The Berger tradition
I spent last weekend on a golf mini-vacation with a few friends and golf cronies. It's an annual event appropriately dubbed "The Berger", as our esteemed tournament sponsor, director and host resides in a pastoral setting just outside the city of Berger, Missouri.
Friday's kickoff round opened rather unceremoniously at Birch Creek Golf Club, a challenging rural tract that serves up a challenging blend of scenic links mixed with a few carnivalesque holes that depart from golf normalcy. As tradition dictates, the round was immediately followed by excessive barbecue, banter and beer until the wee hours.
Saturday's round found a groggy field of competitors at Herman Missouri's own Loutre Shore Country Club. A quaint little nine-holer that requires two passes to get the full eighteen in. Small domed greens prove to be the greatest Loutre challenge. Can't hit 'em. Can't hold 'em. Can't putt 'em. And as with day one, the cocktailing resumed promptly as did the chronic bitch-sessions outlining long winded rationale for poor play. It's tradition!
Sunday's final round was held at Wolf Hollow Golf Club. Wolf boasts a collection of inexorable hills and elevation changes that confound accurate club selection and exacerbate the dreaded uneven lie. Every player manages to spray a nugget or two into the weeds here as the lack of sleep and extra helpings of food and drink has the field moving with a bit less spring in their step. Once completed we settle the bets and congratulate ourselves for surviving yet another "Berger" weekend.
This year's tournament brought loads of memorable highlights both on and off the courses, including a miracle birdie by yours truly on Loutre's dreaded forth hole. All in all, a crashing success. The tradition continues.
noisemaker
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