Why Mesquite?
By Kathryn van Roosendaal

Duke and Cheryl Rohlffs got their first glimpse of Mesquite in 1992. They were on their way to Lake Powell for vacation with the family when their caravan of cars passed the town’s two exits from Interstate 15. Cheryl remembers saying “Who would live here?”

The answer? They would. Duke’s business brought them to southern Nevada two years later and they never left.

“We fell in love,” says Duke. “We intended to move back to California, but we never did. We love the people and the small-town feel. You don’t get that in Southern California.”

“At some point everyone looks to simplify their life,” says Cheryl. “It’s simpler here. You don’t have the traffic or the commotion. It can’t get much simpler than Mesquite.”

The business that brought Duke to Mesquite was gaming. He and six others ran Players International, Inc., a company that revolutionized the gaming industry. In the 1970s, Players International invented tournaments based on casino games other than poker. The first blackjack tournament was held in 1978 and it was followed by tournaments based on slots, craps and baccarat. “For a while all the tournaments were run by Players with our rules,” says Duke. Then a lawyer for one of the casinos got smart and they started developing their own rules for tournaments. “There rules just had to be a little different from ours and they didn’t have to go through us anymore,” says Duke.

In the mid-1980s, Players International came up with another revolutionary idea: the Players Club. “A person would buy a membership for $125 and get a gold card,” says Duke. “Then they used the card to get reservations and discounts. They got all the benefits of the High Rollers Club.” This idea also spread and now casinos worldwide have their own versions of the Players Club.

Players’ next venture was riverboat casinos. “Illinois passed legislation allowing 10 river boats,” Duke says. “You couldn’t build stand-alone casinos, but you could gamble on the river provided the boat pulled away from the dock.”

Players got the last license for a river boat and based it out of Metropolis, Ill., a dying town on the Ohio River. “We had opposition at first. … Then in six months they thought we were great. We brought jobs back to the town,” Duke says.

Players International bought additional river boats in Missouri and Louisiana and by 1993 they were looking for a new venture. Contacts in Las Vegas mentioned that Mesquite was an up-and-coming gaming spot and the price was right for the land, so Players decided to go for a land-based resort. Duke was brought in to help design and construct the golf course.

“The golf course was pretty much an afterthought because Mesquite was a weak marketing area,” says Duke. “I’ve played golf all my life … but I’d never designed a golf course before. I had done tournaments before and promotions, but this was my first design.”

“I loved it.”

At the time, Mesquite had one golf course – The Palms – and two casinos, the Virgin River and the Oasis. Construction had started on the Oasis Golf Course, which was designed by Arnold Palmer and had a budget of $20 million or more.

“We had a limited budget,” says Duke. “We only had $6 million to work with.”

Duke brought in Cal Olson, who had designed several golf courses, including the popular Reidy Creek Golf Course in San Diego. He also brought on his friend Bob Haaland, a civil engineer from Thousand Oaks who had worked with Jack Nicklaus on the world-famous Sherwood Country Club..

“The golf course opened in October 1996 on budget and ahead of schedule,” says Duke. “150 days later it had grossed $1 million.”

A year later, Players International, Inc. sold the Players Island Resort to Black Gaming and the name was changed to Casa Blanca Resort and Casino. The company’s properties other properties were sold to Harrah’s Entertainment.

But Duke and Cheryl stayed in Mesquite.

“I had another company called Greenworks, Inc.,” says Duke. “It kind of started accidentally. I was approached by some people who needed a team put together for a golf course project. So I became a consultant. I didn’t do it full time and I could travel so we didn’t have to move.”

Once the Rohlffs were in Mesquite, Cheryl began following her own dreams. Until 1984 she was occupied being a mother to their three children. For the next 10 years she worked with Duke at Players International. “I was in the tournament department,” says Cheryl. “I took care of events and tournaments and managed the employees in the Tournament Division in Calabasas (Calif.)” She got to travel a lot for the tournaments, something she enjoyed. “A lot of them were on cruise ships in the tropics. I went to Nassau, Atlantic City, Reno and Vegas.”

Then in 2005, Cheryl started training for a career in Real Estate.

“I was always interested in Real Estate,” she says. “I liked looking at homes for sale and looking at listings in the newspaper. I decided to pursue it and see if I liked it.”

She joined MBRE in 2006 and worked with Judy Cole and now she works for Premier Properties. “Judy gave me the best training,” she says.

“I don’t look at it as being in sales,” Cheryl says. “I like to help people buy or sell their home. It’s about helping people.”

“The people have been wonderful,” she continues. “I don’t have a single client who hasn’t turned into a friend.”

“She has a unique talent,” says Duke. “She genuinely wants to help people. Most are working for that commission first. Cheryl does the opposite.”

Cheryl’s love of helping people prompted her latest project: a local Mesquite cookbook. She and Judy Cole are collecting recipes from groups and individuals and the profits from the book will go to local charities.

“It should be for sale this fall,” says Cheryl. “We’re trying to get 350 recipes by the end of summer.”

Duke is also keeping busy with a project for the city of Mesquite. Five years ago the city formed the Mesquite Golf Course Task Force to investigate the possibility of a municipal golf course. “We’re still talking about it,” says Duke. “We need to find out if the community needs and wants it and how to pay for it. We haven’t come up with a way yet, but we’re still working on it.”

And while an illness had kept Duke off the golf course for two years now, he still follows the game. He enjoyed watching the recent U.S. Open and he can’t say enough about his hero: Tiger Woods. “He’s the greatest athlete in the world,” says Duke.

The Rohlffs also spend time keeping in touch with their kids, two in Northern California and another in Australia. “And we are crazy about our dogs and all dogs,” says Cheryl. “Especially pugs. We love ‘em. They make us laugh.”