THE BALL IS teed and there you are, swinging from your heels, you’re a driving range star . . .
That was a golf-related mini-ode to the magical “One Shining Moment,” the wrap-up song played over the NCAA Tournament highlight montage after each season’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game.
Yes, its that magical time of year when hearts turn to thoughts of buzzer-beaters, No. 12 over No. 5 upsets and eventually, after the nets are cut down and the trophy is raised, the transcendent “One Shining Moment.”
The Luther Vandross version only, please, because I’m a traditionalist and that Jennifer Hudson version did not sit well with me last year. At all.
Here’s 2009’s version with Luther: www.youtube.com/watch?v=28ByoMsw_Ls.
I am of course, writing about the men’s NCAA College Basketball Tournament, a yearly source of at least two school absences and now, work vacation days, since I was old enough to fake an earache.
Just like in offices across the land, pro golfers are filling out brackets and competing for bragging rights against their fellow co-workers.
Many players take strong rooting interests in their alma mater, especially if they have clinched a ticket to the big dance.
Washington will face Georgia on Friday night in Charlotte, N.C., and a host of current and past PGA Tour players will be glued to the TV screen.
I think the basketball Huskies are going to take that matchup, but what about a contest between golfing graduates of the two schools?
My money would be on Georgia. They boast 6-foot-3 rising PGA star Bubba Watson, who finished eighth on the PGA money list last year with more than $3 million in earnings, and who is already past the $1.6 million mark in six tournaments this year.
Watson’s wife is 6-4, so there may be future Watsons roaming the basketball court instead of the golf course for Georgia.
Ryuji Imada, the winner of the 2008 AT&T Classic, is a former Bulldog, along with Chris Kirk, who finished second overall on the Nationwide Tour in 2010, earning him a 2011 PGA Tour Card.
Another 2011 PGA Tour rookie and Georgia alum is Kevin Kisner.
In this corner, UW
Central Kitsap graduate Troy Kelly, currently on the Nationwide Tour after dropping his tour card, will be cheering for the Northwest Dawgs, along with Brock Mackenzie, and Alex Prugh, who currently sits 89th on the PGA Tour money list, having made $217,000 so far this year.
Some other big-name PGA Tour members and their March Madness alma maters include:
■ Arizona: Jim Furyk, Ricky Barnes and Robert Gamez.
■ UNLV: Puyallup native Ryan Moore, Adam Scott, Skip Kendall and Chad Campbell.
■ North Carolina: Davis Love III and Mark Wilson.
■ Texas: Justin Leonard and Harrison Frazar.
■ Kentucky: J.B. Holmes and Steve Flesch.
■ USC: Kevin Stadler and his dad, Craig “The Walrus” Stadler.
St. Paddy’s tourney
Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim will host a St. Patrick’s Day Golf Tournament starting at noon on Thursday.
Wear your green and come out for a day on the links.
Stymies, the course restaurant, will also serve corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie and green beer from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information, phone the pro shop at 360-683-6344.
Support seniors
Golfers can support a good cause by participating in a golf tournament benefit fundraiser for the Sequim High School Class of 2011 graduation night party.
The two-person scramble will be held at Cedars at Dungeness on Saturday, April 9.
Check-in is slated for 7:30 a.m. with a shotgun start set for 8:30 a.m.
Cost is $60 per person, or $120 per team and includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, prizes and awards.
Proceeds will go toward providing a safe, alcohol- and drug-free celebration on graduation night.
Mulligans are $5 and an optional honey pot is $10 per person.
If you want to play and don’t have a team, call Cedars at Dungeness at 360-683-6344 or tourney chair Christy Francis at 360-683-5502.
SkyRidge tourneys
Sequim’s SkyRidge Golf Course will hold its fifth annual Shamrock Scramble for Charity set for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The four-person scramble will include 18 holes of golf, range balls, a traditional Irish “Mulligan” stew with all the fixin’s, dessert, an on-site cart girl to spread some good cheer, hot dogs at the turn and a pot o’gold for a lucky duffer.
A “Big Break” style skills challenge will follow play.
Cost is $180 per team or $45 per player.
SkyRidge will also hold its annual “Gut Buster” Tournament on Saturday, March 26.
Swing from the hips in this one as male players will play the black tees at 6,710 yards while the ladies will take a crack at 6,070 yards of golf course.
Players will receive golf, range balls, lunch, entry into a honey pot, four KP holes and a long putt competition on the 18th hole.
Cost for this individual medal-play tourney is $55 per person.
Kiwanis benefit on tap
Port Townsend Golf Club will host the annual Kiwanis Two-Person Best Ball Tournament with proceeds supporting kids with special needs, youth projects and scholarships.
The tournament will kick off with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 26.
Cost is $40 per player with only a $5 greens fees charge for nonmembers.
Phone the course at 360-385-4547 for more information.
Last Saturday the Port Townsend Golf Club held its annual Saint Patrick’s Day Golf Tournament.
Players battled windy weather all day but were rewarded with a feast of corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, carrots and a biscut, cooked and served by the course’s Hidden Rock Cafe and staff.
Enjoy the weekend
Good luck with your brackets, have fun watching the tournament, and go hit some range balls during the afternoon break to help our local courses through what can be a slow weekend.
Or go out to your local course and watch games from the restaurant/bar.
Most courses on the North Olympic Peninsula have nice high-definition televisions for sporting events and comfy chairs.
Enjoy the madness.
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Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.