Finding scorekeepers is the toughest part of organizing the Kiwanis Robbie McEvers Golf Tournament.
Keeping score is not a hard job; you walk or ride around with the young golfers, help guide them through the course, and keep track of their scores so they don’t have to. But it can take a few hours, and being out on a golf course on a humid 90-degree day isn’t everybody’s idea of fun.
But it was exactly where Jacksonville Middle School teachers Lauren Range and Cathy Gibson wanted to be.
“It’s so fun. This is great,” Range said. “One of my kids did the Robbie McEvers several years back. We’re not a golf family by any means, but I love that this is a tradition in Jacksonville. I think it’s wonderful.”
Range and Gibson are new members of the club; they won’t officially become Kiwanians until next week, but they couldn’t wait for their first volunteer assignment. Service organizations everywhere are having a hard time finding new members. Range and Gibson wanted to join.
“I’m a teacher, and I really believe in giving back to your community,” Gibson said. “And so I thought this would be a perfect organization to join to be able to give back even more to the community, in a different way.”
“Well, you know, my kids are getting to the age that they’re a little bit older,” Range said. “I have two high school kids and a junior high kid, and they don’t need me every day for everything, like they used to. And I just wanted to give back to the community. I grew up in Jacksonville, born and raised, and I teach at Jacksonville Middle School, and it’s just my way of giving back. So I’m excited about it.”
It took around 50 volunteers to help run the tournament on Thursday, registering golfers, working concessions and keeping score. A total of 28 people worked as scorekeepers.
On Thursday organizers cut the tournament in half for the older golfers, reducing the number of holes from 18 to nine. It was that hot.
“It really wasn’t too bad,” Gibson said. “We have a nice breeze right now, and it’s kind of overcast. There were only one or two holes that got hot. They had water out there and cold towels, and the girls had things to drink, too.”
Some scorekeepers took carts onto the course. Range and Gibson both walked. “I didn’t get my run in this morning,” Range said, “so this is my exercise.”
Gibson said the hardest part about Thursday was making sure she knew where the next hole was. Range had to make a couple of rulings on shots that found the water, but she double-checked the rule book, and the round went off without a hitch. “Other than that, it was a clean game,” she said. “They did a really nice job.”
Bob Large, a past president of Kiwanis, also volunteered as a scorekeeper on Thursday. He’s been volunteering at the tournament for more than a decade.
“It’s a great cause, and the kids are wonderful,” he said. “I enjoy it.”
A total of 140 golfers signed up for the tournament this year, with 80 golfers on the Links Golf Course, and 60 on the Nichols Park course. Organizers were a little worried that golfers might not come back after last year’s tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19, but Paul Reither, co-chair of the Kiwanis golf committee, was pleased with the turnout.
Because of the lingering COVID threat, participants have been asked to limit contact on the course, and not gather in large groups in the concession area. To keep people from crowding together, the tournament will not be handing out awards Friday.
Range and Gibson both golf, occasionally. They were surprised how well the young golfers played.
“They are so good,” Gibson said. “I was like, wow, you guys hit it a lot better than I do. I’m a good putt-putt person. So yeah, they had a really good time, and one of the girls was golfing for JMS, so it was kind of fun to meet her.”
“Lots of pretty drives that I myself would not have been able to do even if I had practiced for 10 years,” Range said. “They are wonderful golfers. I love it. So it’s been fun today.”
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Volunteers help make Kiwanis McEvers Tourney a success - Jacksonville Journal-Courier
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