Columnist Peter Benton: LVI greens fees come with perks

Peter Benton

Wednesday, July 23, 2003 | 8:57 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

Our Las Vegas Invitational, which will be celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, is scheduled for Oct. 8-12, and is offering both businesses and individuals the opportunity to "Play with the Pros."

At the LV Invitational, one can experience first-hand what it is really like to play on the PGA Tour. As a business person, you can have that rare and exciting opportunity to not only entertain important customers and clients, but also play and mix with some of the top players in the world.

Participation in the Pro-Am segment of play, which will be over three of our first-class golf courses, includes the following:

For full entry information, please call Gail Carey at (702) 242-3018.

Full detailed information on all of the above may be obtained by calling Tom Carroll at (702) 242-3027.

I prefaced that article by stating how difficult it was to achieve success with this exercise because of the incredible depth of talent participating in the elite field.

As it turned out, my abysmal performance was possibly the worst attempt ever, so the moral here is to take not a whit of notice as to my preferences in any major.

Here's a quick rundown of exactly what transpired, the order my picks were selected, and how they fared.

My first selection, Ernie Els, tied for 16th. Then in turn, Jim Furyk did not qualify for final two rounds; David Toms, same sad story; Tiger Woods, shared fourth; Mike Weir, tied for 17th; Darren Clarke, way, way, back; Nick Price, tied 17th; Vijay Singh, tied for second; Kenny Perry, eighth; Davis Love III, tied fourth; Fredrik Jacobson, shared sixth place; Justin Leonard, failed to qualify; Jose Maria Olazabal, failed to qualify; Sergio Garcia, shared ninth; Retief Goosen, tied for ninth.

Not what one would call an outstanding effort. However, I am willing to wager that there were very few -- if any -- who selected the eventual winner, Ben Curtis of Ohio, the PGA Tour's 142nd ranked player and a 500-1 shot to win The Open.