Lake Tahoe Celebrity Golf: A Local's Guide to the American Century Championship
The American Century Championship has been part of summer at Lake Tahoe since 1990. What began as an unusual combination of golf, sports personalities, and television has grown into the largest annual event on the South Shore and one of the best-known celebrity golf tournaments in the country.
This year’s tournament is being held July 8 through 12 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline. Now in its 37th year, the event brings more than 80 athletes and entertainers to Tahoe for five days of practice rounds, celebrity-amateur play, and competition. The three official tournament rounds take place Friday through Sunday, with a $750,000 purse and $150,000 awarded to the winner.
I have lived at Lake Tahoe for more than 35 years and have watched the tournament many times, both from the course and from my boat near Edgewood. It is one of the few major sporting events where the setting is as much a part of the experience as the competition. It is also an event that can feel completely different depending on which day you attend and how you decide to watch it.
It is easy to assume celebrity golf is mostly entertainment, but many of the players take this tournament seriously. The strongest competitors include former professional athletes who have spent years developing their golf games, and the final rounds can become genuinely competitive.
The event uses a modified Stableford scoring system rather than traditional stroke play. Players earn points for pars, birdies, eagles, and holes-in-one, while losing points for double bogeys or worse. Because an aggressive shot can produce more points than cautious play, the format encourages players to take chances and keeps the leaderboard moving throughout the weekend.
Recent winners show the level of competition. Former NHL player Joe Pavelski won in 2025, Mardy Fish won in 2024, Stephen Curry won in 2023, and Tony Romo won in 2022 after also taking the title in 2018 and 2019.
At the same time, the tournament does not take itself too seriously. Charles Barkley remains one of its most popular participants regardless of where he finishes, while current and former stars from football, basketball, baseball, hockey, television, and entertainment give spectators plenty to follow beyond the leaderboard. This year’s coverage includes familiar tournament names such as Stephen Curry, Charles Barkley, Steve Young, Josh Allen, and Ray Allen, along with first-time participant Larry David.
Wednesday and Thursday are the Pro-Am days. They tend to appeal to people who are more interested in seeing the players and following groups around the course than tracking the official standings. The atmosphere is less focused on competition, and there may be more opportunities to see players practicing or interacting with spectators.
Friday begins the first official round. This is when the tournament shifts from a social event into a competition and the scoring starts to matter. Friday can be a good choice for anyone who wants to see the full field before the leaderboard begins separating the strongest players from everyone else.
Saturday generally draws one of the largest crowds. By then, the early contenders are clear, but most of the field is still in the competition. Sunday is the best day for people primarily interested in the golf itself. The leading players tee off with the championship at stake, and the closing holes can become crowded as spectators move toward the groups at the top of the leaderboard.
Tickets are sold online only. Daily admission is $50 for Wednesday or Thursday and $60 for Friday through Sunday. A five-day grounds badge is $175. Daily tickets do not permit re-entry, and tickets purchased from third-party sellers may not be valid.
There are two practical ways to watch the tournament. You can choose a player or pairing and follow the group for several holes, or select one part of the course and watch multiple groups come through.
Following a group gives you a better sense of how the players are actually performing. You see the good shots, the mistakes, and the interaction among the players rather than only catching them at a single green. It also lets you see more of Edgewood, although moving with a popular group can become difficult once the crowds build.
Staying near one hole allows you to see a larger portion of the field. This works particularly well later in the day or on the weekend, when following the most popular players can mean spending more time navigating the gallery than watching golf.
Checking the day’s pairings before entering the course makes a significant difference. The biggest names are not necessarily grouped together, and choosing a starting point based on the schedule is more effective than entering without a plan and trying to find someone after play has begun.
The par-three 17th is the tournament’s best-known hole. It sits along the lake, close to the beach and the boats gathered offshore, and has developed an atmosphere unlike any other part of the course. The galleries are larger, the interaction with players is louder, and the hole regularly produces some of the tournament’s most memorable moments.
It is also where the on-course event and the lake come together. I have watched from my boat for years, along with hundreds of other boaters who gather near Edgewood during tournament weekend. You cannot see the entire hole as clearly from the water as you can from inside the grounds, but the boats have become part of the event’s identity.
For spectators on the course, the 17th is worth seeing, but it is not necessarily the best place to spend the entire day. It becomes congested, particularly on Saturday and Sunday. Watching several holes elsewhere and moving toward 17 later often provides a better overall view of the tournament.
The finishing hole also deserves attention. The 18th creates more of a traditional championship setting, especially on Sunday when the leading groups arrive. Several tournaments have been decided there, including Stephen Curry’s winning eagle in 2023 and Joe Pavelski’s closing eagle in 2025.
Parking is not available along Lake Parkway. Paid parking is offered at several casino properties near Stateline, including Bally’s, Golden Nugget, Harrah’s, and Caesars Republic. The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition also provides a free bike valet, and Lake Link offers free microtransit service in the South Shore area.
For people staying nearby or coming from the East Shore, avoiding a car altogether is often the simplest option. Tournament traffic affects Highway 50 and the Stateline casino corridor, especially as play ends and evening events begin. Planning transportation before arriving is more useful than assuming a convenient parking space will be available near the entrance.
Only clear bags are allowed, and all tickets must be purchased before arriving because tickets are not sold at the gate. A daily ticket also allows only one entry, so once you leave, you cannot return that day.
The American Century Championship has lasted because it occupies a space that most sporting events do not. The golf is competitive enough to be interesting, but the atmosphere is informal enough that spectators can get close to players they normally see only on television. Edgewood provides a setting that could not easily be replicated somewhere else, and the gathering of boats beyond the course has become almost as recognizable as the galleries inside it.
For locals, the tournament also marks one of the busiest weeks of summer. Restaurants fill, traffic builds around Stateline, and the shoreline near Edgewood takes on a completely different character. Some residents attend every year, some watch from the lake, and others follow the tournament from home while avoiding the crowds altogether.
After watching it for decades, I still think the best way to experience it is to decide what interests you most before you go. Attend earlier in the week for easier access to the full field, choose Sunday if the competition matters most, follow a favorite player if you want to see more than a few swings, or find a good location and let the tournament come to you.
Celebrity golf is what brings people through the gates, but the combination of competition, familiar personalities, and a golf course built directly along Lake Tahoe is what has kept the event here for 37 years.
4th of July in Lake Tahoe
Activities, Events, Live Music
The Science of Scaling
Get In Touch
