The Mesquite Amateur is the second largest golf tournament

The Mesquite Amateur is the second largest golf tournament

The top female in last year’s tournament was Naarah Turpen, a resident of Tucson, Ariz., who fired a net 65 in the championship round.Golfers continue to travel long distances to compete in the Mesquite Amateur. When Young wrapped up his championship last year, he probably spoke for many others who love the event.The Mesquite Amateur is the second largest golf tournament in the country behind the World Am in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Among the others who would not miss the event is Pensacola, Fla., resident Peach Waller, who will travel 1,956 miles to participate in the tournament.The Mesquite Amateur has been the high point of Waller’s golfing South Carolina Battle Of The Hootie year for the past five years.“The first time I heard about the Mesquite Amateur I was in Myrtle Beach, S.C. playing in the World Am,” recalls the 61 year-old Waller, who earned a degree in radio-TV-film from the University of Georgia in 1971. “We were sitting around having a beer after the day’s round and some of the guys were talking about how much fun the desert was. I asked somebody what was so good about Mesquite and they told you don’t have to pack your umbrella, your rain gear and there is not a hurricane sitting off the coast of Nevada threatening to cancel the tournament.”