Begay skins game nets $180,000 for Native kids
By Jason Begay
Navajo Times
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(Times photo - Donovan Quintero)
Notah Begay III, left, sinks a birdie as Camilo Villegas, right, looks on Aug. 26 in Verona, N.Y., at the Atunyote Golf Course on the Oneida Nation during the NB3 Foundation Challenge.
The game seemed perfect.
There was the weather, with temperatures hanging in the mid-70s under a thin screen of cloud covering an otherwise picturesque blue sky.
Then there was the golf. Of the 18 holes at the Atunyote Golf Course, the 140-acre course in the dense central New York forest, the five golfers - including some of the world's best - more often than not finished under par for each.
Sometimes well under par.
"I think I played great," said Notah Begay III, who organized the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge, a skins game to raise money for Native American youth sports programs.
Begay did not win any of the challenge money, but was in high spirits following the Aug. 26 event.
"It's all about timing in skins games," Begay said. "I'm very happy with how I played. It's going to help me going into the last part of the season."
True, all five players, Begay, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Stewart Cink and Mike Weir, played phenomenally but only three walked away with any of the purse.
The Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge was a $500,000 charity skins game to benefit the NB3 Foundation.
The money was divided among each of the 18 holes - the first six holes were worth $10,000 each, holes 7-12 were worth $20,000, holes 13-17 were worth $50,000 each while the final hole was worth $70,000.
The event was sponsored by the Oneida Nation, which also hosted the tournament at its Turning Stone Resort and Casino, and the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians of California. Both tribes run lucrative casinos.
"These are tribes with successful gaming programs and they are interested in giving back," Begay said. "The idea is we are taking money from successful gaming tribes and redistributing it to tribes without gaming."
Both tribes donated the funding for the event, including the $500,000 purse and appearance fees for each golfer, which is estimated to be at least $50,000 per player.
The tribes also donated at least $100,000 to Begay's foundation. Begay said he had planned to donate any money he might have won in the tournament to the foundation.
The foundation is named after Begay, the Navajo and Pueblo golf star from Albuquerque, and a four-time winner and only full-blooded Native American on the PGA Tour.
Since its formation in 2005, the foundation has already helped implement a golf program at the Tohajiilee Community School, just west of Albuquerque.
In total, the event earned $180,000 for the foundation after a surprise announcement from Singh that he would donate $80,000 of his winnings.
"How cool was that?" Begay said afterward. "Since when does somebody just donate $80,000 to a Native American program? And he's not even Native. He just found someplace in his heart to write a check."
Singh was the highest rated player at the tournament, but maybe not the biggest draw. That title belonged to Camilo Villegas, the 25-year-old Colombian dubbed one of People Magazine's hottest bachelors in 2006.
During an informal Q-&-A session, Villegas balked at a reference in a recent Men's Vogue article that made note of his "closet full of skin tight trousers, boxer's biceps and more screaming fans than Justin Timberlake."
"I'm just trying to have fun," he said, lightheartedly. A few female fans whooped in the laughing crowd.
Of course, the tournament itself was as professional as could be. The crowd of about 2,000 hushed on cue as the golfers teed off.
The day was filled with impressive shots, cracks of the balls off the tees flying hundreds of yards and with almost guided precision.
Perhaps one of the most nail-biting moments was at the course's 550-yard 5th hole, a par 5. Villegas seemed the sure winner of the hole with the sole ball on the green, practically within the shadow of the flag, on his third shot.
And yet, Mike Weir, 38, from Ontario and four-time designee of Canada's male athlete of the year, shot from the rough, nearly 20 feet away, and sank the ball as the crowd roared. His tie with Villegas meant the money from that hole would move on and be added with the next skin.
If this were a movie, that moment surely would have occurred in slow motion, and ended with an inspiring overture.
Atunyote's par-5 12th hole is 550 yards long and curves around the length of a 13-acre pond. It's tricky and long but the golfers managed to land just yards within the green in two strokes, with Singh landing a comfortable arms-length from the hole.
The other golfers landed within 20 yards of Singh but not without hazards. Begay landed in the water, disqualifying him for the hole. Villegas overshot and landed in the rough behind the hole, which sat atop a subtle plateau. Mike Weir landed short.
Earlier that day, Singh complained about the effect that the media had on his playing style. He said he was universally referred to as an expert in his long game but lacking in his putting.
"I needed an attitude change," Singh said. "I stopped watching the Golf Channel. I had a good change in attitude, 'I am actually the best putter in the world and that's the way it is.'"
Singh, the highest ranked of the day's golfers and 2006 inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame, missed the eagle on that 12th hole by slightly overshooting his third shot, a putt.
He did score a birdie winning him the pot, which at that point had increased to $140,000 after golfers tied on several previous holes. It was the biggest payoff of the day.
Another big money maker was the par-4 15th hole, 442 yards that curved around a thicket of trees in an obtuse angle. Villegas, who bemoaned his performance as "futile," sank a birdie, winning himself $150,000.
Villegas, who won the tie-breaking chip-off on the 18th hole earning him the final $70,000, was easily the day's biggest winner collecting $220,000 in total.
Stewart Cink, 35, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, grabbed $100,000 on the 17th hole.
Comment on this story!
5 comments so far (post your own)Your a good man Notah. I felt I graduated school because of sports. I learned to challenge myself more often and as a result I became familiar with the challenge academically. Therefore I made it to a four year school, still on scholarship and my favorites sport. It all started from High School for me and my other siblings would still love to have that chance too. God Bless and Thank You Very Much for your help.
B.G. (O.G.)
soccer is boring...to watch. but fun to play. haha. mustang grad, alumni 2008.
Congratulations to Mr. Bitok for recruiting some excellent runners from the Rez. Also, he is a plus for these young Navajo runners as he puts academics first. Keep up the good work and good luck with the collegiate races.
Dan
Natives do need soccer at High School Level so, that can have opportunities at the College level for Scholarships. Too bad not too many Natives are familiar with the game. Better to learn when young because Metaphorically speaking "You Can't Teach Old Dogs New Tricks.
For Reals David.
High school soccer on the Navajo Rez is rare, but special. Recently St. Michaels visited Kayenta Monument Valley High School and beat the Mustangs in a scrimmage game. One wonders why other schools, especially 3A, don't try this great sport, which would probably get different kinds of student-athletes connected to their school. Having another sport would help those kids with grades and discipline.
Holbrook has soccer, but we're waiting for Winslow and Tuba City.