Sioux City Journal

Golf event
a winner even
for a hacker

Posted: Wednesday, July 02, 2008

The adrenalin was pumping as I stepped on the third tee box Monday afternoon at Sioux City Country Club.

Our all-Sioux City Journal foursome had just burned our entire complement of four front-nine mulligans to salvage par on the difficult second hole. Thankfully, the last of them, our eighth attempt at a treacherous 15-footer, found the bottom of the cup.

We had averted that most dreaded of fates in any golf scramble -- a bogey. And, we were trudging onward at the first Kirk Hinrich Golf Benefit, one of the best fund-raising events I've ever attended.

I winced as I studied the long row of trees along the left side of the fairway. Clearly, this was going to be a challenge for the "power fade'' I've adapted after decades of diligent practice.

"Low and slow,'' I thought to myself, keeping in mind the one worthwhile golf tip that I've somehow managed to remember. The tip: Don't try thinking about more than one thing when you're about to swing a golf club.

With three teammates waiting impatiently for me to unleash another drive we were most unlikely to use, I drew back the King Cobra that has never seemed to work as well for me as it does for Greg Norman.

And, for that one split second as the clubface exploded into the ball, I had that blissful feeling that I had finally caught one just right.

The moment of ecstasy, however, was short-lived as my best drive of the day was gobbled up by those aforementioned trees, which proceeded to spit the ball back to me.

Thanks to my colleague, Barry Poe, with whom I was sharing a cart, we noticed one of those flag prize signs sticking out of the fairway about 10 yards beyond my wounded Titleist. Otherwise, I'd simply have scooped it up, unaware that I had accomplished an award-winning feat.

Praise the Lord for the random golf tournament prizes that are tailored more to my game. The two dozen golf balls I collected for "shortest drive'' are a testament to my passion for a sport -- it is, too, a sport -- I took up at the age of 8.

Thousands of dollars later, adding up all the equipment I've abused along with the fees I've blissfully paid for so much humiliation, I have finally won something.

So, I apologize for making a bit of a scene as I strutted to the front of the ballroom to receive my loot. It was the culmination of so many years of believing I was on the verge of graduating from pathetic to mediocre.

I did regret slinking away without making a bit of a speech. Time was short and the audience was anxious to proceed to the fabulous sports memorabilia auction that followed. However, I should have taken a moment for a few acknowledgements.

Thanks to my wife, Linda, who has always encouraged me to go golfing, even though I realize she's just trying to get me out of her hair.

Thanks, as well, to my mother and my late father and the entire gene pool that went into helping me realize at an early age that I would probably need to find a real job.

Thanks to my teammates, Barry along with Tom LaPlante and Roger Winter, who were kind enough to say "nice shot'' far more often than it was warranted.

And, thanks to Ron Peterson, publisher of The Journal, who not only made it possible for me to participate in Monday's festivities but also continues to pay me for writing about feats of athletic skill that are usually quite a test of my imagination.

Most of all, in all seriousness, I wanted to say thank you to Kirk Hinrich and his family, particularly Jim and Nancy, for putting together an event that should become a red-letter date on the Sioux City sports calendar.

"Kirk for Kids,'' which was one of this gathering's alternative labels, was a proud moment for our community, just as Kirk's entire basketball career has been.

Now, I believe, I'd probably better go hit the driving range.

Sioux City Journal sports editor Terry Hersom can be reached at (712) 293-4214 or by e-mail at terryhersom@siouxcityjournal.com.