The Greatest tournament coming up aces again

Welcome back, Valley Golfers.

And what a week it is! For those of you that read this each week (or follow local golf at all!), you’re well aware by now that this weekend is the third annual Greatest Golfer of the Valley tournament.

What started three years ago with just over 90 people has quickly become the golf tournament of the Valley and will have more than 250 participants at five different courses.

Over the summer I feel like we’ve covered a number of different topics that would fit in well this week. Caddies and how they can be used in The Greatest. The history of The Greatest itself. My friends the Porters and their involvement and success in The Greatest. And a number of others.

So with all of those topics already covered, I thought it would be nice to celebrate a more broad based group this week — a group that, without them, would make the tournament meaningless.

The competitors.

By the time this article is printed and read today, eight different individuals will be on their way toward capturing the 2012 Greatest Golfer of the Year trophies at The Lake Club. And while it’s important for us to congratulate and celebrate the champions of each flight, I think it’s just as important for us to recognize that there were about 245 other golfers who came out this week.

That’s 245 people who won’t be taking home trophies.

That’s 245 people who won’t be featured in The Vindicator as 2012 Greatest Champions.

That’s 245 people who won’t be on the 2013 Greatest Bag Tag.

But if it weren’t for these 245 golfers, what would the tournament really mean to the eight champions? Without the 245 competitors who didn’t win this week, we’d really only be left with a really good and diverse “eightsome.”

So I say congratulations to everyone.

Congratulations to the champions for your great play. Congratulations to the courses. Congratulations to The Vindicator for another great tournament. Congratulations to all the sponsors who helped make this weekend possible.

And finally, congratulations to all the golfers. Without your participation, The Greatest would only be another “good idea that didn’t take off.”

To conclude, I want to take a minute to once again invite everyone out to The Lake Club to watch the final round wrap up this afternoon. Tee times for the final pairings can be found online at www.vindy.com. One way or another I know I’ll be out there. I hope to see you there.

As always, thanks for reading. And until next week, “Hit ’em Straight.”

Jonah Karzmer is a former player at YSU and a member at The Lake Club. He works in insurance when not writing a golf column every Sunday in The Vindicator. Email him at jkarzmer@farmersagent.com.