Celebration of Safety Golf Scramble

Yesterday at work, we celebrated a year’s worth of safety efforts with, what else, a golf tournament! Last year we had a barbecue and raffle, which was okay, but this year they decided to get us out of the office and onto the links. Our company bought out the golf course for the day (or at least until 4pm) and gave us complete access to the entire facility. Everybody worked half a day in the morning and then headed out to the golf course where lunch and gifts awaited us. As customary in such celebrations, we each received a windbreaker and gift certificate for being good employees. After the meal, they started up a putting competition and provided balls for the driving range. These activities were just the warm up for the events to follow.

Before I continue much further I must tell you a little bit about the organization of the game itself. Participants were divided into teams of 4 with each member of the team from a specific experience category so that each team had both good players and bad players. Two teams were sent to every hole location to start from and once there Team A would golf first followed by Team B. Each team would only play 9 holes on the same side (either all front 9 or all back 9), such that you would end up at the hole adjacent to your starting hole. On every stroke, every team member plays from the best lie on the course to achieve the best possible outcome for your group. Also, among the holes were some side competitions for specific holes, such as longest drive, closest to pin on par 3’s, and straightest drive. Odd rules, but it makes for some very fun golf.

I met up with my team and we headed off to the 15th hole, which is my least favorite on that course, so I thought it would be good to get it out of the way first. I wasn’t expecting much from myself since I haven’t golfed since my brother left for school and the last time I golfed things went bad. But, I had good spirits about me and hoped that our A-player would carry the team through most of way. I surprised myself by getting off to a good start and played rather well by my standards. Our team, however, did not have the proverbial “ringer” as we were expecting, so more of the burden shifted to me to make the clutch shots. As a result, we bogeyed every hole but two, which were our only pars for the day. The second par came on a par 3 hole where I hit the ball perfectly and landed it about 10 feet from the hole. The hole had a “closest to the pin” competition designated for it and sure enough, using the supplied tape measure and placard, I was the new leader. It was the end of the day and I was certain the award would be mine; however, I watched the group behind us tee off and saw those hopes vanish as someone posted a 5-foot mark.

We weren’t expecting anything at the end of the day since our team didn’t do particularly well (we had the highest back 9 score of anybody and perhaps the highest overall score too), but we all enjoyed ourselves and stayed around for the awards ceremony. Rather than score it regularly, they handicapped all of the scores by choosing three random holes and adjusting the final scores from that handicap. Honestly, I don’t know what rocket equation they used to calculate the final scores, but somehow our team ended up in second place for the back 9 holes! I was (and still am) confused as hell, but I gladly accepted my prize (another gift certificate). After the ceremony, we all left for home after a wonderful day.

When all is said and done, this was seriously the best workday ever.