CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — On June 3, the Bruce King Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Savannah Cannon, a Virgin Valley High School senior. Members of the Bruce King Memorial Board’s scholarship committee presented the graduate with a $6,500 check, alongside Mesquite Gaming representatives.
Since 2013, the Bruce King Memorial Board and Mesquite Gaming have awarded the scholarship to one Virgin Valley High School senior during the Mesquite Amateur Golf Tournament. Donations to the scholarship fund come from Mesquite Amateur participants, and to Cannon’s surprise, the donations from this year were so good that the scholarship amount rose from the original $4,000 to $6,500.
The scholarship is going to help Cannon as she heads to Hawaii, where she will attend Brigham Young University–Hawaii.
The scholarship pays tribute to Bruce King, who participated in the first 10 years of the Mesquite Amateur before passing of cancer in 2012. The board is made up of Mesquite Amateur participants George Salcedo, Tyler Peak, Todd Peltier, Stan Mahaffey, Tim Riordan, Michael Zepeda, Ryan Pugh and David Derango, who played alongside King and wish to carry out his passion for education.
The 18th annual Mesquite Amateur golf tournament kicked off on May 31 and was a five-day, 54-hole net stroke play tournament. The tournament allows competitors to play three rounds of tournament golf on some of Mesquite’s most scenic and award-winning courses located along the northern edge of the Mojave Desert and near the southern edges of the Great Basin.
“What a true privilege to award Ms. Cannon the 2021 Bruce King Memorial Scholarship,” said Salcedo, who serves as president of the Bruce King Memorial Board. “She is very deserving, and we know she has a bright future ahead of her. We are honored by the generous show of support from so many players who donated to the scholarship fund.”
This year, another special highlight of the presentation night was welcoming the 2020 scholarship recipient, Alyssa Ponce, to the stage. Ponce received her scholarship without fanfare on May 28, 2020, because the tournament and presentation dinner were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are thrilled to be able to recognize Alyssa this year and publicly acknowledge her accomplishments,” said Christian Adderson, assistant general manager of Mesquite Gaming. “We are already looking forward to awarding our next scholarship in 2022 and are pleased to share that the Mesquite Amateur has already made a donation of $2,000 to the fund.”
For more information about the Mesquite Amateur, visit the tournament website or follow Mesquite Gaming on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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