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On July 24 of 2004 I played in my first official golf tournament. It was a fundraiser called the Marke G. Chatman Memorial. The proceeds are forwarded to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center about Sarcoidosis. To find out more about Sarcoidosis log on to: http://www.njc.org/medfacts/sarcoid.html

The format of this tournament is what they call, best ball, with a shotgun start. It all boils down to you and a partner playing as a team. Wherever the best shot between the two of you lands, is where you both hit from on the next one. This way, two golfers play as one and turn in the best score possible collectively.

My partner was my close friend Randy Ellwanger. We were paired with Randy's younger brother Ron and Ron's wife Linda. You do not see many 6'1” 540 pound golfers playing the game, let alone in a tournament and with 6'7” Randy paired with me on the course it makes for an ominous sight.

The shotgun start consisted of putting all 52 golfers on the course at the same time at different holes. Every foursome starts at a different hole, and then plays 18 holes. We started on hole # 4 and ended on hole # 3 for instance. The Marke G. Chatman Memorial Golf Tournament is well organized by a close friend of Randy's family, Eric Chatman. Eric lost his brother Marke to Sarcoidosis about four years ago. Eric along with his family, friends, and many sponsors has been hosting the tournament for three years now. Eric pours his heart and soul into this tournament every year to ensure that it is the best it can be. The entire staff does a first class job. There are many skill contests, drawings, and raffles organized along with a banquet/awards ceremony at the end. It's a great time!

My group started on the on the fourth tee, and when we got to the 7th hole, an uphill 122-yard par 3 with only the top of the flagpole visible from the tee box. It turned out that the green is very small, so the tournament committee picked this hole for a skill shot competition. They were selling raffle tickets and if you bought one and landed your ball on the green from the tee box. Your ticket would be entered into a drawing for cash. They were also using this hole for a closest to the pin competition. I was not carrying any cash so Randy offered to by my ticket. With Randy, Ron, and Linda over purchasing their tickets, I decided to tee up and take my shot. After hitting my shot the ball soared high into the air above the green as if in slow motion directly at the flagpole, the impact felt perfect. I saw it bounce up after landing and then disappear from view.

It was a very hot summer day of 96 plus degrees. The greens were very firm. I hit the ball hard and square and figured it had rolled off the green behind the hole. Everyone that saw the shot applauded the accuracy of it, including the group behind us. Randy, Ron, and Linda all hit their tee shots and we hopped into our carts and headed up the hill to see where our balls had landed. Before I got into my cart, I saw Philmore, the gentleman that had been so kind to me the year before when I had been just an observer of the tournament. I wrote about his act of kindness and discretion last year in my journal. Philmore is the guy that found me in the bar during the Banquet, took me into the Banquet room, and made sure I had a seat that I could sit in, without making it obvious. It was a gesture of pure kindness. In fact, Eric paired him behind us so that I could thank him personally, but I came away from that exchange feeling like he did not realize how much his actions meant to me. Anyway, Philmore rolled up behind me, as I was about to get into my cart and head up the hill to the 7th hole green. He said; hey, what's all the excitement about? I told him that I might have put the ball on the green on this skill shot hole. He looked like the cat that swallowed the canary when he replied; nice shot man, with a chuckle. Looking back on that moment, I think Philmore had seen the entire shot from a higher vantage point than the rest of us.

Ron, Linda, and I got to the green first. I saw one ball off the green to the left, another one was off the green behind the hole, and I figured that was my ball. Ron looked at it and identified it as his own. Linda identified her ball as the one that was left of the green. So, I started looking behind the hole off the green in the deep grass and bushes confused as to how my ball could have possibly traveled that far. About then, Randy came flying up the hill on his cart asking were my ball was. Puzzled, I said; I don't know! With that, Randy jumped out of his cart without coming to a complete stop and fell flat on his face. He then proceeded to crawl on his hands and knees before springing to his feet like a cat on the prowl. Did I mention that Randy is 6” 7' 300 plus pounds? He is a mammoth of a man! I have never before, and not since, seen this guy move with that kind of grace and speed. He ran to the hole saying out loud “ no, it can't be in the hole?” However, the shocked look on his face as he pointed to the hole struggling to find the words, told us all that it was indeed in the hole. I did not know how to react. I got so excited; I lost my breath and felt faint, like I was having heat stroke. I had a bottle of water in my hand, and I remember thinking that I should throw it in the air. Nevertheless, for some reason I didn't. It was incredible, we all danced around looking down the hill yelling hugging and making gestures to the tourney officials that the ball had gone in the hole in one shot. Ron gave me the ball and said you should put this in a safe place. I took it and put it in a side pouch of my bag. Randy, seeing how frazzled I was took it and put it in his bag in a deeper more secure pocket. Ron brought over the stick that you are supposed to write down the distance to the pin on. I asked him what I was supposed to put on it. He said, zero inches dude! I did not know it at the time, but I had just won 36 dozen Nike Mojo golf balls.

