Cowboys trade spurs for spikes at Vegas golf tourney

Melissa Arseniuk

Monica Stem and her husband, retired team roper and calf roper Greg Stem, traded their cowboy spurs for golf spikes during the 22nd annual Spurs and Spikes Golf Invitational.

By Melissa Arseniuk (contact)

Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 | 6:20 p.m.

Everyone knows cowboys can rope and ride, but can the calf ropin’, bull ridin’, bronc bustin’ crowd golf a mean game, too?

You bet your best Wranglers they do.

Nearly 100 cowboys of various capacities – NFR hall of famers, former bull and bronc riders, ranchers, rodeo industry insiders and NFR sponsors – traded their plaid shirts for plaid pants on Friday for the annual Spurs and Spikes Golf Invitational.

OK, not quite: Most left their stereotypically loud Western shirts at home but no one wore the hyper-preppy plaid pants synonymous with serious golfers’ wardrobes.

As it turns out, you can get a cowboy to leave the rodeo, but you can’t get him to leave his Wranglers behind.

A healthy majority of the cowboys-turned-golfers donned the popular brand of blue jeans on Friday morning as they drove, chipped and putted their way across the Rhodes Ranch Gold Club’s 18 holes.

While a few insisted on wearing their wide-brimmed felt hats, there were no boots on the green and the only spikes that were to be found were golf cleats.

The influx of serious cowboys transformed Rhodes Ranch Gold Club for the 22nd annual event.

“A lot of different things play (on the radio here), but I have to say, country isn’t usually one of them,” a member of the clubhouse serving staff said as a steady flow of Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney and Martina McBride streamed from the speakers.

Despite the heavy rodeo undertones, however, the game was all golf out on the course.

Former National Final Roper Mel Potter showed his team how it was done on the 13th hole when he sank a 90-foot birdie on a par three.

The multi-talented Potter, who in addition to his own rodeo credentials, is also the father of three-time world champion barrel racer Sherri Cevi, had the hands-down play of the day according to his teammate, Charles Sampson.

Sampson, as it turns out, also has a mean golf game – and rodeo cred to boot. Decked out in Wranglers, a Western shirt, a cream-colored felt hat, and a big shiny belt buckle, you’d never guess the NFR hall of fame bull rider would be a good golfer – but he is.

Potter and the others jokingly dubbed their teammate “Happy Sampson,” after the hockey player-turned-professional-golfer portrayed in the 1996 comedy, “Happy Gilmore.”

Sampson isn’t the only champion bull rider who knows his way around the golf course.

The former world champion bull rider, Butch Kirby, is also an accomplished golfer.

It has been a few years since Kirby won the world title in 1978, but these days he says he rides more golf carts than bucking bulls.

“It’s my way of competition now that I’ve given up riding bulls,” he said about golf.

Kirby said he was thrilled to serve as a bull riding judge and a steer wrestling line judge during this year’s NFR, but he said he enjoyed the opportunity to leave the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday and work on his golf game, as well.

Back home in Texas, he works with a golf pro on a regular basis and hits the green about five times a week.

“I’ve got about a two handicap,” he boasted.

His team did well on Friday, finishing with 14 under par at the end of 18 holes.

“We didn’t embarrass ourselves,” he grinned.

Though Kirby may be a serious golfer, he’s not serious all the time.

“I sometimes tell the guys that there’s a rule in the PRCA rule book (that states) no judging, no rodeo on the golf course,” he said.

Naturally, there’s no golf-specific rule in the PRCA rule book – which is second only to the Bible in the circles most cowboys run in. Still, Kirby said he fools more than one might think.

“The cowboys look at me and say, ‘Really?!’” he said, mimicking the wide-eyed looks he sometimes gets before cracking yet another smile.

“Every year they get a rule book but they don’t read it,” he said. “They totally go for it.”

Instead of trophies, winning teams were given impressive and appropriate belt buckles, which were donated by Montana Silversmiths, to commemorate their victories.

Although Kirby’s team didn’t place in the top three and therefore didn’t get a commemorative belt buckle, he didn’t seem too concerned.

After all, the tournament was more about fun than competition – and most of the cowboys-turned-golfers already had a drawer full of shiny championship buckles back home, anyway.