Scott Sullivan looked south from his hometown of Cedar City, Utah eight years ago searching for a change. A highly-successful owner of the restaurant Sullivan’s named after his family, the energetic Sullivan wanted out of the cold country.
Throw in the fact that Sullivan has loved the game of golf since he picked up his first club while in the seventh grade; and Mesquite’s many golf courses along with favorable weather were good enough to make the near 100-mile trek.
Now director of golf for Black Gaming, the 49 year-old Sullivan, his wife, Kristine, and the couple’s daughters, Jessica, 18; and Tory, 14, are entrenched in Mesquite where they’re midway between the action of Las Vegas and their former home.
“I love the warm weather,” said Mr. Sullivan. “Cedar City wasn’t my cup of tea because it gets too cold. We like to go to Lake Powell anyway, so this was the perfect move for us. I have always loved golf. When I was running the restaurant in Cedar, I never went anywhere without a Golf Magazine in my hand. I sold the restaurant and took a few months off in 2004 before moving to Mesquite. We had done very well taking a restaurant that had been closed and making a successful venture of our investment.
“But Cedar got too big for my wife and I and our family. And besides, there’s a lot of pressure when running a restaurant. When I got here, I bought a house and haven’t looked back since.”
While hitting range balls one day in May of 2004, Sullivan was asked to go to work for the Oasis Golf Club where he started with food and beverage duties. During his tenure at the Oasis Golf Club, Sullivan served as the marketing director, membership sales director and finished his last couple of years as the general manager of the country club before being named to his current position of director of golf operations for the CasaBlanca and The Palms golf clubs for Black Gaming.
“Golfers love coming to Mesquite,” Sullivan said. “We have many golf groups throughout the year and several large golf tournaments in Mesquite.”
While the golf business certainly has its challenges, Sullivan is convinced that the touch provided by Black Gaming combined with good business sense will keep players returning. With players coming from all over the world to play Mesquite, customer service is key to keeping the return business, Sullivan said..
“I’m not a professional golfer now, but rather one of those people who is a fix-it guy,” Sullivan adds. “If anything, I’m more of a businessman. On this day, golf courses must be managed carefully and we all must work harder with less.
“We want people to come here knowing that they’re going to get a $95 round of golf for $45,” Sullivan said. “We want them to feel as though they got their money’s worth.”
Those interested in booking a golf group or golf package may contact Sullivan at 866-401-6022 or visit www.casablancagolfclub.com or www.palmsgolfclub.com.
