Swingin' Golf with Frank & Dean

  (Full article below)

Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented. – Arnold Palmer

Best pallies Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin have always shared their love of music and performing, but they also share their attraction to the game of golf.

So let's swing back in time when Frank and Dean, and their Rat Pack clan, engaged fully in the game of golf and other Las Vegas fun.

Reporter Mike Jamison, of The Golf Wire, posted online April 8, 2020, noted: 'During the 1960s, The (Las Vegas) National played host to the big names of the Strip. The Rat Pack frequently played golf, then spent time in the bar, entertaining around the piano.'

After their golf outing, gathering in the clubhouse bar was fitting for The Rat Pack. But perhaps Frank was more interested in the camaraderie of those club moments, rather than actually playing the game.

Some say Frank Sinatra wasn't very serious about the game of golf, but he wasn't lacking the ability, as discussed in palmspringslife.com by Stewart Weiner, in the online article, Swing-A-Ding (September 30, 2025).

Weiner reports, "It wasn't that he (Frank) didn't have the chops. Ace golf writer Barry Salberg recalled on golf.com that Sinatra was "a fair player, with a rhythmic swing and a good short game." Those are descriptions most golfers would like included in their obits.

Sinatra had a sense of humor about his game. Lucille Ball's husband, the late Gary Morton, told writer Salberg about a match at Tamarisk Country Club where he watched while Sinatra kept at it, at one point reminding the chairman of the board that, clearly, the ball had no idea whom it was messing with. "Frank went up to the ball and said, 'I'm Frank Sinatra. I'm a very big recording star.' The next shot was super." 

Perhaps it was that belief that was the genesis for the Frank Sinatra Invitational, which took place in November 1963. Sinatra knew golf tournaments were a great way to raise money for charity. They were also a good excuse to fraternize with buddies. As a template, he looked to the Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic, which had begun in 1960 and featured major Hollywood celebrities and pro golfers playing together.

Sinatra pulled out all the stops for his tournament. At one point he even suggested that each guest receive a gold putter, an idea eventually deemed impractical for play. He invited major Hollywood and sports superstars. His press agent at the time, La Quinta resident Jim Mahoney, remembers assembling the list of the biggest names in show business and athletics and getting 100 percent RSVP acceptance. "Frank asked you to come, you came," he says.

And many superstars came again, years later, on February 29, 1992, for another of Frank's popular and charitable golf invitationals.

Howard Murray, son of comedian Jan Murray, sent me a photo of a remembrance from the 1992 Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational. The memento was given to his dad and all attendees, leading Howard to recall that his dad frequently played golf with Dean Martin, as he shared, "Frank had an annual Golf Tournament in Palm Springs for many years that Dad played in. The picture I sent was with a bottle of champagne in the hotel room where Dad stayed. Dad played golf with Dean many times. I don't recall Frank ever playing in the tournaments. I do have some 'swag' somewhere from those times."

Dean's passion for golf was a bit different than Frank's, as relayed by both his daughters Gail and Deana.

In an article posted online (August 16, 2007) by thestar.com, Gail Martin was quoted as saying 'mostly dad was just a golfer, who would beg off a night of carousing with Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. in order to make an early tee time. He didn't stay up late and carouse. When dad was there with Frank and Sammy and they did the whole Rat Pack (thing) ... he'd hang out with them a little bit but other than that, normally it was no way. He just didn't want to." A typical Dean Martin day was an early round of golf, an afternoon of gin – the card game – and then dinner with the family, she said. Afterwards, they'd watch television.'

Deana Martin confirms her dad's love of golf, sharing her thoughts with the staff of closerweekly.com in an article posted online on December 16, 2020:

After family and performing, Dean's next biggest passion was golf. "If he wasn't working, he would get up early, have breakfast and go play golf all day," Deana dishes, noting that even when he wasn't on the links, the sport wasn't far from Dean's mind.

"He would often walk around the house holding a golf club," she reminisces. "We had thick green carpets that looked like a fairway and he would practice his swing and his grip." Dean joked about his obsession with the sport. "He told me: 'Deana, do you know why I work? It's so I can pay for you kids and play golf,'" she shares.

The King of Cool was an avid golfer, dedicated to his family and the game of golf.

But on or off the links, and especially in Las Vegas, Frank and Dean enjoyed good times together, with perhaps a bit of creative invention on the side!

Many may not know this, but sources have stated that the Rat Pack duo were responsible for inventing the beverage golf cart! Imagine that!

Nick Piastowski on golf.com (November 28, 2021) verifies this via Amanda Balionis of the TNT Network.

Nick begins: 'The Desert Inn Golf Club, once catered specifically to a few of its higher-end clientele, and golfers haven't gone thirsty since. From here, since this is Balionis' story, it's only right that we quote her directly from the TNT broadcast. "It has a ton of history on these grounds," Balionis said. "But nothing more in line with Las Vegas lifestyle more than this story. Take a listen to this. Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra used to tee it up here, but they would never play an entire 18 unless cocktails were provided. So what happened? Desert Inn, as it was called at the time, said we have a solution for this. We're going to create a golf cart, but stock it full of all of the possible cocktails that Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra could possibly want. So yes, you're hearing this right: You can thank Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra for inventing the beverage cart. And what better place for it to be invented than right here in Las Vegas. Of course, like a lot of great inventions, there could have been another beverage cart or three somewhere else in the world before this. But we oh so want to believe that two of the members of the Rat Pack made it happen."

Cheers to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin! Fore! and Keep Swingin'!