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LAS VEGAS (May 2, 2005) - The "original" Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout is gone for good, cancelled before it could ever become reality, but its legal battle against the Arizona-backed and Walters Golf-linked alleged copycat shootout is only heating up.
Welcome to one of those only-in-Las Vegas stories.
Bowing to financial pressures, with not enough golfers signed up to pay the $20,000 foursome entry fee, the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout was cancelled by its Michigan businessmen organizers after an emotional Las Vegas meeting.
"(Main money man) Ed (May) was devastated,'' said Jack Stoberski, the Vegas representative of the shootout. "He put his heart, soul and a tremendous amount of money into trying to make this thing work.
"I don't care how much money you have, when you lose as much money as he did it's a big deal."
The Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout's cancellation comes only a few weeks after the Las Vegas $3 Million Shootout, the tournament it is suing for alleged blatant copyright infringement, was postponed to a yet unspecified fall date. The $3 Million Shootout also came up far short of the number of entries it needed it be profitable, but organizer Burt Kinerk says he is confident the tournament will be able to go off in the fall.
Kinerk found out the competing Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout was cancelled from TravelGolf.com.
"I hadn't heard that,'' Kinerk said when reached on his cellphone while on a Palm Springs trip. "That's interesting."
Lawsuit implications
One
of the reason it's interesting is that the cancellation could
actually bolster the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout's claim
against the alleged copycat shootout run by Kinerk and his partners.
In arguing for damages, Ed May's lawyers can now make the case
that the actions of the alleged copycat shootout drove the self-proclaimed
"original" shootout out of business. The lawsuit charges the Las
Vegas $3 Million Shootout purposely stole the Las Vegas Million
Dollar Shootout's name, location and basic concept, while scheduling
its tournament just weeks before its competitor's May 17-20 scheduled
dates in an attempt to confuse the public and drive the original
million-dollar tournament out of business.
Now, the tournament is actually out of business.
"The lawsuit is very much alive,'' Stoberski said. "Ed's not backing down. He's stuck up from the beginning to the intimidation tactics and he's going to see it through to the end."
Kinerk is bothered by the talk that his tournament employed heavy-handed tactics. The prominent Tucson attorney gets much of his business off his good name and All-American hero background. Kinerk is a former intelligence officer and paratrooper in the 18th Airborne Corps. He lists his "Father of the Year'' and "Boss of the Year" (by the Tucson Legal Secretaries Association) awards as prominently as any legal honors on his business Web site.
"I want you to know we're good people here,'' Kinerk said. "I don't know what you've heard about some others, but we're good people. I really want everyone to know that. We do business in an honorable manner."
One of the others involved in Kinerk's $3 Million Shootout is Billy Walters, the powerful, controversial head of the Walters Golf empire. Walters has been indicted three times on state money-laundering charges in Nevada, but those charges were dismissed before trial each time. Walters Golf denied it had interests in the Las Vegas $3 Million Shootout when the story of the lawsuit first broke on TravelGolf.com. This despite the fact Brennan Blednick, Walters Golf's senior director of sales, is quoted as saying, "Walters Golf has agreed to partner with the Las Vegas Shootout and are delighted they have selected two of our premier properties for this exceptional event" in an official tournament press release dated Jan. 12.
Kinerk declined to comment on Billy Walters in this interview.
Walters Golf and the "original" Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout both advertised on TravelGolf.com in the past.
An Impending Conclusion?
The
only thing this shootout lawsuit will be missing is a dramatic
public courtroom scene. This federal court case is being waged
with legal briefs behind closed doors. Both sides have submitted
their respective arguments, rebuttals and counter-rebuttals to
a federal judge, who will rule without ever hearing testimony
in open court.
Under this arrangement, the sides will likely never even come face-to-face with each other.
"Having lawyers in my family, I know these things have to run their due course,'' Stoberski said. "But with it being in federal court, the understanding is the ruling could come more quickly."
No matter what the outcome of the lawsuit is, Ed May and his partners are out of the Million Dollar Shootout business.
"It's not going to be rescheduled,'' Stoberski said. "Ed lost a tremendous amount of money and this is it for the tournament."
Stoberski referred questions on May's exact losses to May. Ed May did not return phone calls from TravelGolf.com.
"As far as the tournament, it's cancelled,'' said Craig Ward, one of May's main partners. "Beyond that we've been advised not to comment by legal counsel. Until this impending legal matter is resolved, we can't comment."
The postponement of the Las Vegas $3 Million Shootout and the cancellation of the Las Vegas Million Dollar Shootout in such a close timeframe does raise the question of whether Las Vegas can support an amateur tournament with entry fees in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Both May and Kinerk were confident enough in the idea to pitch their respective tournaments to TV networks as a possible replacement for the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, arguing that's Sin City's PGA Tour event is on wobbly ground.
Now it turns out, one of the would-be successors is down and out and the other has had to postpone.
Still, Kinerk insists the $3 Million Dollar Shootout's yet unnamed fall date is not but a dream.
"We're talking to some pros and trying to work out schedules,'' Kinerk said. "We're going to find that right date and put it together again."
One Las Vegas Shootout down, one regrouping, one lawsuit going forward.
The Las Vegas story continues.
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.
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