Major Series of Putting Championship tees off in October

It’s a championship with millions of dollars in prize money. Las Vegas qualifiers began Tuesday and continue through March 3 at our Wild Horse, Revere, Angel Park, Red Rock, Bears Best, Desert Pines, Legacy and Sierra golf clubs.

The Las Vegas finals are March 5, and the Top Seven players win spots in the Stroke Play Championship during the MSOP Championship starting Oct. 27 on a Jack Nicklaus Nicklaus Design course behind Planet Hollywood.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte is the mastermind billionaire financier behind the new golfing league, and Guillaume Beland is his president and general manager, with pro golfer Brad Faxon serving as an adviser.

“The event truly levels the playing field for the sport, and Las Vegas gives it that additional sex appeal,” said Guillaume. He and I talked about the fascinating first-time tournament:

Why did you pick Las Vegas as host city for the first MSOP Championship?

It’s one of the most exciting cities in North America. The weather will be perfect at the end of October. To build this road to Las Vegas from a network of qualifiers across America makes a lot of sense and also because it’s The Entertainment Capital of the World.

Part of the decision is because of Guy’s association through his Cirque shows and the fact that we have a lot of contacts and entrees in Las Vegas. There are a lot of ties with the entities in Las Vegas, and it surely helps to have all those entrees.

How have the first qualifiers gone in Phoenix and San Diego?

Very well, very well, especially when you’re launching a new project. We’ve looked at all the numbers. We created a lot of excitement and have a lot of people intrigued. On our website, over 4,000 people requested to play the qualifiers.

What people need is to actually feel it, to experience it. In Phoenix, people got it immediately. People get hooked, and they want to play more. We’re very happy with the turnout and comments from participants.

I’m not a golfer by any stretch of the imagination or connected with the sport except when my bedroom windows occasionally get cracked here by errant golf balls on the golf course I live on, so if my question is naïve, please forgive me. Please explain to me which requires the most skill from a golfer: a 500-yard drive or putting a 200-yard hole?

In golf, what requires a lot of technique is to manage the overall game. To drive the ball 250 yards and keep it within 20 yards wide takes a lot of technique with the wind and elevations. You have to be able to master nine shots to be able to put the ball in the fairway. Then there’s the long island, the wedge, the sand traps, the water.

In your bag, you need a lot of clubs, but you also need a lot of skill sets, and you need a lot of experience. That’s what makes putting very interesting. It’s a very and fairly simple movement that you have to execute, and it’s a putter, a ball and a hole.

It’s a dart in a dartboard or a different sport that’s fairly simple, that’s exactly what putting is where everything comes into play. It is a mental game — and the pressure and how you can handle yourself with a fairly simple movement under pressure. That makes the difference between a good player and bad player.

Again because I’m a duffer when it comes to this, how many holes do players have to get in for qualifiers? Is it the same number at the arena in Las Vegas for the finals?

That’s a very good question because, obviously, for the qualifiers, we’re selecting golf courses that have fairly large putting greens. Since you’re competing against yourself, it doesn’t matter if it’s nine or 18. The only point is to have everybody playing the same number of holes.

In Las Vegas, in our championship course, with the Jack Nicklaus design, we have an amazing 20,000-square-foot putting green where we have 18 holes, plus a 19th hole where we’ll host the playoffs. It is spectacular for a golfer. People who look at the video are amazed that our greens are enclosed in a stadium where there’s going to be good atmosphere and pressure, as well.

Is the distance of each putting hole different?

It is. We have two kiosks at every hole. The distance would vary between 6 feet and 80 feet. Our partner at Nicklaus Design put a lot of thought into it, so a 6-footer or 8-footer or 10-footer or 80-footer are very exciting because there’s a big chance of making more than two putts.

There are some distances like a 25-footer that is less exciting because not a lot of people are going to make one, and not a lot of people are going to make three. So we’ve put a lot of thoughts into the design of the green, and I think we selected one of the best to do that.

What is the world record of putting, the farthest distance?

Go on the web, and you’ll see a 200-foot putt caught on camera. In terms of distance, Jack Nicklaus made a long one, and Olympic gold medal swim champion Michael Phelps made a very long one, as well, in terms of distance — 160 feet —it’s quite impressive. Michael used to hold the world record, then (golf coach) Dave Peltz scored 200 feet, which is now regarded as the world record.

Eight golf clubs in the Las Vegas area are already handling the qualifiers?

We began Feb. 14, and they’ll continue through March 4. We’re hosting the regionals for the finals March 5. In addition to Las Vegas, we have 17 other markets. You could say it’s similar to the World Series of Poker where you can pay your entry fee or play in a satellite event.

This regional system that we’ve created in the markets gives everybody a chance to compete on a high level. We’re very pleased to go to Las Vegas. We wanted to have qualifiers early in the season because it’s going to be important that we do a second round of regional qualifiers.

People can still register through our website MSOP.com. If you’re a member of this club or if you know this club, you’ll be able to register directly the day of the event.

We have football, soccer and tennis, all spectator sports. What makes MSOP a spectator sport?

I’ve been a pro-golf promoter from the PGA Tour and the champions tour, and what we’re doing here at different courses is to set up galleries, bleachers and skyboxes around the 18th green and the exciting holes on the green. Truly in golf, the action happens — or the celebration happens — on the green.

The handicap system in golf is designed so that everything gets decided on the green. You can slice your drive, recover with a long-iron shot, but you still have to make the putt to win. Golf can be very exciting on the green. We’re creating something that’s going to appeal to golfers, but spectators will find it just as exciting and interesting.

I always think of golf as being hushed-voice commentary. Do you think we’ll have shouting on the order of a Super Bowl?

Yes, and this is part of the experience. This is going to be one of the differences: How we create the spectator sport is through all the data, all the information, on the giant screen in real time. It’s great for the participant and spectators.

In Las Vegas, the giant leaderboard will provide all the information, and we encourage everybody to scream and applaud .When you’re going to sink this 25-footer for life-changing money, we want a very special atmosphere in the stadium.

How much money will be at stake when the finals arrive in Las Vegas in October?

It varies depending on how the 19 events play out. There’s over $1 million in play in all the events that we’re hosting right now. Players will come with their best competitive game to win.