At least I got lei’d.
That’s all I can say about my performance at the Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce’s golf scramble on Friday.
At the golf scramble, the chamber put on a Hawaiian theme in which a lot of members put on Hawaiian shirts and were given a chance to pick up and wear some leis, which is an opportunity I took advantage of because I don’t often get an opportunity to get lei’d.
Speaking of not-so-mature jokes, my foursome team, the Ford County Chronicle, shot a 69 on the back nine, so take that for whatever humor you want to take from it.
Seriously, we did – or, to put things more specifically, I did. Let me explain.
The day started with me, Will and Joey Brumleve and David King forming the Chronicle’s foursome.
Despite some occasional disagreements from the Brumleve brothers on what balls to use on certain holes, we all had a good time shooting a 50 on the front nine.
For a multitude of reasons, the Brumleves and King decided to stop playing after the first nine holes, so I was left to finish the final nine holes of the scramble.
I guess I had the option of joining the other three in stopping play, but I had my own multitude of reasons to continue playing.
Our newspaper paid for 18 holes, so I might as well play 18 holes, right?
I also did some practicing in the weeks leading up to the event.
After buying a new set of golf clubs a couple of weeks before the event, I spent a considerable amount of time at the driving range at Brookhill Golf Course in Rantoul, including three times in the week leading up to Friday’s scramble. It got to a point where the guy working at the pro shop recognized me as a regular.
However, considering my golf game on Friday, maybe I didn’t go enough times, or maybe I needed to actually get out on the golf course. Maybe actual courses are harder to hit golf balls on than driving ranges, who knew?
In hindsight, maybe it was a good thing I played those nine holes because I need the experience and the practice.
Though I played those back-nine holes solo, I was not alone. On that note, I would like to give a shoutout to the Shields Automart foursome.
As the Shields team embarked on what would be a second-place finish, I was golfing along with them, and they were gracious in sharing their holes with me.
I thank them not only for their patience through my struggles – including an embarrassing score of 11 on the 11th hole – but at one point, John Eisenhower offered to drive my cart after hitting a few embarrassingly short shots.
He and his teammates also helped me find some of my shots, and Eisenhower was there when I sank a couple of somewhat-long putts, at one point offering a fist bump.
I guess putting was one of my better aspects of my game that day. After all, I did make one of three putts in a putting contest held during the golf outing on the putting green.
It was on that same green that I uttered a certain line by Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack as some of the participants were getting ready to depart.
Prior to the event, I asked some of the organizers at the event if anyone uttered the line yet, and I guess I was a little surprised that no one had done so. After all, multiple participants were wearing leis and we were at a golf outing.
Well, I guess I had to be the one to do it, just as I had to be the one member of the Chronicle to finish out the 18 holes.
I’m not sure why I performed so badly out there.
Maybe my confidence was shaken after I teed off on the wrong hole prior to swinging on the back nine. For some reason, I thought I was supposed to go back on the No. 2 hole, where we started our front nine.
I could probably also point out that the outing happened on a Friday the 13th. I did hit enough trees to make tree-hugging hippies hate me more than bulldozers and chainsaws.
I may not have finished well, but I finished, and I tried my best and had fun out there. Isn’t that what really matters?
As an added bonus, I can also say that I got lei’d.
Compass Insurance wins outing
LODA – The Compass Insurance foursome won Friday’s Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce golf scramble.
Compass finished with a score of 64 while Shields Automart and Paxton Masonic Lodge finished second and third, respectively, with scores of 65 and 66.
Keyn Humes won the longest putt contest on the No. 16 hole at Lakeview Country Club while Adam Kyrouac finished in second place. Kendall Cox won a separate putting contest.
Ellen Lee won the closest to the pin contest at the No. 12 hole while Brian Warren, Andy Fairchild and James Riggleman won second, third and fourth place, respectively.
Fairchild won the longest drive contest at the fourth hole while Warren finished second.
PAXTON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
At Lakeview Country Club, Loda
Compass 34-30 – 64
Shields Automart 33-32 – 65
Paxton Masonic Lodge 33-33 – 66
Frederick Community Bank 35-32 – 67
Gibson Area Hospital 1 33-34 – 67
Hudson’s Drug Shop 35-34 – 69
Colmac Team 1 38-32 – 70
Kief Realty 37-34 – 71
Accolade 37-35 – 72
Gibson Area Hospital 2 40-37 – 77
Colmac Team 2 40-41 – 81
Hudz 41-41 – 82
Ford County Chronicle 50-69 – 119