Columnist Victoria Sun: Gamez shaken, sidelined

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001 | 9:02 a.m.

Victoria Sun is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. Reach her at 259-4078 or by e-mail at victoria@lasvegassun.com.

PGA Tour professional Robert Gamez had quite an evening the night he and his fiancee Lynn moved into their rental home in La Quinta, Calif., about a month ago.

Two hours after they began unpacking, the city was rocked by a magnitude-5.1 earthquake. But that wasn't the worse part.

When the tremors were over, the longtime Las Vegas resident went to his freezer to defrost some hamburger patties and wound up cutting his left hand with a sharp knife while trying to separate the patties.

He ended up with eight stitches in his hand, which weren't removed until the second stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School began.

"It prevented him from playing much golf since he's been here, but it made him eager to play again," said trainer/motivator/caddie Randy McWilliams, who has worked with Gamez for a couple of years.

Gamez, a two-time winner on tour, didn't let a sore grip hand affect his performance and he wound up finishing the second stage in a tie for eighth place.

McWilliams said Gamez has leased his home in Las Vegas and is living in La Quinta full-time this winter to train for next year.

"He's just a great guy," McWilliams said of Gamez. "He's a competitor.

"He likes to compete. In the Q-school, we had a triple-bogey the beginning of the tournament, but he just competed well after that.

"I like that about him. I like athletes that know how to win and want to win."

Gamez, who could not be reached, shot rounds of 73, 72, 68 and 70 for a total 5-under-par at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif.

The final stage of Q-School will be held Nov. 28-Dec. 3 at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

"It was nice right now beause I wasn't too excited about my game because I haven't really been playing," Piercy said. "Since Q-School a month ago, I probably played three times before this tournament so I played it to keep mentally sharp, but I didn't have a whole lot of expectations."