Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000 | 9:43 a.m.
Victoria Sun's golf column appears Wednesday. Reach her at 259-4078 or [email protected]
Senior PGA Tour veteran Tom Kite probably had no trouble finding a dinner companion Tuesday night after he spent the morning and afternoon playing in the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge at Reflection Bay Golf Club at the Lake Las Vegas Resort.
In fact, he was most likely flanked by fellow Senior PGA Tour players Tom Watson and Hale Irwin.
"They're gonna buy dinner tonight," Kite laughed. "That's for sure."
Dinner would be an inexpensive way to thank Kite for putting roughly an extra $166,666 in both of their pockets.
Kite aced the eighth hole (the course's actual No. 17) from 164 yards to raise $500,000 for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and a $500,000 bonus to be divided among the three seniors.
"It was a pretty good shot," Kite said. "Without a lot of luck, to have something like that happen would be unlikely.
"It's kind of nice."
The Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge has three Senior PGA Tour players competing against three PGA Tour players and three LPGA Tour players.
Kite was paired with Rocco Mediate and Dottie Pepper, Watson was paired with Notah Begay and Juli Inkster, and Irwin was paired with Phil Mickelson and Karrie Webb.
The threesomes played three separate six-hole stroke-play matches to raise money for Thomas' foundation.
After the first round, the seniors and the ladies were tied for the lead at 2-under so the $100,000 purse for the first six holes carried over to the second round of play. After the second round, the seniors led the field by shooting a collective 5-under earning $200,000 with $50,000 going to both the ladies and the men.
In the end, the Begay, Mickelson and Mediate came through with an inspired six holes to go 6-under and win the final match.
The PGA Tour raised $350,000, the seniors $300,000 and the ladies $150,000.
"I think we just played well when we had our backs against the wall," said Begay, who carded an 8-under-par 64 for the day. "We may have pushed ourselves a little bit too much too early.
"We knew that if we could play well the last six, that's where all the money was."
The event will be broadcast Dec. 23 and 24 on ABC (Cox Channel 13).
* $4 MILLION HOLE IN ONE: If you haven't already tried to qualify for the $4 Million Hole In One Charity Shootout, you have until Saturday. The final week of qualifying is happening from 5 to 9 p.m. today through Friday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Angel Park and Desert Pines Golf Club. Qualifying balls may be purchased at the sites at $1 each, seven for $5 and 20 for $10. Each ball that lands inside a 10-foot circle located 75 yards from the tee earns the participant one shot in Sunday's semifinals. The semifinal hole at the Angel Park practice facility will be 165 yards and the 15 closest shots will advance to the finals. The finals will be held on the Angel Park 165-yard island green, where finalists will shoot for the three $1 million grand prizes at a green with 10 holes. Las Vegan Lisiate Tovo has qualified an event-high 100 shots for Sunda y's semifinals. The proceeds will benefit Opportunity Village and the Southern Nevada Inner City Youth Golf Association.
* CELEBRITY GOLF: Fans of the HBO show "Arliss," there are still tickets left for the Arliss Celebrity Golf Tournament and Las Vegas Gala benefiting the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital being held this weekend. The festivities begin Friday at 8 p.m. at the Suncoast hotel-casino with a celebrity pairings party and silent auction. The four-person scramble golf tournament will start following a 7:30 a.m. breakfast at the Badlands Golf Club. After the tournament and barbecue lunch, there will be a black-tie gala at the Suncoast starting at 7 p.m. Arliss cast members and other athletes/celebrities including former Olympians Scott Hamilton and Mitch Gaylord are expected to attend. Tickets are $250 per person and includes admission to all of the weekends activities. Call (800) 227-6737 for information or tickets.
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