Page 34 - SanFelipe

Golfing next To History

by Roberto Islas
I
was talking with Pat Butler, developer of El Dorado
Ranch, in his office in the spring of 2004 when he
informed me he needed to find a sculptor for the Ranch’s the golf course. I was involved
in the majority of the projects as the Hotel Division Manager, but this was a surprise to
me. As I was hearing about it for the first time. The idea was to have 18 life size bronze
statues and they should be of good quality and good resemblance to the real people being
depicted by them. After studying the project, I realized it was going to be a big challenge,
first to find a sculptor with the ability to cast the life size iron statues in San Felipe. There
was no one here. But destiny has its way of resolving things, and after much searching,
a sculptor out of Puerto Vallarta, Ocatavio Gonzales, was commissioned, (that story
in the December issue) to create the sculptures that would be placed around the golf
course. Pat then instructed me to make a list of well-known Mexican people who would
have the place of honor in each on the 18 holes on the golf course. He wanted them
to reflect the Mexican history and capture the people’s spirit in these statues. So, that
was the start of the Las Caras de Mexico Project. During this time, I had to travel to
Tijuana to do some touristic promotions for San Felipe, and while there I visited a book-
store to get some ideas. That is where I found a very interesting book about Mexican
history that contained 500 short biographies of national celebrities, covering a variety
of activities and moments in history. I bought the book and started my research. From
this book I choose 150 outstanding people in the world of Mexican art and history.
I presented my list to Pat, he said it was a good
start, then asked me reduce it to 50. Definitely an-
other big challenge. From that list we would select
the 18 people that would represent Mexico on the
golf course. After going over the names and
accomplishments of all the candidates, I came
up with a list and divided it into two sections, nine
from history and nine from the folklore and arts of
Mexico. Pat gave his approval, but decided to add
an extra statue on the 18th hole, to include Lorena
Ochoa PGWA champion. The Project was complet-
ed and opened to the public in October 2005, and
has been a great success. I hope this article will
give you a bit of insight as to who these statues
34 represent and a little bit of Mexican History. Golf Champion Esteban Toledo & Pat Butler