I’ll never forget the the guy in the car in front of me as I was parking to go to the Hole in One Charity Festival years ago at St. Louis Catholic Church. He made a hole in one not long after he got out of his car.
It’s sort of like the time I sat down at a slot machine at a Biloxi, Mississippi casino and watched the woman next to me put a quarter in her machine and immediately win $1,000.
Maybe I’m lucky to have around. I wish it would work the other way. I’ve never made a hole in one at the annual St. Louis event. And I’ve never won more than a handful of quarters at a casino.
In all honesty, the reason I’ve never won a hole in one at Hole in One is because I’ve never tried. Coupled with the fact that the last time I played golf was probably 1972.
This is how Hole in One works. As Wes Kraker, who’s been involved with Hole in One for more than 20 years, told me, “We transform the campus at St. Louis Church into a 37-tee-box range. And we give out cash and prizes for good golfers for getting holes-in-one or close to the hole. Certain qualifiers shoot out for a car from City Auto. And we accumulate points for performers all week. And those top 10 performers shoot out for a million dollars on Saturday.”
To date, nobody has ever won the million dollars. But they did have a car winner one time, Kraker says.
Hole in One, which traditionally begins on Father’s Day and runs through the following Saturday, personifies summer to me. People get out in the hot weather — or wait until it starts cooling off around 6 p.m.— and hit golf balls, mingle with the crowd, play corn hole, or, if you’re a kid, bounce on the inflatables.
My favorite thing to do at Hole in One is EAT. The “St. Louis Men’s Club Culinary Institute” makes, among other things, an outstanding barbecue sandwich as well as an outstanding barbecued bologna sandwich. I had one of each the other night. As well as two Pepsis.
It was very hot during the week, but the event — the 65th — still drew record-breaking numbers, Kraker says. “There’s got to be a couple of thousand people every day,” he says.
Louie Caesar is president of the St. Louis Men’s Club, which puts on the event each year. Proceeds go to St Louis school and church, sports, scouting and youth ministry programs.
