In “The Golf Game” Ricky Ricardo played by Desi Arnaz is seen wearing a hat with a prominent Thunderbird Ranch & Country Club patch on the front. Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz were early celebrity residents of Rancho Mirage, with a home at Thunderbird Country Club built in 1951, the same year that their hit television show, I Love Lucy debuted.
Desi was a keen golfer and Lucille and he spent a lot of their free time in their Rancho Mirage home facing the ninth and 18th fairways at the Thunderbird Country Club. Lucy was not a golfer, but she spent family time with Lucie and Desi Jr., swam in the pool and played cards with other ladies in the club. The Chamber of Commerce appointed Lucy as their first Honorary Mayor of Rancho Mirage. At one time, the valley’s honorary mayors were all members of Thunderbird or Tamarisk Country Clubs: Bob Hope, Palm Springs; Frank Sinatra, Cathedral City; Lucille Ball, Rancho Mirage; and Bing Crosby, Palm Desert. Lucy served as Rancho Mirage’s Honorary Mayor from 1958- 1965 and again from 1971 until the city’s incorporation in 1973.
The first logo golf caps were made by Cali Fame of Los Angeles for Thunderbird Country Club in Palm Springs, CA.
Among the items Desi Arnaz retained in the divorce settlement with Lucille were a golf cart and a membership in the Thunderbird Country Club in Palm Springs.
References
- http://www.ranchomiragecctest.com/pdfs/justatouch.pdf
- http://www.golfcalifornia.com/departments/features/thunderbird-golf-history-600.htm
- http://www.thunderbirdcc.org/Our-Club/History.aspx
- http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/gallery/1950s-houses/
- http://www.golfcalifornia.com/departments/features/thunderbird-golf-history-600.htm