I was the talk of the tournament from that point on. The news spread through the entire course like wildfire. It became a distraction for our group for the rest of our round. I am a very easy guy to spot, specially on a golf course, and everywhere we went for the rest of the day all we heard was, Hey, there is the guy that got the hole in one, way to go guy!

One of the grounds keepers came by and told me that it was tradition to buy the bar a round of drinks when you get a hole in one. I do not have the kind of income that can support that kind of gesture. I did buy a round for my table and ended up giving each person in my foursome a dozen balls. Except for Randy, he gets a dozen whenever he runs out. I took a lot of flack from a few of the players for not buying the house a round. I felt bad about it, but I just cannot afford that kind of expense. A month later Randy and I were playing Golf in Monroe and two of the players from the tournament stopped me on the course and asked, hey, aren't you the guy that got the hole in one at that tournament last month? Proudly I looked up and said, yes I am! They promptly replied, you never did buy the house a round. It made me feel bad, so I offered to give them each a sleeve of balls. They were not interested and moved on. This took place at Blue Boy West golf course in Monroe, and since the tournament was held at Lake Wilderness golf course in Maple Valley, some 100 miles away. Seeing that these guys upset me, Randy, as he so often does, came up to me and said, hey that's pretty cool. I said, what? He said; you have notoriety! We are at the opposite end of the Puget sound region of were they recognize you from, that's pretty cool my man! I felt a little better after having my ego stroked with such diplomacy.

As I mentioned, Randy, Ron, and Linda each got a dozen balls. I also felt compelled to give everyone that helped make that hole in one possible a dozen balls. So My brother Lou who gave me his old clubs and taught me many things along they way got a dozen. Eric Driessen my teaching Pro and good friend got a dozen. As did My Father in law for supporting me, with whatever I was trying to do, including buying me a par three membership the first year I started playing golf. Even my Doctor, Brent Wisse got a dozen. Overall, I have shared close to half of the balls that I won.

This experience was a once in a lifetime event. Never in a million years when I weighed in at over 740 pounds would I have thought this possible. I have been a star athlete my whole life. I know the feeling of hitting a grand slam home run to win the game in my teams last at bat. I have pinned my opponent in front of two entire High school student bodies as a heavy weight wrestler to a thunderous sold out crowd to win the match for my team and the league championship. I have dominated my opponent on the football field in front of thousands and thrown the key block to spring my team's running back free for the game-winning touchdown in a championship game. I have been fortunate to have been given the abilities that god blessed me with. I have had some mind-blowing thrills in front of many huge crowds. However, those cheers stopped many years ago. I thought I would never feel that kind of thrill again when I was bedridden and close to checking out of this life.

Nevertheless, to celebrate a hole in one with 52 golfers, the tournament staff, course staff, friends and family adding up to at least 100 people was the best way possible. Since all of them love the game and understand what a hole in one means to a golfer. Eric Chatman made a point of celebrating my accomplishment several times during the awards ceremony. I was showered with applause during several ovations. What a moment!

Getting my name in several papers, sharing the experience with my Mom before she passed away, and receiving a hole in one trophy from a neighbor who is a golf nut has given me life. I have regained a part of myself that had been missing for years. A huge piece of my life's blood has been regained. Golf may be all I have left in sports. However, you can bet yer ass, it will be my game till the day I die!

Those of you that know me well may get a kick out of this. You know that my lucky number is 11. Any combination of 4, 7, and 11, usually shows up when something wonderful or spiritual happens to me. I find it to be extraordinarily special this time. We started our round in a shotgun start on hole four. I got my hole in one on hole number 7. Insert Twilight Zone music here (nee, nee, neeenee, nee, nee neenee).


