Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to play in the Davey Nelson Celebrity Golf Tournament at the beautiful Irish Course at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.
This was the eighth year of Davey’s tournament and the third at the Irish Course (in previous years, it’s been played at Blackwolf Run).
Upon check-in, participants were provided with assorted goodies, including a shoe trees, a duffel bag and a rain jacket (which fortunately we didn’t need out there on the course!)
Then, the morning started off with golf pros walking the line at the driving range and a putting contest, along with a buffet brunch.
Each foursome in the tournament was paired with a celebrity golfer to make up a five-person team. Team play consisted of a Scramble Format with team prizes awarded to the top finishers.
Among the many celebrities in the tournament were current Brewers personnel and alumni players: Zach Davies, Ken Sanders, Gorman Thomas, Jerry Augustine, Jim Gantner, Paul Wagner, Greg Vaughn, Wes Obermueller, Doug Melvin, Jason Lane, Darnell Coles, Sal Bando, and Willie Mueller; Randall McDaniel, Former NFL player; Greg Meyer, NFL Referee; Tony Smith, a former Milwaukee Bucks player; and Telly Hughes, sideline reporter for Fox Sports Wisconsin.
My group consisted of former basketball player Tony Smith; former Brewers general manager Sal Bando; current Brewers coach Jason Lane; and my friend from Fox Sports Wisconsin, Brian Mikolajek.
The tournament was a shotgun start, so our group began on hole 9, a par four. We started off slow and scrambled for a couple of pars, but in the end, we never made a bogey and came away with one eagle and seven birdies to put us at -9 on the day (63).
A beautiful day on the golf course for a great cause!
Each hole also consisted of different challenges with opportunities to win various prizes for things like longest drive, longest putt, or closest to the hole.
Considering that our 63 was six shots better than my group last year, I felt like it was a very strong score–until we got back to the clubhouse and found that the winning group had posted a -18!
But, we had a ton of fun, which is the most important thing!We had wonderful weather, a fun day, the chance to play a beautiful championship course and, most importantly, we were helping a great cause: Open Arms Home for Children in South Africa and Brewers Community Foundation. Open Arms is a non-profit organization that provides shelter, clothing, protection and basic healthcare for what is now home to many children orphaned due to the Aids epidemic in South Africa. Davey has served as Board of Director for over five years.
Following golf, there was a reception and silent auction, followed by a live auction.
During dinner, we learned more about Open Arms and heard stories about the children whose lives we were helping, all by taking a day off of work to play golf.
My boss, Tyler Barnes, VP of Communications, was on hand to speak about his personal experience at Open Arms as he and his family had visited South Africa over the holidays.
The entire presentation was very touching and moving and I’m so happy that this event has been able to raise money to support the organization, which Davey and many others have dedicated a lot of time and energy into making a success.
For more information on Open Arms, please visit the website at http://www.openarmshome.com.
Here are some more photos from the day and I hope to see you out at the tournament next year!
Click to view slideshow.-Cait
