Three days on the golf course this weekend. It’s not what you think. I didn’t play; I volunteered at the St. Jude Classic golf tournament. It’s a great place to people-watch. Here’ what I saw:
The Best Cause: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital right here in Memphis is known the world over for the work they do finding out why children get sick and keeping sick children alive.
The Best Golfer: Brian Gay took home the million-dollar first prize. But Phil Michelson was clearly the crowd favorite. Hundreds of Phil fans crowded each hole in hopes of glimpsing the second best golfer in the world. (You-know-who is number one—rhymes with Tiger.)
Best Dressed: Hands down…John Daley. Gallery all weekend included dozens of Daly fans wearing outlandish pants like John’s.
Best Hospitality: A family who live in a very nice house behind the 15th green invites all volunteers to enjoy a lavish buffet of roast beef, turkey, ham, homemade rolls, salads and desserts at their place. This is the second year I’ve enjoyed the generosity of two people who know how to treat people.
The Best Brother (or at least one of 4 Best Big Brothers): My brother, Richard, from Lexington, KY, came down for the second year to volunteer. We spent Friday on the 11th green watching more than one golfer find water on this par 3 island hole. It was fun having him here.
And now the no- so-good…
Sorriest Attitudes: Two well-heeled gentlemen sat near me and bad-mouthed nearly every person they knew and made fun of minorities, the overweight and everyone else not like themselves.
Worst Storm: At exactly 5:00 PM Friday night, a thunderstorm nearly blew and washed away Memphis. As soon as we heard the warning sirens, Richard and I headed for the vans that would take us to our cars. We both got soaked trying to find our cars in the blinding rain. On the way out as I sat in stalled traffic, a lightening bolt blew the top off a tree just a matter of feet away from my car. Splinters from the explosion pelted our cars. Close call!
Biggest Hypocrite: I overheard one of my coworkers telling another about the effects of the storm in his neighborhood. He said he planned to help his neighbors clear the debris when he got home Saturday afternoon. Later in the day, as we worked in the ShotLINK tower overlooking the 7th green, he kept saying he couldn’t wait to get home, grab a beer and soak in his pool. And this same guy used the laser’s telescopic feature to check out and verbally assess every woman who walked by.
Most Clueless Parents: Can you believe a parent would bring a 9-month old out to a golf tournament in 90-degree temperatures and expect the child not to act like a 9-month old? When the baby began to get fussy in the heat, I heard the daddy say, “If you don’t be quiet, I’m going to spank you!” Can you say clueless?
