Every Christmas, if our home course River Oaks is closed due to snow, we contest the Christmas Classic Golf Tournament. This tournament has been going for probably longer than a decade (I’ll have to look at the record books for the exact year). It’s a festive and fun event featuring good friends, the 12 balls of Christmas, snow shovels, and good spirits.
Format
The format is simple. We pick a par-3 hole, or create one. Each golfer hits 12 balls. The golfers hit them in groups of 3. When all shots are complete, we go to the green and find the closest ball to the pin. The player who hit that closest ball is the champion golfer of the year and gets to keep the legendary (and missing) ugly green hat. I lost the damn hat. I think it’s in my basement somewhere.
Video
Below is the video highlighting the 2015 event.
Over the years we’ve gotten very artistic at marking the 12 balls, so that when we venture to the green to find them they are easy to identify. Buddy Dan has taken the artwork to a whole new level. See his balls below, so to speak.
And I must post a picture of the first-time champion, Robert Lund. Robert is also the voice and music behind the Christmas Classic theme songs from last year and this year.
Congrats to Robert for joining one of the most exclusive groups of champions in the world.