Mesquite Chamber Holds Golf Tourney

By BOBBIE GREEN

The Progress

The Mesquite Chamber of Commerce held its 16th Annual Golf Tournament last weekend on Aug. 6-7. The popular fundraising event offered a special reception on Friday afternoon and an invitational golf tournament on Saturday. All of these activities together offered two days of entertainment, networking opportunity and sport.

The reception was held in the 1880 Grill at the Conestoga Golf Club. The Event was open to all of the public and about 75 people attended. The restaurant served a wonderful appetizer buffet. Great live music was provided by Mike Rye. The colorful Mesquite Showgirls were there to greet the guests.

The die-hard golfers in the group, those who could take the August afternoon heat, participated in the one-per-hour contests of chipping, putting, and horse race that went on outside on the Conestoga course.

Participants in each of these epic events had time to cool down and enjoy a beverage in-between the contests.

But there was also plenty to entertain the crowd who was less interested in golf, or less inclined to brave the heat. For their fun, inside the cool grill room, there was Beer Pong, Wine Toss and Corn Hole Toss out on the patio.

Local businessman Bryan Baird was man of the hour when he ringed two wine bottles out of three ring tosses.

There was also a silent auction going on where attendees could bid on a variety of items, most of them golf related. There were also a number of beautiful beverage and snack baskets available for purchase in the auction.

“We always support the Chamber,” said chamber member Janette Powell. “This is their number one fundraiser event of the year. We are having a great time and waiting to see if I win my bids on the auction.”

One of the tournament sponsors for the Invitational is Mercy Air. They landed the medivac helicopter on the golf course just outside the clubhouse. Many of the guests enjoyed getting a first-hand close-up look inside, without being a patient.

A total of 128 golfers showed up bright and early at the Oasis Golf Club Palmer Course on Saturday morning. They were all fed a bistro-style breakfast and then sent out 32 teams onto the course for a 7 am shotgun start.

The day was filled with fun activities including long-drive contests and closest to the pin contests. There was even a “duck drive” event where golfers could buy small rubber ducks and see how far they could drive them across the fairway. All proceeds from this activity were split between the winner and the Salvation Army of Mesquite.

By about noon, the golfers headed back to the clubhouse for a great lunch and an awards ceremony.

There was a hustle in the last chance to purchase raffle tickets. The Chamber had procured 44 great prizes from generous donors. These included golf packages, clubs, bags, clothing items, equipment, power tools and much more. Contestants could also buy into a 50/50 drawing where the proceeds of the take was split with the Chamber.

Also on the table at the banquet was a set of beautiful trophies to be awarded to the winners. Taking the first place trophy at the tournament was the Mesquite Ford team. Second place went to the Coyote Springs Golf Club team. And third place was awarded to the Primex Plastics team.

The winner of the Men’s Long Drive was Jeff Jacobson. Women’s Long Drive went to Joanne Smith. And Closest to the Pin distinction for the tournament went to Mike Rye.

Chamber CEO/President Carol Kolson expressed gratitude to all of the people and sponsors who made the day a success.

“I want to thank my staff, volunteers, golf committee and the membership for all their help,” Kolson said. “I’d especially recognize our major sponsors including Kokopelli Landscaping, Southwest Gas, Mesquite Gaming, Ken Garff Mesquite Ford & Lincoln, Century 21 Americana, Mesa View Regional Hospital, Conestoga Golf Club, and Oasis Golf Club.”