Mark Twain called golf “A good walk … ruined!”
While the game of golf may be known for its loud clothing, the sport has a reputation as being a more staid and quiet activity requiring stiff, uninterrupted concentration. Players often take on a Zen-like quality as they try to “be the ball” and send it home to the cup.
That may be true, but with possible inspiration from the Adam Sandler film “Happy Gilmore,” some of the younger members of the Seal Beach Lions Club recently turned the sport on its head when they ran the volunteer organization’s annual golf tournament.
This year, they decided to put the focus on fun.
“I have played in golf tournaments my entire life,” said longtime Seal Beach Lion Scott Newton. “With few exceptions, they are pretty classy affairs, played on very nice golf courses with strict dress codes. This includes golf tournaments our own club has put on over the years.”
Newton, whose son Grant is a Lions Club member after moving up from the Seal Beach Leos, explained that two years ago, the club turned the Seal Beach golf tournament over to a few of our younger ‘twenty-something’ members.
“They attracted a much younger group of golfers and chose a very short, fun, and casual golf course and added unique little course games to supplement the tournament,” Scott Newton said. “As a result, the tournament has become somewhat wild but very, very fun.”
Players bring caddies and wear funky clothes. Girlfriends walk with golfing boyfriends in a show of support and most golfers are there more to socialize and have fun than to win.
“Those serious golfers who are there are young at heart and really enjoy seeing the younger folks having a good time,” Newton said. “This fun format managed by young Lions has shown younger people just how much fun can be had while doing good for others. This event is now a recruiting tool to bring younger people into the club to better our community and help others.”
The Seal Beach Lions Club is one of the longest running service groups in the seaside city and it continues to maintain a high, active membership, while other groups have dwindled and some have fallen away.
“We are not your typical Lions Club because we understand that our future is our young people so we give them the autonomy to manage important projects,” Newton said.
In 1925, Helen Keller challenged Lions around the world to be the Knights of the Blind. The Lions took the challenge and have focused on sight related programs ever since. The tournament the Seal Beach club held on June 1 was in honor of Keller’s birthday. They held the Helen Keller Golf Classic at Bixby Village Golf Course.
Nearly 80 golfers and caddies walked the “fun course” that had numerous special treats including magicians and other surprises and amusements.
The casual affair included a blind putting contest conducted by the Miss Seal Beach Court where a sighted partner assisted a blindfolded golfer.
“Amazingly, out of five teams, two putted a 50-foot hole with a blindfolded golfer,” Newton said. “On a 80-yard par three hole, golfers were blindfolded and helped by a sighted partner. The closest to the pin shot was only 25 feet from the hole.”
The afternoon ended with a return to Seal Beach’s Marina Center for a delicious dinner prepared by Yucatan Grill.
“Thanks to the generous golfers, sponsors and donors, the event raised over $5,000 towards the Lions Sight Preservation programs,” Newton said. “A special thanks goes to Original Parts Group who was the Helen Keller Golf Classic Premiere Sponsor.”
