Dennis Elrod is a close friend that I've been fortunate to stay close to for over 40 years now. We were about 12 or 13 years old when we discovered we shared a common passion for baseball. As he grew, he became a pretty fair golfer. He sort of quit playing for a while, but in recent years he has taken up the game up again. I've never gotten close to being a good golfer, but I do love to play the game. During one of my visits to Oklahoma, Dennis got an idea that we should have a golf outing... say... once a year, and he'd get his brother Melvin and son Timm to come up and we'd consider it a priority item.... and as they say "just do it". So we did!
The tournament format is, in a word... "loose" and is still being developed. It was first held in the fall of 1994. At first it was going to be an Annual event, but after the Fall of 1995 tourney, we decided we'd do it twice a year. In the spring before it got hot, and in the fall before it got cold. Since then we have just done it. Until now, results were not recorded for posterity, but this seems like a good place to do so. More of our kids may eventually take part in the outing, but for now, it's just the four of us. We consider it a great time to be sure, but there's much more than a golf game involved. It's a good reason to slow down and count our blessings, our friends, our old friends, our best friends. Without a doubt, and as usual, it was time well spent.
(This Spring's Results)
This year we tried a new format. A two man, best ball scramble, alternating partners every six holes. We played at Arrowhead Resort's Golf Course near Canadian, Oklahoma and we all agreed, that's where we'll do it for at least the next few occasions. Previous tourneys were held at Thunder Creek Golf Club just west of McAlester Oklahoma. The course is a little too unforgiving (in more ways than one) for our tastes so we decided that Arrowhead would be challenging enough and that we would probably enjoy ourselves more if we lost fewer golf balls. This year's victor was Melvin Elrod with a 77. Timm Elrod, Dennis Elrod, and Doug Coppock tied for 2nd. We all came in with 83's. Melvin found a way of getting the absolute best out of each of his partners while his individual performance seemed.... well... it was probably a better performance than it seemed at the time. He definitely made some good shots and some important putts. Maybe we were just feeling sorry for ourselves. After all each of us helped him win and we got nothing... and he gets the bragging rights..... at least until September.....