Herky the Hawk and a round of night golf

​       The places I go, the things I do and the people I meet!
       Life is amazing.
      I attended the “Wave Fore the Kids” Golf Tournament at the Montezuma Country Club on Saturday, June 15. The event was a fundraiser for the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.
      Herky the Hawk, the University of Iowa mascot, was in Montezuma and I had a chance to meet and have my photo taken with him.
     I just happened to be wearing my Oklahoma Sooners ball cap. Herky saw it, pulled it off my head and acted as if he was rubbing the name off the front. He even gave it a couple squeezes under his armpit and then gave it back to me.
      He was a good sport about it. I decided to wear my ball cap backwards for the photo. Maybe I should have worn my Mizzou Tiger ball cap.
      That was my first time meeting Herky and it made for a fun Saturday.
     There were a lot of nice folks and all the volunteers were great. I pitched in a few dollars and enjoyed lunch while at the golf course.
     Herky was posing for photos with kids and adults alike and having fun with everyone. He even took a golf cart loaded with youngster and tooled around the course meeting the golfers and having pictures taken.
     It was an awesome event that raised an estimated $30,000 for the children’s hospital. A big thanks goes out to Siraj Thomason, farmer and owner of the Longhorn Saloon in nearby Barnes City, and all those who worked hard to make this event possible.
    I’ve met the Iowa State Cyclone mascot and saw the Kansas Jayhawks mascot from afar. I also saw the Sooner mascot some years ago at an OU vs. Kansas basketball game in Norman. I once met the Washington Redskins mascot many moons ago after going to a Monday Night football game that pitted the Dallas Cowboys and Redskins in Dallas.
      Dallas thumped the Redskins, 44-0.
      It happened that the Redskins mascot was staying in the same motel as I was and I got a chance to meet him the next day after the game.
     I saw his limo parked outside by his room and the next morning I asked the desk clerk who was staying there. She told me the Redskins mascot and then asked me if I wanted to meet him.
      “Sure,” I said.
       She called him in his room and he said to send me down.
      I ended up buying a Washington “Hogs” T-shirt, a Redskins ball camp and ink pin, all for about $30. That was a lot of money back in the 1980s.
      Anyway, I enjoy golf and have watched numerous games on television through the years, but only recall playing the game once back in the day with a friend in Tulsa.
      LaFortune Park in south Tulsa had a lighted nine-hole golf course. My good friend, Scott, and I decided to play a round.
      I’d played a lot of miniature golf, but never the real game, and never at night.
      My friend grabbed his set of old clubs and off we went.
      I was wanting to look and act like as if I knew what I was doing. So, I grabbed an iron and begin working on my stoke as I waited to tee off.
      I got a little too close to the dirt and knocked a divot of God’s creation from its resting spot and hit a fellow in the side of the head.
     “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I kept telling the fellow as he shook the dirt from his hair.
     I’m thankful I didn’t hurt him, and even more thankful that he didn’t punch me in the nose.
     I’ve covered state boys’ golf here in Iowa and while a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I was sent on assignment to cover golf as a staff photographer with the Columbia Missourian at one of Columbia’s finest courses. I show up with a camera and a 300mm lens to capture the action.
     I might have gotten a few good photos, but nothing worth writing home about. I do OK when players tee off or are putting on the green, but have a tough time covering golf.
    I would much rather watch golf on television and spend my time covering football and basketball. Even then I have to keep an eye out for players getting too close to the sidelines.
      Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.