Celebrity golf, comedy similar for Nate Bargatze at the American Century Championship

USA Today

4 days ago

STATELINE, Nev. — Standing on a stage by yourself telling jokes is a lot like playing golf. Bo one is coming to save you.
Comedian Nate Bargatze is hoping that mentality can help him this week at Edgewood Tahoe golf course in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament. Bargatze was already becoming a household name before he was invited to play in the celebrity tournament in 2023.
But his portrayal of George Washington, twice, in skits on Saturday Night Live over the past two seasons, propelled him into the stratosphere.
Bargatze is know for his deadpan humor and his portrayal of the first president in a skit called 'Washington's Dream' has become one of the most-watched skits in the 50-year history of SNL, racking up 4 million views on YouTube over its 12 days of availability.
In the 4-minute, 40-second skit, set during the Revolutionary War, Bargatze pokes fun at language irregularities as he reminds his troops that they're fighting for the right to determine their new country's system of weights and measures, one that's different than Great Britain's.
One example is Bargatze says the word 'dozen' will be used for 12 items, but there won't be any word for 10, nor any other number.
In the sketch, he says kindergarten will designate the first year of school, to be followed by first grade, and that hamburgers will be made of beef, drawing confused looks from his men.
This week at Edgewood, Bargatze compared playing golf to being on stage.
"You learn to get comfortable out here. Once you get comfortable with everybody out here, then it's a lot of fun," Bargatze told the RGJ. "It's all on you, so when it goes bad, it's all on you. No one is coming to rescue you. I think that's why comics tend to like golf is because of that — you're just by yourself."
Bargatze said at the time he was performing those two skits on SNL, he did not realize they would garner so much attention.
"I didn't think it would go what it did, but it changed everything," Bargatze said.
Bargatze said if he is invited back on SNL, he would like to do a third 'Washington' sketch.
SNL writer Colin Jost is also playing at Edgewood this week. On Thursday, Jost and Bargatze completed filming a movie called 'The Breadwinner,' which he said is similar to the 1983 Michael Keaton film 'Mr. Mom.'
"I tried to make sure it got wrapped before this tournament," Bargatze said of the movie. "I think it's going to be a great movie. It's funny and I look forward to doing more."
Bargatze was paired with Charles Barkley and Larry The Cable Guy on Friday and with Joe Buck and Justin Gaethje on Saturday.
Barkley plays with Larry at least one round every year at Edgewood.
"Me and Larry are like twin brothers now. I play with Larry every year," Barkley said. "Me and Nate, I got to spend some time with Nate. But you think about it, I get to play with those two guys who are amazing at what they do in their life. Normally I wouldn't get to play golf -- I get to play golf with some superstars for three days."
George Kittle and curling
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is making his debut at Edgewood this summer, and if he has a chance, he'd like to return to the lake this fall for the six-day Gand Slam of Curling, being held Nov. 4-9 at Tahoe Blue Event Center.
"I'm stoked. If there's any opportunity for me to get up there during the season, I'm going to try my best to be up there," Kittle said. "I'd just like to continue to get more fans interested in curling. I think everybody will thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it. Excited for them to get that opportunity."
The International Grand Slam of Curling event will feature the best curlers from around the world, 16 men's and women's international curling teams.
Tickets for GSOC Tahoe are on sale with discounted rates available for local Nevada and California residents in person at the Vacasa Box Office at the Tahoe Blue Event Center.
Rollins wins a boat
Former MLB player Jimmy Rollins picked a good place for his career hole-in-one. It earned him a new boat.
Rollins had a hole-in-one Saturday morning in the ACC celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe. He aced hole No. 12 with a wedge and won a Mastercraft boat worth $325,000.
He said the volunteer on the hole gave him some advice before his shot
"As we pulled up to the hole, the volunteer there, she was like, 'They got this right up there for you guys. They really want to give away this boat.' I was like, 'Oh, they do? She was like, 'Yeah. It's right up front. All you have to do is land it to the right and let it feed to the left,'" Rollins said. "I've been close a number of times, so I didn't anticipate it going in. I just figure, of course it's going to cross over the front of the hole, go tap in for a birdie.
"It goes in. And I look at (my caddie), he's sky-high, and I don't know what to do. I'm just, like, 'Sure.' He's a pretty big guy. I had to make sure I got off the ground. I'm only 175 pounds. I'm not used to hitting men like that."
Rollins, making his fifth appearance at Edgewood, is tied for 45th with plus-3 points.
Tim Brown aced hole No. 12 in 2024 and also won a Mastercraft boat.
Barkley falls back
After the best round of his life at Edgewood on Friday, scoring nine points, Charles Barkley did not fare as well on Saturday, scoring minus-16 points, giving him minus-7 for the first two days of three-day tournament.
"I didn't play well (Saturday). It was a long day. I didn't play well at all," Barkley said. "I finished strong. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I was up late yesterday, and I've got to play better tomorrow, plain and simple."
Barkley said he feels a little pressure to finish inside the top 65 in the ACC, the line Caesars Sportsbook placed on him for bettors
He is tied for 61st place heading into Sunday's final round.
"I've got a lot of friends that bet on me. I don't know where I'm at right now. It's going to be -- but I'll be ready to go tomorrow," he said.
American Century plans to renew sponsorship
Jonathan Thomas, the president and CEO of American Century Investments, said the company plans to renew its title sponsorship through at least 2031.
American Century has been the title sponsor of the celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe, now in its 36th year, for the past 27 years.
Thomas said the popularity of the event has grown so much among athletes and celebrities that organizers have to carefully limit who they invite.
"We went from trying to get people to come, to now having to make some really difficult choices about who we can let in," Thomas said. "We just don't have as much capacity as we wish."
That limited invitation list has also helped create urgency for athletes hoping to get in.
Thomas said Tony Romo told him once that when audiences see athletes talking after games, it's often about whether or not they got invited to the ACC.
"My strategy is to make it so great for the celebs that it kind of goes viral among them and generates a lot of interest," Thomas said.
Organizers try to get a variety of athletes and celebrities from different sports as well as from different markets and regions of the country.
"As long as the great vibe continues to be maintained and the energy that you can feel is sustained, we'll keep rolling with this," Thomas said.
ACC on TV Sunday
Sunday, July 13: NBC, Peacock, 2:30 p.m. ET