VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Locklear putts out in Boulder City

Tuesday, May 4, 2004 | 10:57 a.m.

VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at tim@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4096.

Like most men with a pulse, we've long had an affinity for Heather Locklear.

We've followed her from her days as Officer Stacy Sheridan on "T.J. Hooker" to her run as Amanda Woodward Blake Parezi McBride Burns on "Melrose Place," and beyond.

But now we've found a new reason to admire her.

As the lone female golfer at Michael Douglas' charity golf tourney at Cascata Golf Club in Boulder City on Sunday, she sank the winning putt, giving her team a victory.

And unlike some of her male counterparts, she was entirely upbeat throughout the brutally hot afternoon, talking to fans and happily signing autographs.

Douglas, who came without his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, this year, also turned in a solid performance.

After muttering to "CSI's" William Petersen, Joe Pesci and Martin Sheen how he had been "playing terribly" all weekend, he nearly aced the Lexus Hole-in-One Shoot-Out event, his ball bouncing off the flag.

You can see it for yourself July 18. The festivities were taped by ABC for broadcast after coverage of the British Open.

Also competing in the fund-raising 9-hole scramble event for the Motion Picture & Television Fund: Tom Arnold, Alice Cooper, Kenny G, Andy Garcia, country singer Shelby Lynne, Kyle MacLachlan ("Sex and the City"), Leslie Nielsen, Robert Wagner, Haley Joel Osment, Luke Wilson and Mark Wahlberg, who wanted it known that he started the day's play by making a birdie.

So noted, Marky Mark.

Saturday night the golf group, plus some prominent local personalities such as VEGAS Magazine Publisher Michael Carr, heard Richie Sambora (aka Mr. Locklear) perform at a private Caesars Palace dinner and auction.

The top-grossing auction item was lunch with Locklear, which went for $100,000. The lunch also included going home with a diamond-encrusted Harry Winston watch.

Casino TV

Niche television -- Travel Channel, Game Show Network, Weather Channel, History Channel, Cable News Network, Women's Entertainment, ESPN, MTV, Cartoon Network, Food Network -- is where it's at.

So it was only a matter of time before a 24-hour gaming channel hit the airwaves.

EdgeTV, to be launched early in 2005, will be "the first 24-hour network dedicated to gaming, a one-stop TV destination for all game players -- from casino games to fantasy sports, bridge to crosswords," according to an announcement regarding the new venture.

Its primary backers are new Bourbon Street hotel investor Reagan Silber and his pals, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Keith Richman and Charles Katz.

The announcement also said that EdgeTV, which is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif., "is in final discussions with a major Las Vegas-based casino group to establish permanent production and broadcast operations within a major casino."

Calls to Silber to ask if it was Bourbon Street were not returned.

Among those advising the venture are Vegas attorney Frank Schreck, a former member of the Nevada Gaming Commission; Will Shortz, the National Public Radio puzzle master; Andy Bellin, author of the best-selling book "Poker Nation"; chess grandmaster and ESPN commentator Yasser Seirawan; and Jim Blackmore, director of Mensa America.

Mensa is a group open only to people who score in the top 2 percent of the population on a standardized intelligence quotient, or IQ, test.

VegasBeat is not a member.

No gravy

Bobby Flay ("Iron Chef America") took a break from preparing for the opening of his Mesa Grill restaurant in Caesars Palace by hitting the craps tables at Mandalay Bay the other night with his fiance, Stephanie March (aka Alexandra Cabot on "Law & Order SVU").

Our casino floor source reports that Flay -- Food Network personality, author of several cookbooks and frequent guest on the morning news shows -- seemed quite ill at ease with his celebrity status.

"More ironic is that someone who has himself spent a life in a service-oriented business should be such a stiff -- OK with the cocktail waitresses, bupkes for the dealers," the source said.

Bupkes, for our non-Yiddish-speaking friends, means "nothing, something worthless."

VegasBits

Dunk: Former New York Knicks star Patrick Ewing went to Light (Bellagio) on Sunday night with former New York Knicks fan Robin Leach. Ewing, now a Houston Rockets coach, told the Rich and Famous one that he is predicting an NBA finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers -- and he likes the Pacers to win it ...

Watch: The episode of "The Osbournes" that airs at 9 tonight on MTV (Cox Cable channel 37) features Jack and Kelly Osbourne's Valentine's Day visit to see "Beacher's Comedy Madhouse" at the Hard Rock Hotel ...

Touchdown: Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning was joined by NFL legend Joe Montana and Colts defensive end Brad Scioli for dinner at Simon Kitchen and Bar (Hard Rock Hotel) on Monday night. Manning and Montana have a photo shoot for Men's Health magazine scheduled for today at Spring Mountain Ranch at Red Rock ...

Star: Sandra Bullock, with much of her "Miss Congenialty 2" film crew in tow, spent Friday evening at the nightclub Venus (Venetian) ...

Waiting: Las Vegas entertainer Steve Sorrentino had some free time the other night in Los Angeles after "Tease" -- the play he was starring in -- closed down. He ended up at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills sharing stories and cocktails with impressionist legend Frank Gorshin, who played The Riddler on the old "Batman" series ...

Fab two: Ruth McCartney -- yes, Paul's sister -- and her husband, Martin Nethercutt, who is the president of the Web design company McCartney Multimedia, are in Las Vegas to finalize negotiations with The Venetian to create a new multimedia Web site for the hotel. The couple had lunch Monday at Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas -- 13 years after they met at the original Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany ...

Read: "The Narrows," the new crime novel by top-selling author Michael Connelly and featuring detective Hieronymus Bosch (yes, after the painter), is largely set in Las Vegas. It got a glowing review in the New York Times Monday.

From Sun wires

Royalties returned: Major recording companies have agreed to return nearly $50 million in unclaimed royalties to Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, Dolly Parton and thousands of lesser known musicians under a settlement being announced today.

A two-year investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office found that many artists were not being paid royalties because record companies lost contact with the performers and had stopped making required payments.

Wayans seeks divorce: Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans has filed for divorce from his wife of three years, citing irreconcilable differences, according to court papers filed in Los Angeles.