Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Pro golf tournaments help local organizations

Brian Hilderbrand's golf notebook appears Wednesday. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4089.

Las Vegas gets more than just a few days of national television exposure by hosting the PGA Tour's Las Vegas Invitational and the Senior PGA Tour's Las Vegas Senior Classic.

The community also is reaping the benefits of hosting the two professional golf tournaments, as evidenced by a recent announcement by the Las Vegas Founders' Club.

The Founders' Club will make some of the largest charitable contributions in its history when it donates more than $500,000 to six local organizations this year.

Ted Wiens Jr., chairman of the Las Vegas Founders' Club, said monetary contributions will be made to the following organizations at the annual LVI Champion's Day next Monday at the Desert Inn Golf Club: the Lied Discovery Children's Museum; the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association; the Children's Services Guild of Southern Nevada; the Boulder Dam Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America; the Las Vegas Natural History Museum; and the M.A.S.H Village cold weather shelter.

Local residents will see the benefits of these donations, Wiens said. The Lied Discovery Museum will use its grant to construct an Early Childhood Pavilion, while the Children's Services Guild will use its grant to purchase and install a specialized playground surface at the Child Haven shelter.

The local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America will apply its donation from the Founders' Club to construct a kitchen facility at Camp Potosi and to purchase two 12-passenger vans that will serve at-risk youth in the area.

According to LVI and LVSC tournament director Charlie Baron, the Las Vegas Founders' Club has donated $2.7 million to organizations in Southern Nevada.

The Las Vegas Founders' Club was formed in 1983 to disburse proceeds from the Las Vegas Invitational (and, later, the Las Vegas Senior Classic) to local charity.

The UNLV golf program also has been a beneficiary of the Founders' Club, using annual donations for scholarships, equipment and travel expenses.

* DISCOUNT GOLF: Once again, OB Sports is offering its Earlybird Cards that allow local golfers discounted rates at all of its courses, including The Legacy in Green Valley, Angel Park Golf Club and the Oasis and Palms golf clubs in Mesquite, through 2000.

Sold only during the month of August for $205, the Earlybird Card offers golfers rates of $35 in the off-season and $50 during peak season at The Legacy, Angel Park and the Palms course. Prices for the Oasis course are $35 off-season and $55 during peak season.

Cardholders also are offered a variety of other benefits, including 20 guest rounds at the cardholder rate; complimentary rounds on the Cloud Nine Course and Putting Course at Angel Park; free driving range passes; two complimentary golf tournaments; and traveling privileges at OB Sports courses.

Cards can be purchased at either The Legacy or Angel Park golf clubs. For more information on the Earlybird Card, call 254-4653 or 897-2187.

* DALY WITHDRAWS: John Daly has withdrawn from this weekend's PGA Championship, citing the fact that he isn't happy with the way he has been playing.

Daly, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance with a 306-yard average, also withdrew from last month's British Open. His best finish on the PGA Tour was a tie for 14th place at the Phoenix Open in January.

* DUVAL BACK ON TOP: He may have lost his "Showdown at Sherwood" made-for-TV event with Tiger Woods, but David Duval knocked Woods off the top spot in the world golf rankings this week.

Duval's ranking rose from 13.92 to 14.20 while Woods increased from 14.04 to 14.03. Davis Love III remained in third at 11.27.

* CHIP SHOTS: Las Vegas resident Bob May finished third in the Scandinavian Masters this past weekend in Sweden. May shot a 10-under-par 278 and finished 10 shots behind winner Colin Montgomerie. ...

The Revere at Anthem, located at Sun City Anthem in Henderson, is offering Clark County residents a $40 summer rate (with cart), Monday through Thursday, and $65 Friday through Sunday. The rates are available through Aug. 31.

* LVI VOLUNTEERS: The Las Vegas Invitational is seeking volunteers to assist in a variety of areas, including tournament scoring, with this year's event. Call Michele at 242-3008 for additional information.

The 17th annual LVI will be played Oct. 11-17 at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin, the Desert Inn Golf Club and the Las Vegas Country Club.

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