Ellen Avenoso
Everyone knows that when you live in the desert, there’s plenty of sand all around. But, usually, on the golf course, the plan is to avoid it at all costs. Not so at the annual Beach Bums Tournament held on Aug.18 at the SaddleBrooke Mountain View Golf Course. Eighty-nine women from the three SaddleBrooke women’s leagues competed on a steamy summer day, made more harrowing by the “shark-infested waters.” The tournament, cleverly laid out and planned by the MVPWGA, had as its goal to aim for the sand traps. Some of the traps and hazards were populated by “sharks,” in which case—keeping the safety of all in mind—players who landed in those were given a free drop. The SaddleBrooke Women’s Golf Association (SBWGA) had 29 players in the field, and we all agreed that a “day at the beach” was just the formula for coping with 104 degree temperatures. (Even if we couldn’t go in the “water.”)