higher than a single-digit handicap to play, he argues that there is a wide range of possibilities along that scale. This is because the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout is a contest between four-person teams in a true scramble format.

Under this best-shot format, a golfer needn't necessarily possess a booming drive to be a difference maker.

"About four years ago, I was playing in a scramble tournament and the group playing right in front of us had a girl on their team,'' Stoberski said. "They never used her tee shot. Not once. But she did all the putting. Eleven straight holes, she hit the ball right in the cup. The rest of the guys didn't have to do anything. They didn't swing their putters once on those holes.

"This format is very fair. It plays equal opportunity. If you have a group of four players, you can have an eight or nine handicap who helps just as much as the scratch player."

Each group pays a $20,000 entry fee for the chance at the $500,000 first-place price. How realistic or farfetched that reach is gets played out for each group over three days. This is another unique part of the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout. Each foursome is guaranteed three days of play on each of the Paiute courses. The top 10 low-scoring teams then advance to the fourth day finals on Pete Dye's famed Wolf course.

This isn't a one-and-done tournament. It's a building pressure-cooker, three-day joust for the top 10 spots, and then one final-day showdown.

"We hope it comes down to the final hole,'' said Craig Ward, one of the Michigan businessmen behind the event. "We'd like to see it go extra holes."

The more drama the better. After all, drama sells. And not just to golfers itching to see if they could handle PGA Tour pressure. Also to TV networks looking for the next big thing in a reality show, world poker tour world. The Million Dollar Shootout has been pitched as programming to ESPN, TNT and the Golf Channel. So far, no network has come close to committing.

"It's very hard to get television involved in something like this in its inaugural year,'' Ward said.

Further complicating matters is the fact there's a Las Vegas $3 Million Shootout also pitching itself to networks. Organizers of the Million Dollar Shootout are suing the Tucson- and Walters Golf-backed $3 Million Shootout for copyright infringement in federal court.

The Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout is an advertiser on TravelGolf.com. Walters Golf has also advertised on TravelGolf.com in the past.

Ward, an advertising executive, remains unbowed by the challenges of a TV deal. The organizers of the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout are paying for the final round to be filmed and produced into a half-hour highlight show.

"If we have to pay for the timeslot, we will,'' Ward said. "We'll get it on air."

Ward and Ed May, one of the main money and idea men behind the tournament, see the Million Dollar Shootout as something that amateur golfers have long wanted. The original concept called for pros to be allowed in the tournament, maybe one per team. That changed with the response of the golfing public.

"When we did our advertising and promotions, what we got were hundreds of guys all telling us the same thing,'' May said. " 'We'd love to play , we're a 1, 2, 3 handicap, but we can't beat a pro. Some guy from one of the mini tours would beat our brains in.' As we kept hearing that, we started looking at the tournament in a different way."

Now, the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout carries maybe the strongest amateur requirements of any tournament of its kind. No one who's held any type of tour card for the last seven years is eligible.

Rules like that have drawn the intrigue of the Las Vegas golf community.

"You've got (local radio host) Dennis Silvers on his show, challenging people,'' May said, laughing. "He's telling them he's got the longest hitter in Las Vegas, the best putter in Las Vegas and he's going to win the whole thing."

When contacted by TravelGolf, Silvers was a little less verbose about any impending victory.

"A lot of it depends on schedules and making sure I can get the team together I want,'' Silvers said. "I'd love to play in this thing, if it works with peoples' schedules though. The way it's set up makes it really interesting."

Hockey all-star (and devoted golfer) Brett Hull is also considering teeing it up.

But mostly, it will be the dreamers Stoberski described.

Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout Dates: May 17-20 Setting: Paiute courses Entry fee: $20,000 per four-person team The payoff: One million in prize money ($500,000 for first place) Deadline: April 15 www.lvmds.com 1-866-379-5822

Their $5,000 per person entry fee gets them a room at one of the Caesars hotels (Paris, Bally's or Flamingo with preference given to earlier sign ups), an economy car Hertz rental and the chance to play for a cool half million.

"Playing scramble every day, I feel like a guy like me can contribute,'' Stoberski said. "I'm not going to help out on every hole, but somewhere along the line I feel I'd make a difference. Out of 18 holes, I'm going to hit one shot close. Out of 18 putts, I'm going to sink one. I feel like I can contribute.

"That's the great thing about this tournament. You have 18 chances every day to make that one shot that really helps your team."

Stoberski sounds like he wants to play. Management does have its downsides. Stoberski will still be wondering if he could even swing his club with six figures on the line. Other golfers will know.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.