THERE IS NO PARTY LIKE A FAUQUIER SPRINGS PARTY

This week, Fauquier Springs CC had their annual Member Guest Golf Tournament for Men, and quite honestly, it was like no other Member Guest that I’ve ever played in.  First, I’d like to send shout outs to some of the people who made it so successful.

First and foremost, let’s thank the entire Golf Shop Staff, Andy, Brant, JD and the Cart Dogs who worked from before sun came up and well past sun down every day to make sure that every member and his guest was taken care of and enjoyed the event.  Also, thanks to Angela and her staff, with special thanks to Dani and Adam who seemed to always be in the right place at the right time to ensure that we had whatever we needed, and more importantly, what we wanted.  Thanks to the Grill Room staff, and the cooks out on the course for great food and drink, always served with a smile. Also, let’s not forget Mike and his grounds crew who had the course in spectacular shape for the event.  Thanks also to the members who signed up and made this a full field event.  Finally, thanks to the guest, starting with my good friend Sam, the other members of the Oakmont Flight and all of the other guest who helped make this such a successful and fun event.  

Have you ever gone to a golf tournament where a party broke out?  Well, that’s what happened at Fauquier Springs this week.  As someone reminded me on the first day, if your focus is on winning, you’ll ruin the entire experience.  Sure, we would all like to win, but quite honestly, this wasn’t a tournament about just winning, it was much more about getting re-acquainted with the guys you’ve gotten to know over the years, catching up on their lives, and getting them caught up on yours.  It’s about meeting and getting to know the guys you didn’t have a chance to meet or get to know better last year, and meeting and getting to know those for whom this is their first FSCC Member Guest. 

On Thursday, we played our first 9 holes, followed by a Pairings Party, but this was no ordinary Pairings Party.   Our club manager and her spouse opened up their home to host the party, complete with great food and Adult beveragesJ  Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of many clubs where the Club Manager opens up their homes to the membership for a party that goes in to the wee hours of the evening, but I’m Just Sayin.  There was something for everyone, even the cigar smokers could sit on the porch and partake of a little Scotch and a good smoke.  I hear that there may have even been a little trash talk and possibly a couple of bets placed, but I can’t confirm any of that.  Well maybe the trash talks part.

Friday morning started early with the first matches starting at 8:30 (you’ll understand the significance of the time later) and to my amazement, everyone was ready to go on time.  We played two 9 hole matches on Friday, and when we finished and all scores were posted, the pros had a multi station Skills Challenge set up for us.  The skills consisted of the usual stuff, like hitting a 130 yard shot, chipping and putting as well as a long drive contest with your partner.  I know, so far it’s kind of boring, but now to the challenges that we only seem to have at the Springs Club.  Following the skills challenge, a group of about 30 of us decided to place wagers on who could hit what appeared to be a 1950’s 1 iron and a Balata ball the farthest off the number one tee.  Small wagers, but if you get enough people involved, it adds up, and given the amount of alcohol floating around, it was clear, this was more about fun than money.  If you’ve never hit a 1 Iron, give it a try some day, it’s quite a challenge. After a couple of rounds of the Blades and Balata challenge, 18 of us decided to put a little more in the pot and have winner take all three hole challenge.  Now, I know what you’re thinking! What’s the big deal about 18 guys playing 3 holes of golf right?  Well, when all 18 are starting on the same tee and playing together, that’s specialJ  Yes, we all started together and finished together, dropping the high scorers along the way.  By the time that we got to the third hole, there were only 6 of us still in the competition, none were totally sober, so it was amazing that two of us got par on the final hole and decided to split the money, or we could continue until dark and miss the Boat Challenge.    

By now, it was almost 8pm, but our pros still had one more challenge set up for those of us who weren’t too tired to continue on.  It was the Ball in the Boat Challenge.  Yep, that’s right, they had a boat in the pond at the 7^th hole and you had to hit a 61 yard shot into the boat to cash.  Problem was that by now, the 15 or so of us remaining were completely toasted and in the no pain zone, every one of us had a drink in hand, and some could hardly stand, but we were all determined to give it a try. I did manage to hit the boat twice in 4 attempts, which was pretty good considering how good I feltJ  Two others managed to duplicate my feat,  my friend Kirk and Tom (a guest and really good guy) both hit it twice as well.  By now, it’s pretty dark, but Andy, JD and Adam were still with us, making sure that we were all ok, and that we got all of the carts back to the Pro Shop without incident (really good idea).  I went home after the Boat challenge, but I heard a rumor that some of the guys didn’t get to bed until around 4am, but I don’t want to spread rumors, so you didn’t hear that from meJ  All I know for sure is that 6am Saturday morning came really fast for me, so it had to be super fast for the late nighters.

Saturday was another great day of golf and fellowship, from the opening round, right down to the Ball Toss at the end of the evening.  In the three days of the tournament, I didn’t meet a single person who wasn’t enjoying himself, and that’s a major accomplishment.  Every guest that I talked to complimented the event, and the condition of the course, every one of them seemed to be having a great time and was looking forward to returning next year. 

Now, I’m Just Sayin, every club has great Member Guest, but this is our place, and we can all be proud of our club, it’s members, management and staff for a great event.