jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
Yesterday, my son's special-needs hockey league held a charity fundraiser at The Knolls country club in Boonton, NJ. The Knolls offers two 18-hole courses, East and West. East is a public course and West is private. We played West, which was designed in 1929 by Charles "Steam Shovel" Banks, so named due to his propensity to use steam shovels to move massive amounts of earth in creating huge elevated greens and deep, long bunkers.
It was an enjoyable course; however, the cold front that moved in overnight created damp Scotland-like conditions during the first six holes. Not actual rain, but dense mist that prevented me from taking more pix. Here's one from a par 3:
We had fun playing a full scramble format with lots of good-natured busting of each other's chops; however, the standout moment of the day was when we met Mike "Moose" Watson, a former hockey player who now moonlights as a long-drive/trick-shot artist (he quoted the Happy Gilmore line: “I’m a hockey player but I’m playing golf today”). Moose regaled us with all too believable stories about how back in the day he was the team "enforcer/tough guy" and got into LOTS of fights before an injury ended his hockey career.
He took out his 40-inch driver -- the longest legal length allowed -- and let us each hit a few balls with it:
Then he put on a clinic with a dozen balls -- absolutely swinging for the fences (which causes most mere mortals to screw up) -- and all of them were lasers: no hook, slice, or fade whatsoever. For this shot, he turned the club head upside-down and still hit it long and straight:
Finally, he got down to business as part of the fundraising part of his visit. You pay $50 for four attempts to hit it in the hole from the middle of the fairway to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Pebble Beach.
All of us tried from the launch zone about 160 yards out. No one in our or any other foursome managed to do it:
BTW, a few weeks ago I learned an interesting factoid about whenever charity tournaments offer a big money prize, a car, or a trip to hit a hole-in-one (or in this case, a hole-in-two). The organizer or hole sponsor takes out a customized insurance policy and the rate (say, between $600 and $2,000) is contingent on the difficulty of the shot based on a number of criteria. In the unlikely event that someone hits it in the hole, the insurance company pays out the prize. Seems obvious in retrospect; however, I'd never thought about it.
In short: a really fun day for a great cause that I'm personally involved in. I'm looking forward to it again next year, in June and hopefully with better weather.
It was an enjoyable course; however, the cold front that moved in overnight created damp Scotland-like conditions during the first six holes. Not actual rain, but dense mist that prevented me from taking more pix. Here's one from a par 3:
We had fun playing a full scramble format with lots of good-natured busting of each other's chops; however, the standout moment of the day was when we met Mike "Moose" Watson, a former hockey player who now moonlights as a long-drive/trick-shot artist (he quoted the Happy Gilmore line: “I’m a hockey player but I’m playing golf today”). Moose regaled us with all too believable stories about how back in the day he was the team "enforcer/tough guy" and got into LOTS of fights before an injury ended his hockey career.
He took out his 40-inch driver -- the longest legal length allowed -- and let us each hit a few balls with it:
Then he put on a clinic with a dozen balls -- absolutely swinging for the fences (which causes most mere mortals to screw up) -- and all of them were lasers: no hook, slice, or fade whatsoever. For this shot, he turned the club head upside-down and still hit it long and straight:
Finally, he got down to business as part of the fundraising part of his visit. You pay $50 for four attempts to hit it in the hole from the middle of the fairway to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Pebble Beach.
All of us tried from the launch zone about 160 yards out. No one in our or any other foursome managed to do it:
BTW, a few weeks ago I learned an interesting factoid about whenever charity tournaments offer a big money prize, a car, or a trip to hit a hole-in-one (or in this case, a hole-in-two). The organizer or hole sponsor takes out a customized insurance policy and the rate (say, between $600 and $2,000) is contingent on the difficulty of the shot based on a number of criteria. In the unlikely event that someone hits it in the hole, the insurance company pays out the prize. Seems obvious in retrospect; however, I'd never thought about it.
In short: a really fun day for a great cause that I'm personally involved in. I'm looking forward to it again next year, in June and hopefully with better weather.
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