Golf habit pays for Lynnwood bar owner
Published 10:23 pm Sunday, February 10, 2008
Mitch Clark, owner of Just Left Pub and Grill in Lynnwood, won a weeklong stay in a motor home, but he’ll never start the engine.
His pad, starting tomorrow, is parked in the infield for the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s season-opening race.
At the Sunday race, he’ll recline in a lawn chair, with a close-up view of the Florida action.
And it’s free. He won the trip as one of the top video golf players in the country.
That dime-size scar on Clark’s palm is from shoving around a trackball used to direct golf shots. Tournaments connect players around the world by the magic of video.
Just Left has more Golden Tee Live 2008 machines than any pub in the state. In little more than a year, Clark added three golf games to the original one. Tom Williams of Lynnwood, route manager for vendors who own the equipment, said more games were needed to accommodate pub crowds.
“On any given day or night, all four machines are played,” Williams said. “When you have a couple of the top-rated golfers in the world, other people can learn different shots and how to play better from those guys.”
A Just Left bartender, Michael Jaeger, is on Team USA for video golf and will play in September in Las Vegas.
Video golf tournaments pay $1 to $10 each time Clark plays, and he usually wins, he said.
“I’m a nine handicap in real golf,” Clark, 39, said. “I’m extremely competitive.”
The Cascade High School graduate played football and baseball in high school. Clark attended Wyoming Technical Institute and became a crack BMW mechanic.
After a dozen years, the thrill of turning a wrench ebbed. He was a silent partner in pubs, then bought his Lynnwood tavern.
Through the golf game, Clark won movie tickets, dinners, an autographed guitar from an Eagles tour, and — go figure — a golf trip to Hilton Head in South Carolina.
He’ll take the golf trip in October.
To win the Daytona prize, he earned points during two months of play. Records are kept online, so he can tap cash in his account whenever he wants, like using a credit card.
His wife and Just Left co-owner, Robyn, will join him later this week at the RV.
“I’m not a huge NASCAR fan, but I can’t wait to photograph the action,” Robyn Clark said.
And Thursday night, friends will pick Mitch Clark up at the race track.
They’re all going to a bar to play video golf.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
