JOPLIN, Mo. —
Learning how to putt with a 5-iron can be a challenging New Year’s resolution.
But that is the bar set by the local golf foursome of Scott Miller, John Starrett, Daryl Deel and Chris Couch. Amid frigid temperatures and whipping winds on Saturday morning, the group selected the 5-iron — their one and only golf-club — to use in the fourth annual two-hole New Year’s Day Invitational Tournament at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club.
The four played through the 7th and 6th holes, in that order, for a New Year’s tradition that they observe in all weather conditions and circumstances.
“We play rain or shine every year,” Deel said at the club’s Jolly Boys Tavern after the event. “We’ve had to chip ice out of the hole so we could put it in the hole.”
The current tournament is a revival of the Twin Hills legend known as the Dr. McGillicuddy’s Annual New Year’s Day Invitational, which started in the mid-1980s and went on for 18 years. At that time, a group of key members known as “the Idiots” and others met every New Year’s Day to play one hole of golf with a racquetball instead of the traditional golf ball. It began when “the idiots” one New Year’s Eve determined that they would play golf in the snow on the following day.
Dr. McGillicuddy’s Annual New Years Day Invitational was named for the menthol mint schnapps used to keep players warm on the freezing first day.
“You’d have to hit a shot and you took a big swig of schnapps,” Tim Easley, another founding member, said in a phone interview. “And by the time you were done, you weren’t feeling any pain.”
Miller, Deel, Couch and Starrett have largely maintained the tradition, with a few minor changes.
“We play two holes a year ‘cause we’re not sure we’re going live 18 years,” Miller said as the group laughed.
Local News
Related Photos
-
(From left) Scott Miller, John Starrett, Daryl Deel and Chris Couch defy golf convention and the elements at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club on Saturday morning with their annual New Year’s Day rite. The four play two holes of golf with only one type of club as part of their tradition. Globe /Will Blanchard
Discussion
Golf buddies revive New Year’s tradition
- Local News
-
-
Prosecutor’s office asking state if campaign used county assets
The Jasper County prosecuting attorney’s office is asking the Missouri attorney general’s office to investigate whether Sheriff Archie Dunn has used the assets of his office for his re-election campaign.
-
Service dogs participate in ceremony recognizing them for their work
The Carl Junction post office has a reputation for promoting the release of special postage stamps in unique ways. Wednesday was no different.
-
Volunteers from Tuscaloosa paying it forward in Joplin
As the teens moved farther along the bleachers they were painting, splotches of bright red paint kept appearing where it didn’t exactly belong. On the ground. On their arms and legs. On their clothing.
-
Webb City mural taking shape at corner of Main, Broadway
Last Thursday, the north wall of the Middlewest Building at Main Street and Broadway was white. Eighteen gallons of paint and a whole lot of red Solo cups later, it will be a completed community mural depicting the Webb City Farmers Market.
-
Filing deadline approaching for county offices in Kansas
The candidacy filing deadline for those seeking Kansas county offices that are subject to the Aug. 7 primary election is noon Friday.
-
Economic development strategies emerge from Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative meeting
More than 30 people shared ideas Wednesday on ways to promote economic development in the seven counties that are participating in the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative.
-
Mike Pound: Singing the praises of music teacher
When I was in sixth grade, Sister Susan, the music teacher at St. Xavier’s Catholic School, walked over to me while I and my fellow students were singing at Easter midnight Mass and said a bit loudly: “Mike, don’t sing.”
-
Electric bill to drop $6 a month in Joplin
The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved a request filed by The Empire District Electric Company, based in Joplin, to lower the fuel adjustment charge (FAC) on the bills of its electric customers.
-
Mo. Legislature officially ends its 2012 session
Missouri's annual legislative session has officially come to a close.
-
Strong to severe storms forecast for Joplin region
Storms developing across the central and southern plains this afternoon are expected to migrate into the Joplin region this evening.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Prosecutor’s office asking state if campaign used county assets
