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​WELCOME BACK!

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You are here. So you are part of this great and growing tradition. But do you know the history of this gathering?

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A bit of history from the Chairman of the Board, Mike Downing.

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"While this will not be an exact rendition of actual facts, it’s about as close as I can get given my fragile memory.  While I was working in LA from 1979-1984, and living with Bake for a number of those years at Little V, my boss at the time was a wild man and we decided to go over to Vegas for my birthday in 1981. Bill Alexander was his name, out of Cleveland Ohio, and we all called him Billy Bob as he was an old-fashioned partier. He wanted to help celebrate my birthday, so Bake, myself, Carl, and Billy Bob all gathered in Vegas for a weekend in 1981.   Not a golfer, the first few years were just plain and simple, grab a case of beer, Billy would drive us to Vegas. Bake, myself and Billy would drink the case through the desert, arrive in Jean, Nevada about 30 miles to the west of Vegas for the “coldest beer in Nevada” a great biker bar and truck stop, and then hit the head to roll into Vegas, literally on a roll.  We gambled, watched sports, hung out at the pool and drank non-stop for 3 days before we all headed back home.  We decided to add a round of golf in 1983.  I think Billy’s last year with us was 1985, as Billy Bob got fired from Principal and we moved to San Diego in 1984, so we lost touch. 

 

Mark & Randy never figured out why they weren’t invited, or even asked to join, so they basically decided to get involved with the golf/drinking around 1983.  We had 5 golfers, Billy did play golf in a long sleeve dress white shirt and blue jeans as he raced the golf cart out into the streets of Vegas to liquor stores to refill his cart, and ours, with cheap beer instead of the $2 beers at the golf course.  He would buy a couple of cases at a time, load the golf cart, and drive back onto the course to share his findings.  Over the years, as golf became more a part of the activity, we needed extra players to make an 8-some, so we added Kent Shumaker, Carl’s brother-in-law, and a friend of mine, Mike McGuire.  When Billy dropped out, we added another friend of mine, Randy Prescott. 

 

We played a round of golf as part of the festivities for a number of years with minimal betting activity, beer after the round, with handicaps being decided on the first tee based on who drank the most the night before, and who got the fewest hours of sleep.  The “unofficial” method of determining handicaps was pretty accurate, all things being equal, no one ever complained about handicaps, except Kent!!  He also complained about how the “rules of golf” were not being enforced, which was very true, but we were playing for a few bucks and some beers, and none of us were any good, so we muddled our way through what rules we needed to enforce and what rules we looked the other way to keep the pace of play alive, in order to get out of the heat and into the Clubhouse.

 

Brothers tourney started in 1994, formal handicaps were established, and an overall tournament was put in place in 1996.  Although the rules have changed, some have been added, tees have been moved back and forth, different players play from different tees based on age, in tournament strokes are added/deleted based on lay the previous day, and overall winner was changed from lowest number of strokes to the player who wins the most money, which takes an element of luck to win your matches with partners that vary from day to day.

 

As time went on, we deleted friends as part of the tournament and made it an all-family tournament with the addition of Mike Mc in 2011 and removal of Kent S (by his own accord) in 2010.  Cousins tournament was added, due to winds of discontent of not being involved in the Brothers tourney, in 2014 I believe? 

 

We now have a formal product, complete with family members from all parts of the US, and golfers of all capabilities, or lack thereof.  Regardless of who wins or loses, how anyone plays any particular day, the camaraderie of the family has grown over the years as we all get to know each other better, one time a year, with no outside distractions (jobs, wives and kids).  While the original intent was to celebrate my birthday back in 1981, we still select a date around that timeframe, but now the real focus is to grow our family bond and relationship. We all have Bake, Carl, and Billy Bob to thank for having the courage to celebrate my birthday with me in Vegas!!  Crazy bastards!!  Ha."

Doc

As for the cousins....

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In early 2011 while sitting at Mark & Tony's Bar and Grill, an uprising began. Sensing a moment of weakness in the Chairman, Brad and Tony began negotiating the entry rights of the next generation into the mysterious Brothers Tournament. Lengthy discussions over several beers continued throughout the evening. And finally a breakthrough, while the young guns would not be allowed to participate in the Brothers Tournament, they would be allowed to join their elders for the annual pilgrimage and participate in their own tournament. And thus, the Cousins Tournament was born.