By Timothy Long

It’s 11:40 AM. I am at Lakeview Country Club in Morgantown, WV. It’s my fraternity’s annual golf outing.

Our group is the last group to tee off. This was a blessing. The peanut gallery was not in the background jeering at us. They had all already teed off and were playing on the holes ahead of us. I set up my tee, addressed the ball, and am about to swing.

“I’m glad my truck isn’t here this year!” My buddy Dave yelled behind me. Laughing ensued. So much for not being jeered.

Last year on my initial tee off, I hit the ball to the right at a 45-degree angle, which I normally couldn’t do if I tried. I almost took out the windshield of Dave’s truck. “Almost” being the key word in that sentence.

I flipped him off. Addressed the ball again, teed off, and sent the ball sailing right down the center of the fairway. A great drive. The jeering stopped, temporarily.

The active members of the fraternity were in the group in front of us. Like other fraternities, we refer to our current students as “actives”. We figured that, being young, they would soon be well ahead of us and passing the other alumni groups. We found out later that this was not their plan.

It was a beautiful day, perfect for golf. We played the first nine holes at a good pace. Our beer of choice for this fun day of golf is a local craft beer called Country Roads Trust Lager from Big Timber Brewing Company in Elkins, WV. It’s a light, crisp, and refreshing lager. A great beer for golf. To make our experience almost honorable, 15% of the proceeds from sales go to The Country Roads Trust to support WVU’s athletes.

As we played, I got the usual verbal abuse about my “fancy” golf watch and the fact that I had new clubs. I stupidly mentioned that my wife and I had recently joined a country club. The comparisons to Judge Smails from the movie Caddyshack came flying.

“Hey Tim, did that hat come with the soup of the day? Oh, but it looks good on you though.”

“I bet you a thousand bucks that you slice into the woods!” And of course, I did.

“Bu-bu-bye! Bu-bu-bu-Bushwood!”

We finished the ninth hole and headed toward the tenth. The club has a snack shack at the tenth hole tee box. The fellows in the three groups who should have been golfing ahead of us are all partying. It seems that Jeff, one of the distinguished brothers from our era, brought a bottle of Whistle Pig 10 Year Rye to the snack shack. The entire golf course was about to back up because no one was golfing. The actives were in the middle of it all, adding fuel to the fire.

We jumped from our golf carts and headed right to the counter to order beers and pepperoni rolls. We were in West Virginia, so having a pepperoni roll is mandatory. I then joined the boisterous crowd to confer with my brothers. And also, to have a mandatory shot of Whistle Pig.

The actives were really enjoying having us old guys there. They had a blast drinking whiskey and beer with us. And of course, they were dying to hear stories from the days of old. Which we were obliged to share with them.

After a few minutes, wisdom and courtesy prevailed, and we continued to play golf.  The groups began teeing off from the tenth, to the eternal delight of the golfers stuck behind us.

The actives had country music blaring from their golf cart. We didn’t tend to listen to country music back in our day. But times have changed, and it’s popular right now. And even though they were two strokes ahead of us on the course, we could hear them quite clearly.

They started to wait for us at each tee box. This was no longer golfing to them; it was a party. Michael, the son of my fraternity brother Paul, ran up to me with two cans of beer.

“Come on Timmy! Let’s shotgun beers!”

I had no intention of doing so. Again, wisdom and courtesy.

“Come on! Dad said that you were a legend!”

I relished the compliment. But this legend had to drive and did not need to shotgun beers.

Smitty from our group joined Michael and shot-gunned a beer with him. The actives were delighted.

We caught up to them again on the sixteenth hole. They were partying and dancing on the green with the golf cart girls. I totally got it. The golf cart girls were cute. At their age, I would be doing the same thing.

But I’m not their age. And at this point I’m really trying not to turn into my dad.

I yelled up to them “Guys! Come on!”

My buddy Devo yelled beside me “While we’re still young!” Another Caddyshack quote.

They putted and moved on to the seventeenth tee box. They were still there with the golf cart girls when we got there. We informed them that we were playing through. They happily allowed us.

We stopped further down the fairway, and all looked back at them from our golf carts.

“Were we like that?” I said laughing as I took a puff from my Romeo and Julieta 1875. It’s one of my favorite cigars for golfing. We were all having cigars at this point.

“Probably worse.” Dave said with a smile.

“We weren’t like that.” Smitty chimed in, “These guys are actually cool.”

We all cracked up.

After our round, we all headed to the club house. Michael’s father, Paul, was sitting outside.

“Where are the actives? Where’s Michael? Weren’t they ahead of you guys?”

“You may be waiting for a while.” I said with a snicker.

He rolled his eyes.

So, are shots of whiskey on a golf course a good idea? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say “no”. Although, I do have to admit, we all had a great time and the whiskey did add to the experience. Beer, cigars, and whiskey do go great with golf. But I suggest saving the whiskey for after your round.

There was a cookout for us at the fraternity house after the golf outing. I’m happy to report that all the actives showed up safe and sound. The party continued there for quite a while.

It was great to be back at our old fraternity house. We have great memories from our time there. The whole weekend was cathartic. Just as a great weekend with old brothers, and some new brothers, should be.  The two days to recover when I got back home were totally worth it. Cheers!!

About the Author: Timothy Long is an educator, writer, consultant, and experienced restaurant operator. Email: tlong@belmarinnovations.com. Instagram and Twitter: @wvutimmy. Blog: What is that fly doing in my soup? http://whatflyinmysoup.com

Tim’s Whiskey and Cigar Recommendations

Bulleit Bourbon

I mentioned the Whistle Pig 10 Year Rye in the article. It’s a good golf whiskey and I recommended it back in the February issue. But I also need to recommend Bulleit Bourbon for an after-golf drink. The nose has vanilla and caramel. You get vanilla again on the palate, along with a peppery oak flavor and some cinnamon. This bourbon is smooth, delightful, and very affordable. At 90 Proof and bout $40 a bottle, it’s a great deal.

Romeo & Julieta 1875

The Romeo y Julieta 1875 is a great golfing cigar. I have heard it referred to as a real “walking the dog” smoke. It maintains a consistent 92 rating. The review from Cigars International describes it perfectly as having “strong, toasty flavors (that) smack of wood and leather. There’s a sweetness to the long finish.” This cigar is another go-to of mine. Enjoy.

This cigar, and many other fine cigars, are available at John Crouch Tobacconist at 215 King St. in Old Town Alexandria. Mention this article and get 10% off the purchase of this month’s recommended cigar.