	Welcome to Hughdini.com \| home The ONE \| April, 2003 \| May, 2003 \| June, 2003 \| July, 2003 \| August, 2003 \| September, 2003 \| October, 2003 \| November, 2003 \| December, 2003 \| January, 2004 \| February, 2004 \| March, 2004 The ONE Back to Golf page On July 24 of 2004 I played in my first official golf tournament. It was a fundraiser called the Marke G. Chatman Memorial. The proceeds are forwarded to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center about Sarcoidosis. To find out more about Sarcoidosis log on to: http://www.njc.org/medfacts/sarcoid.html The format of this tournament is what they call, best ball, with a shotgun start. It all boils down to you and a partner playing as a team. Wherever the best shot between the two of you lands, is where you both hit from on the next one. This way, two golfers play as one and turn in the best score possible collectively. My partner was my close friend Randy Ellwanger. We were paired with Randy's younger brother Ron and Ron's wife Linda. You do not see many 6'1” 540 pound golfers playing the game, let alone in a tournament and with 6'7” Randy paired with me on the course it makes for an ominous sight. The shotgun start consisted of putting all 52 golfers on the course at the same time at different holes. Every foursome starts at a different hole, and then plays 18 holes. We started on hole # 4 and ended on hole # 3 for instance. The Marke G. Chatman Memorial Golf Tournament is well organized by a close friend of Randy's family, Eric Chatman. Eric lost his brother Marke to Sarcoidosis about four years ago. Eric along with his family, friends, and many sponsors has been hosting the tournament for three years now. Eric pours his heart and soul into this tournament every year to ensure that it is the best it can be. The entire staff does a first class job. There are many skill contests, drawings, and raffles organized along with a banquet/awards ceremony at the end. It's a great time! My group started on the on the fourth tee, and when we got to the 7th hole, an uphill 122-yard par 3 with only the top of the flagpole visible from the tee box. It turned out that the green is very small, so the tournament committee picked this hole for a skill shot competition. They were selling raffle tickets and if you bought one and landed your ball on the green from the tee box. Your ticket would be entered into a drawing for cash. They were also using this hole for a closest to the pin competition. I was not carrying any cash so Randy offered to by my ticket. With Randy, Ron, and Linda over purchasing their tickets, I decided to tee up and take my shot. After hitting my shot the ball soared high into the air above the green as if in slow motion directly at the flagpole, the impact felt perfect. I saw it bounce up after landing and then disappear from view. It was a very hot summer day of 96 plus degrees. The greens were very firm. I hit the ball hard and square and figured it had rolled off the green behind the hole. Everyone that saw the shot applauded the accuracy of it, including the group behind us. Randy, Ron, and Linda all hit their tee shots and we hopped into our carts and headed up the hill to see where our balls had landed. Before I got into my cart, I saw Philmore, the gentleman that had been so kind to me the year before when I had been just an observer of the tournament. I wrote about his act of kindness and discretion last year in my journal. Philmore is the guy that found me in the bar during the Banquet, took me into the Banquet room, and made sure I had a seat that I could sit in, without making it obvious. It was a gesture of pure kindness. In fact, Eric paired him behind us so that I could thank him personally, but I came away from that exchange feeling like he did not realize how much his actions meant to me. Anyway, Philmore rolled up behind me, as I was about to get into my cart and head up the hill to the 7th hole green. He said; hey, what's all the excitement about? I told him that I might have put the ball on the green on this skill shot hole. He looked like the cat that swallowed the canary when he replied; nice shot man, with a chuckle. Looking back on that moment, I think Philmore had seen the entire shot from a higher vantage point than the rest of us. Ron, Linda, and I got to the green first. I saw one ball off the green to the left, another one was off the green behind the hole, and I figured that was my ball. Ron looked at it and identified it as his own. Linda identified her ball as the one that was left of the green. So, I started looking behind the hole off the green in the deep grass and bushes confused as to how my ball could have possibly traveled that far. About then, Randy came flying up the hill on his cart asking were my ball was. Puzzled, I said; I don't know! With that, Randy jumped out of his cart without coming to a complete stop and fell flat on his face. He then proceeded to crawl on his hands and knees before springing to his feet like a cat on the prowl. Did I mention that Randy is 6” 7' 300 plus pounds? He is a mammoth of a man! I have never before, and not since, seen this guy move with that kind of grace and speed. He ran to the hole saying out loud “ no, it can't be in the hole?” However, the shocked look on his face as he pointed to the hole struggling to find the words, told us all that it was indeed in the hole. I did not know how