The Monroe Street Journal

Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: News

[Click to enlarge]

[Click to enlarge]

Last Thursday, over 150 MBAs put on their most ridiculous golf gear and participated in the 2nd annual Linus Foundation Bar Golf event (www.linusfoundation.org), raising close to $2000 for 826 Michigan. The event consisted of six hole course (we call them Bars) where each team participated in a series of drinking challenges. As the night blurred on, teams attempted to finish each challenge in the fewest amount of sips, ranging from 2 sharkbowls at Rick's to 4 daquiris at The Pizza House with plenty of beer in between.

826 Michigan is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in seven cities across the country. Their goal is to assist students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing. Their work is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

Starting off the night at Rick's around 8:30pm (the only way to start a good night!), golfers set the bar high with the best team finishing both sharkbowls in 9 seconds (No, Michael Phelps was not on their team). With the blood now flowing, golfers made their way over to Good Time Charley's to enjoy a more laid back hole. Andrew Boyink, an MBA1, stepped up and earned his team a hole in one, though he has a clear size advantage. Graham Balentine, also an MBA1, almost earned himself a hole in one until a penalty was called for spilling. When asked about the incident, Graham said, "All I can say is that I let myself down, my team down, and more importantly, I let the sport of golf down."

Next the golfers caddied their fellow teammates over to Blue Lep for an Irish twist on golf. This was quickly followed by a stop at Mitch's for a pitcher of Miller High Life, the champagne of beers! With their pride on the line, golfers' intensity heated up and it became necessary for refs to step in throughout the beer chugging.

Teams then rolled into Pizza House for the final two holes. With only 4 daquiri's and 4 beers standing in each team's way of a victory (or a trip to Rick's to dance their sorrows away), teams found creative ways to push through the last challenge. It was Pizza House that succeeded in separating the contenders from the pretenders. It was a close race between several teams until Phil Rietema stepped up for team The Powerbilt Tour Champions with a Tiger Woods like performance with his daquiri (he pushed for Mai Tai's but was turned down by the refs) to seal the victory.

The event proved to be a great time for all golfers involved and will truly make an impact for 826 Michigan. A special thank you to all the referees that participated! Readers be on the lookout for the next Linus Foundation event taking place in December.

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