Ten years ago I decided that I wanted to invite a few friends for a weekend of golf at an out of town location. That was the birth of the Mike Durden Invitational. The first trip was taken to Shelman's Bluff and we played The Sapelo Hammock golf course which was owned at the time by Hank Cook's father-in-law. The first trip included 24 people split into teams of four. We stayed in campers and a cheap hotel that was down the street from the golf course. As the annual tournament grew in popularity, and more and more people wanted to attend, it became obvious that we were going to have to find a new venue to accommodate everyone. After one year at a state course in Ft. Gaines in which they were not as happy about us being there as we would have liked them to be, I found the perfect place for larger groups, The Dothan National Golf Course and Hotel. (not to be confused by The Augusta National)
The tournament has a new name these days. The Wild Chicken Cup also has a new tournament director. Hal Wiley and Brian Braddy took over hosting duties from me a few years ago and have grown the tournament from 24 players to 40. We now play a Ryder Cup style match with two teams of 20 men each. Team Red -vs- Team Black. Team Black took a two year winning streak into the weekend, but was unable to defend the title due to some remarkable play from Team Red. It was a good time all around. Thanks for the memories guys!
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Fred Couples played well this weekend at the Masters. If not for a second round 75 in which his back began to flare up, he may have had a chance. Didn't he look so cool striding up the fairway in those deck shoes and no socks?
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Congrats to Phil Mickelson! He played well when he needed to and won his third Green Jacket. I hope the media will give him some credit for what he has accomplished this year. He won a major in a year in which his wife and mother are both battling breast cancer. The media made Tiger out to be some kind of Superman just for showing up at the tournament in the same year in which all he did was play with a bunch of breast. Just for note, they did not belong to his wife!
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Reid has his first real baseball game tonight. He is so excited. I just hope we have fun and that the boys will play hard and not be scared of the ball. I'll let you know how it turns out!
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