Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open

This year I attended the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas, NV (TPC Summerlin). I know, I know …right? Let’s break this down. Justin Timberlake. Golf. Charity. Las Vegas! Talk about a full house. Attending this tournament is definitely like hitting the jackpot!

The host course TPC Summerlin is beautiful. You have the green grass of the course contrasting the desert with a backdrop of mountain ranges. And the really cool thing is my brother showed me how to get there from the Vegas strip by bus. It was very easy. And the total time was 37 minutes from strip to course at a cost of $7. As far as admittance to the tourney, you could buy a daily or weekly passes. One of the benefits of the weekly pass (besides 5 days of great golf) is being able to sit on “The Hill” and watch golf. The Hill"; is a luxury 22,000 square foot entertainment pavilion overlooking the 16th, 17th and 18th holes and granting stunning views of the course and Red Rock Mountains.

The week opens with the Championship Pro Am. Now the interesting thing about this Pro-Am is it featured 3 foursomes that consisted of 3 celebrities each. Celebrity Foursome number 1: *NSYNC founding member (and my friend) Chris Kirkpatrick, Football player Seth Joyner and Basketball legend Truck Robinson (who by the way could make a career in golf) and their PGA professional Kevin Streelman. Celebrity Foursome #2 showcased actor Anthony Anderson, former football player Marshall Faulk and former football and baseball player Bo Jackson and their PGA professional Charlie Wi. Celebrity Foursome #3: *NSYNC Founding member Justin Timberlake, actor and comedians Cedric the Entertainer and George Lopez with their PGA professional Trevor Immelman.

While neither of these foursomes won the Pro Am great golf was played and the spectators had a great time. If you’re looking for a tournament to add to your spectator list I suggest you put in your vacation request for October 1 – 7, 2012. Melinda, Kari, Roger, and I will meet you on “The Hill.”

Family Affair

Thank you to the community who follows Playing From The Forward Tees, a blog by my wonderful sister, Lisa. Way to give her brother a chance to write it up.

As you well know, Playing From The Forward Tees is all about Lisa’s journey, her pathway to the pursuit of excellence for her real love of Golf. All of that and more recently was revealed with Lisa’s trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. Please know that I would love to think that Lisa was just visiting me in Vegas but I knew better. So this prose is in ode to her trip with positive reasons to push for support with shameless promotion.

Lisa went to the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital For Children Open recently held at TPC Summerlin , the home of Pro Golf in Vegas.

I got to tag along with her when I could on Thursday, September 29, 2011 and yes Lisa wanted me to tell it, tell it about that day together. I will soon. But how could I really do that now? Really, missing out on the day before was crucial . I had to miss the MGM Resorts International Championship Pro-Am on Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

One professional golfer with three amateurs made it all work with each grouping. And the stars were out there too. Not just as celebrities but people of influence who make a difference through their positive work.