If you love celebrities and golf, the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf event is a great way to spend a few days in the California desert.

As with many celebrity golf events, the Frank Sinatra is presented in a five-player team gross and net scramble golf tournament that has recently found a home at the Eagle Falls Golf course in the heart of the California desert.

Just outside of Palm Springs in the east end of the Coachella valley is the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, home to the tournament’s three nights of parties as well as a spectacular luncheon and fashion show that keeps everybody involved in one way or another. The first night there is a pairings party where the amateur golfers a treated to a feast in the Fantasy Springs Events Center. There I got to mingle with such celebrities as baseball greats Rollie Fingers and Steve Garvey, along with actors like Joe Mantegna, Tim Reid, Kevin Sorbo and Barry Williams, and there was also former football stars such as Vince Ferragamo and Tommy Kramer.

In making up each team, there was one celebrity and four amateur contestants that combined each day to make up the full team. The team of four amateur players remain together for two consecutive days while the celebrity contestant changed teams on the second day so to bring a different flavor to the experience.

The festivities kicked off Thursday night with a dinner and pairings party that had all faces in attendance enjoying an Italian gourmet meal. On that first night I was paired with Fred “The Hammer” Williamson. Fred is a former football star who played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. He appeared in both Superbowl I and Superbowl IV. From there he went on to fame as an actor and producer having appeared in over 80 movies.

The “Hammer” as he likes to be known as, played as the celebrity in my amateur group and along the way gave me golf tips that helped me shoot one of the best rounds of my life. As it turned out Fred, who is quite a golfer and from what I was to learn had recently won the NFL retired players annual golf event, was the overall two – day champion of the tournament.

To close out the first day of golf, there was another dinner followed by a Live & Silent Auction. That night I sat back and watched the faces that came out to the event and the camaraderie that came with it. Tired from all the festivities, I went up to my room on got a good nights sleep ready for another great day of golf.

On the final day, we played a second round of golf. This time my team was paired with Elke Sommer. Elke is quite a lady and takes her golf quite seriously. That evening, the event was wrapped up with a reception followed by an award dinner and then a Night Cap Party that was invitation only. In between the mouth -watering food and charity auctions, there was entertainment that included singers and comedians.

The Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Foundation Celebrity Invitational, which is dedicated to the memory and music of “Old Blue Eyes” Frank Sinatra and benefits the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at the Eisenhower Medical Center. It is fantastic fun – filled event that are sure to create memories that will last a lifetime. A must stop on your next Palm Springs vacation.

Looking to find the best deal on your next Palm Springs vacation, then visit http://www.palmspringsvacationdiscounts.com to find the best advice on where to go and what to do on your nextPalm Springs vacation .

Tags: Golf, palm springs, vacation

This entry was posted on Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 5:48 pm and is filed under vacation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.