Roadway Express 4th Annual Charity Golf Tournament

Four of our employees participated in a golf tournament sponsored by Roadway Freight at Stone Bridge Golf Course on May 4. The proceeds of the event were donated to Christina Smiles Dental Charity and The John Stacy Hanson Fund, Survivor of the February 12, 2007 Trolley Square Shootings.

It was a rainy, cold day. The temperature at the time of tee off was 44 degrees and the event started at 1:00 PM. In addition to the cold, the wind was blowing and it looked as if it would rain at any time (which it did).

When they arrived at the course, they checked in and had the opportunity to buy some "Mulligan Strokes" for $10.00 each (this money to went to charity). Of course, Mike bought two which was the maximum amount you could buy. He practiced putting for a few minutes and then they were instructed to proceed to their pre-determined holes to start the tournament.

Out of the four of them, Carl and Mike were the only two who did not lose their golf ball off the first tee box. In defense of Ben, he was using someone else's clubs because his clubs were recently stolen. Dan, who freely admits he is not a good golfer, hit a beautiful shot into the "deep rough" (he does not have time to play very much golf). Our approach shot miraculously landed on the green. Of course they missed their birdie putt and ended up with a par on the first hole.

The second hole was when the rain started. Mix that with the cold and the wind, and it was a recipe for one more of Dan's golf balls being sacrificed to the lake. Despite the conditions, they managed a par on that hole as well. Just for clarification, shooting par in a four-man scramble is not that tough. After all, your team has four tries to hit a good shot on every shot.

Soaked and cold we hit our drives on the third hole. Since Mike had forgotten his golf shoes and the ground was now wet, he almost fell during his follow-through of his drive (too bad there were no video cameras). As they were driving to hit their second shots, their faces and hands became so cold that they went numb. It was at this point they said "This is crazy!" and proceeded to the clubhouse to warm up.

After almost an hour of rain delays, the Course Officials said we could go out again and finish the round. It was at this point they realized that they were finally dry and warm. So, they said good-bye to each other, left the golf course and went back to work.

From what I heard, the weather eventually cleared up (slightly) and some people actually finished the entire round. They of course were content with our "even after three" score and called it a day.

The event was for a good cause and frankly that is the only reason they endured the weather as long as they did.

To sum their efforts up, they could all use a few more lessons.