to react. I got so excited; I lost my breath and felt faint, like I was having heat stroke. I had a bottle of water in my hand, and I remember thinking that I should throw it in the air. Nevertheless, for some reason I didn't. It was incredible, we all danced around looking down the hill yelling hugging and making gestures to the tourney officials that the ball had gone in the hole in one shot. Ron gave me the ball and said you should put this in a safe place. I took it and put it in a side pouch of my bag. Randy, seeing how frazzled I was took it and put it in his bag in a deeper more secure pocket. Ron brought over the stick that you are supposed to write down the distance to the pin on. I asked him what I was supposed to put on it. He said, zero inches dude! I did not know it at the time, but I had just won 36 dozen Nike Mojo golf balls. I was the talk of the tournament from that point on. The news spread through the entire course like wildfire. It became a distraction for our group for the rest of our round. I am a very easy guy to spot, specially on a golf course, and everywhere we went for the rest of the day all we heard was, Hey, there is the guy that got the hole in one, way to go guy! One of the grounds keepers came by and told me that it was tradition to buy the bar a round of drinks when you get a hole in one. I do not have the kind of income that can support that kind of gesture. I did buy a round for my table and ended up giving each person in my foursome a dozen balls. Except for Randy, he gets a dozen whenever he runs out. I took a lot of flack from a few of the players for not buying the house a round. I felt bad about it, but I just cannot afford that kind of expense. A month later Randy and I were playing Golf in Monroe and two of the players from the tournament stopped me on the course and asked, hey, aren't you the guy that got the hole in one at that tournament last month? Proudly I looked up and said, yes I am! They promptly replied, you never did buy the house a round. It made me feel bad, so I offered to give them each a sleeve of balls. They were not interested and moved on. This took place at Blue Boy West golf course in Monroe, and since the tournament was held at Lake Wilderness golf course in Maple Valley, some 100 miles away. Seeing that these guys upset me, Randy, as he so often does, came up to me and said, hey that's pretty cool. I said, what? He said; you have notoriety! We are at the opposite end of the Puget sound region of were they recognize you from, that's pretty cool my man! I felt a little better after having my ego stroked with such diplomacy. As I mentioned, Randy, Ron, and Linda each got a dozen balls. I also felt compelled to give everyone that helped make that hole in one possible a dozen balls. So My brother Lou who gave me his old clubs and taught me many things along they way got a dozen. Eric Driessen my teaching Pro and good friend got a dozen. As did My Father in law for supporting me, with whatever I was trying to do, including buying me a par three membership the first year I started playing golf. Even my Doctor, Brent Wisse got a dozen. Overall, I have shared close to half of the balls that I won. This experience was a once in a lifetime event. Never in a million years when I weighed in at over 740 pounds would I have thought this possible. I have been a star athlete my whole life. I know the feeling of hitting a grand slam home run to win the game in my teams last at bat. I have pinned my opponent in front of two entire High school student bodies as a heavy weight wrestler to a thunderous sold out crowd to win the match for my team and the league championship. I have dominated my opponent on the football field in front of thousands and thrown the key block to spring my team's running back free for the game-winning touchdown in a championship game. I have been fortunate to have been given the abilities that god blessed me with. I have had some mind-blowing thrills in front of many huge crowds. However, those cheers stopped many years ago. I thought I would never feel that kind of thrill again when I was bedridden and close to checking out of this life. Nevertheless, to celebrate a hole in one with 52 golfers, the tournament staff, course staff, friends and family adding up to at least 100 people was the best way possible. Since all of them love the game and understand what a hole in one means to a golfer. Eric Chatman made a point of celebrating my accomplishment several times during the awards ceremony. I was showered with applause during several ovations. What a moment! Getting my name in several papers, sharing the experience with my Mom before she passed away, and receiving a hole in one trophy from a neighbor who is a golf nut has given me life. I have regained a part of myself that had been missing for years. A huge piece of my life's blood has been regained. Golf may be all I have left in sports. However, you can bet yer ass, it will be my game till the day I die! PS Those of you that know me well may get a kick out of this. You know that my lucky number is 11. Any combination of 4, 7, and 11, usually shows up when something wonderful or spiritual happens to me. I find it to be extraordinarily special this time. We started our round in a shotgun start on hole four. I got my hole in one on hole number 7. Insert Twilight Zone music here (nee, nee, neeenee, nee, nee neenee).