Lake Tahoe gets a splash of Steph Curry this week

Steph Curry photo bomb
Steph Curry photo bombs South Tahoe High basketball player Frankie Aquilina.
Photo provided by Dalton Drum

It’s official: Steph Curry will splash down at Lake Tahoe to compete again at the American Century Championship.

Earlier this month, the sharpshooting point guard won his third NBA Championship ring as a member of the Golden State Warriors.

A year ago, Curry showed that he can get hot in golf as well as basketball. He had a superb final round at Tahoe Edgewood to finish in fourth place for the second time in six celebrity golf tournament appearances at Lake Tahoe.

The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player has been passionate about golf ever since he played for his high school golf team. He was spotted on the links between games of the NBA finals, reportedly shooting two rounds of 71.

Michael Smyth / Tahoe OnstageWith a pro exemption, Curry competed in Web.com Tour event last August, shooting impressive back-to-back rounds of 74. He missed the cut but finished ahead of three pros.

Dell Curry, Steph’s father and a former Utah Jazz guard, will compete at Tahoe, as well. After his son posted a better score a year ago, Dell Curry made good on a bet and dove into the lake.

“My caddie made that wager … so I was not a part of that bet making, but I had to live up to the bet that was made,” Dell Curry said last week during a telephone news conference. “I don’t know what (the bet) will be this year. But it will be some kind of wager between us, for sure.

Father Curry beat Steph, 29-28, in 2016. (The Stableford scoring system is used in the tournament, meaning the higher scores are better.) The father and son were tied after one round in 2017 but Steph got hot and posted a final score of 68.

“He turned it on,” Dell Curry said. “He plays like that. He plays a lot ‑‑ he doesn’t get a chance to practice a lot, but he has a really good feel. He can have those (days) where he can put two or three rounds together in a setting like you have at Tahoe.”

Oddsmakers list Curry at 15-1 to win the tourney. Dell Curry is 40-1. Three-time defending champ Mark Mulder is 5-2. Earlier this year, John Smoltz (10-1) became the third Tahoe celebrity golf tournament player to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open. The other two were John Brodie and eight-time winner Rick Rhoden.

The 29th American Century Championship will be July 13-15 and broadcast on NBC.

The field includes 16 Hall of Famers from various sports as well as current NFL stars Aaron Rodgers, Larry Fitzgerald, Jared Goff, Adam Thielen, Alex Smith, Robbie Gould and Golden Tate, as well as Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer.

Two more golfers could be added to the field, Weidinger Public Relations spokeswoman Shannon Graves said.

Pitbull will perform Friday, July 13, at Harveys Outdoor Arena. And Larry the Cable Guy, who will be in the tournament, will perform at MontBleu on Saturday, July 14.

-Tim Parsons

Related story: LPGA’s Natalie Gulbis is 10-1 to win ACC.

Related story: Celebrity golfer Trevor Hoffman to enter Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tahoe Onstage
Steph Curry slams an alley oop pass from Justin Timberlake in 2017
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Steph Curry celebrates making a birdie putt with Justin Timberlake, left, and Tony Romo.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
  • American Century Championship
    July 13-15
    Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course
    The Early Line
    Mark Mulder                     5/2
    Tony Romo                         3/1
    Marty Fish                           5/1
    Eric Gagne                           8/1
    John Smoltz                        10/1
    Jack Wagner                       12/1
    Mark Rypien                      12/1
    Jeremy Roenick               12/1
    Derek Lowe                        15/1
    Stephen Curry                   15/1
    Trent Dilfer                         20/1
    John Elway                          20/1
    Mike Modano                   20/1
    Joe Pavelsky                      20/1
    Sterling Sharpe                 25/1
    Brian Urlacher                   25/1
    Vinny Del Negro               30/1
    Joe Carter                           30/1
    Aaron Rodgers                  30/1
    Case Keenum                    30/1
    Colt Ford                              30/1
    Also notable
    Alfonso Ribeiro                 40/1
    Del Curry                            40/1
    Jeffy Rice                             40/1
    Roger Clemens                   60/1
    Trevor Hoffman                 60/1
    Urban Meyer                     100/1
    Terrell Davis                       500/1
    Marcus Allen                      500/1
    Dan Quayle                         500/1
    Steve Young                       2000/1
    Kathryn Tappen                 2000/1
    Charles Barkley                 6000/1

ABOUT Tim Parsons

Picture of Tim Parsons
Tim Parsons is the editor of Tahoe Onstage who first moved to Lake Tahoe in 1992. Before starting Tahoe Onstage in 2013, he worked for 29 years at newspapers, including the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Eureka Times-Standard and Contra Costa Times. He was the recipient of the 2011 Keeping the Blues Alive award for Journalism.

LEAVE A REPLY

SEARCH TAHOE ONSTAGE

Search