The question really is — if you now expect to have a great time, to act and dress goofy, with old and new friends, on the first Saturday in February — is goofy now the new normal?
Yes.
Yes.
The joy of it all is the release that frees everyone who participates. Instead of caring what your neighbors think of you, you can again be young at heart and play like your inner child. Whoopee for that kid! We are still young.
Goofy Golf has achieved the above.
Our fourth year blew the doors off the previous three.
This does not mean that park residents are becoming complacent about it.
Oh, no.
What is normal when it comes to the goof?
Our volunteer builders, some new ones tossed into the mix, put on the best array of a dozen new or modified games within our 18, to erase anything normal.
What a day.
More than 144 golfers signed up for the shotgun start. The morning dawned cold, the north winds blew, and a light drizzle at the 18th hole did not deter the fun.
Actual turnout was 132. Goofy is as goofy does.
Since we play only 18 teams on the track, the PGA rules get a little battering — actually a beating.
Each foursome is now an eight-some. The pleasure is you now have seven smiling witnesses and critics of your talent at every hole. Laughter is contagious. It rolls all over the park covering every street, for the 2½ hours that it takes.
The best part is that smiles carry on all day, as players rehash the game with anyone who was there.
Even the non-brave loved sitting on their porches sucking on their favorite beverage and laughing at the passing parade of secondhand store rejects.
What does happen with all those outfits? Is there a run on donations on Monday morning at hospice? Oh well, it is what it is.
Prize money is all paid back. Heck a buck is not a lot, but on prize day during the next coffee hour, the place is packed. You almost think coffee and donuts were free that day!
Seventy-six golfers were rewarded for their skill — skill has been aggressively removed from this game. The best (lucky) are paid equally with their counterparts, the hardest working (honest) golfers. The best way to think of our golfers is similar to fishermen. One measures smaller, and the other measures bigger. The first timers and casuals compete well and help the team lower the score. That is the beauty. There are no rules what the holes will be and how it is scored. Hip hip hooray for variety, and those happy days.
Now to answer that question.
Goofy at Happy Days is normal for us, and we love it!
Get ready folks, it is coming back in 51 weeks.
By Ian Marwick (the happy scribe)
Published February 24, 2016
