If I were of a petty or sensitive nature, I would be pretty sore right now. I really dislike losing anyway; add to that the fact that I lost using my prized Iron Man golf ball while my opponent was using, of all things, a SpongeBob SquarePants golf ball, and the loss becomes all the more difficult to cope with. But it was not just Iron Man who went down to the goofy character who, for some reason, apparently lives in a pineapple under the sea. Captain America, the Hulk and a few Pro V1s got torched as well.
Last weekend was our church’s annual men’s retreat. A big group of us headed out together after the Wednesday evening service and went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for two and a half days of really great fellowship. Each year we do this, we eat several fantastic meals together, play board games late into the night (this year’s choice was Mexican train dominoes), do some shopping and, most importantly, we gather for a time of worship and prayer and Bible study each night, focusing on issues very relevant to godly men.
But during the day, we also have a two-day mini-golf tournament. We play two courses, and the lowest combined score over the two days wins. We present the winner with a personal trophy and also have his name engraved on our Cecil Reid Cup that stays at the church. This has been going on for four years now. The first two years, I inexplicably shot the lights out and won. And I do not use that word “inexplicably” in some faux-humble manner. I golf about once a year, and I play mini-golf once a year as well, and I have never been particularly decent at either. But for those two years, I simply could not miss.
Last year, it very much looked like I would win again. But I lost by one stroke on the very last hole to Pastor Dye, a preacher friend who comes along with us each year and has been brought into our fold as an honorary member.
This year, I was never in contention. But our very newest participant, brother Bruce, was.