2017 Callaway Gardens “BIG Champion of the Year Charlie Griffin”

2016 saw the creation of the Griffin Cup because, well because of the arm sling, the walker, the knee wrap and the dislocated shoulder that saw his golf game sidelined that year, we just didn’t know how many more years the old boi’ would have! In 2017 the resounding answer was “At least 1 more!”

The BIG show hit the road to the great state of Georgia in 2017. The event was hosted at the two tough scenic golf courses at the historic Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain. The tournament, generally held in late May, was moved up to the beginning of May, much sooner than usual. Day 1 looked doubtful as the Pine Mountain courses were inundated with 2 inches of torrential rains a few hours before and right up to the 1 PM Opening Round. Miraculously the rain ceased and held off long enough for all competitors to get out on the course and get their first rounds in. Ironically at the end of this chilly damp rainy day it was the Florida Sunshine State contingent of TonyLo and Doug Melody standing tall with stellar +7 scores and sharing first day honors.

Day 2 brought a taste of Scotland to the BIG. Not only was it windy and bone chilling 50 degree cold, but in the immortal words of Forrest Gump – “it started raining, and it didn’t quit for hours. We went through every kind of rain that day. Little bitty stingin’ rain and big ol’ fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained under the umbrellas“. Throw in 30 mile per hour wind gusts and a most interesting day on the links was had by all. Only 4 of the 20 players were able to post positive numbers. Scoring a most impressive +4 was 2016 newbie My Other Brother Darrell Vaughn, with former BIG champ Rick “Aww Shht Another Crappy Lie in the Bunker” Marshall a close second at +3. Rounding out the Day 2 podium in T3 were the old and the young – Charles “Shakey Earl” Griffin and William Hackett at + 1. Considering Mother Nature’s brutal punch on this day, those all were some outstanding scores!

Day 3 opened to clear blue skies and nice cool crisp conditions with somewhat calmer 15 mph winds. The Mountain Course drained very nicely. At the turn it was anyone’s tournament to win and Charlie Griffin, Brian Shenk and Jeremy Cranford all played magnificent back 9 golf and were tied for the clubhouse lead at +7 with Darrell and Chris battling it out with one hole to play and Darrell leading him by 1 point. Both players were in prime position to hoist the Stogey as Chris had a short birdie putt and Darrell hit a clutch chip shot a mere 6 feet away to give him a good look for the clinching par. After consultation from William about the degree of difficulty for those putts, Chris’s birdie effort teased the edge of the hole but refused to drop, followed by Darrell’s valiant try for par that came up an inch short of tumbling into the hole. The final round scoreboard revealed a BIG first, a tie at the end of regulation. 4 players at +7 including Shakey Earl Griffin, Jeremy Cranford, Brian Shenk and Darrell Vaughn.

Due to time constraints a 2 hole putt off was decided to determine the BIG Champ. Contenders were assigned 1 / 9th of their handicap value points which resulted in Shakey Earl having to pull .5 of a point, Darrell and Brian slightly less than 2 and Jeremy 3 points for the 2 hole shootout. 1^st hole saw Darrell, Brian and Charlie hairball a few putts to pull 1 point each, with 2016 graduate newbie Jeremy ramming home an aggressive slow motion crawler into the heart of the cup to secure a 1^st hole score of 3 points. After playoff hole 1 the leader board read Charlie + .5, Jeremy even and Darrell / Brian minus 1.

Hole 2, a slick sidehill downhill 20 foot challenge, saw Darrell, Jeremy and Brian struggle with the pressures of the moment. First hole birdie man Jeremy needing a 2 point par to take the lead got over aggressive and blew his first 2 putts some 5 feet past the hole. Darrell and Brian also missed much needed par putts. As they all nervously awaited their remaining short putt attempts for a point it became apparent that on this day Charles Shakey Earl Griffin would not be denied. Needing the 1 additional point to give him an insurmountable + 1.5 lead, the ever cool and calm Shakey Earl showed the young bucks how Roll Tide Roll gets it done, calmly rolling in the 3 foot putt he needed to secure his first ever BIG Championship. As the old legend reached to retrieve his ball out of the cup there was much joy and celebration among competitors and spectators surrounding the green as they lay witness to the most popular member of the BIG securing his long overdue first BIG Cigar. Indeed it was a glorious sunny Saturday afternoon in early May on top of beautiful Pine Mountain that 2017 Champion Charlie “Shakey Earl” Griffin hoisted the BIG Stogey! To the 3 runners up, your efforts were not in vain. Your class and professionalism will forever be remembered and appreciated by all who witnessed this historic BIG playoff.

A pink teddy fashion show was put on by 2017 newbies William “Hey Y’all Watch This” Hackett and Brian “the Lion” Hart to the rave reviews of all in attendance. With assistance from Scotty, Rick and Ryan (and a large contingent of drunk loud obnoxious old people offering their support and not really meaning it) Newbie Hackett made a lot of friends his first year by throwing the best darn Low Country Boil any of us ever had. The feast was nothing short of outstanding, kudos to William and his amazing crew, great job!

In addition to newbies Hart and Hackett the 2017 Callaway field included the champ Charlie, Larry, Steve and son Jeremy, Scotty, Freddy, Chrissy and big brother Pauly, KK, TLo, Rick and son Ryan, Melody, Woodrow, Scarboro, Shenk and his paw n’ law TV along with their other brother Darrell.

In 2017 I was humbled to be awarded the Charlie Griffin – Spirit of the BIG Cup by the cup’s namesake, my friend, Charles “Shakey Earl” Griffin. The way he tells it, he thought and thought and thought who most deserves this special honor, he kept coming up with 19 names, gave up and put all the names in a hat – an old wore out (A) crimson hat I imagine, pulled a name out, and presto – winner! I couldn’t agree with his sound reasoning more. There is certainly not a single person is this special brotherhood who doesn’t measure up to the standards of the BIG. I am truly honored and will always strive to live up to the standard. “Friends in Life, Brothers in Golf”

For those keeping score (insert TLo here), 2017 was the last year Crissy has had to wear the Garnet n Gold attire…