Playing The Washtenaw Charity Classic

On Monday, I teed it up in my favorite golf event of every year: The Washtenaw Charity Classic.

What makes it my favorite? A combination of things.

First is the charity it supports: Folds of Honor. Founded in Grand Haven in Michigan in 2007, Folds of Honor offers scholarships to the spouses and children of our nation’s decased and disabled service members. . The foundation was created by Lt. Colonel Dan Rooney, a USAF fighter pilot who is also a PGA Professional. Over the years, Folds of Honor has provided 62,000 educational scholarships. American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven is the spiritual home of Folds of Honor.

According to Doug Bell, General Manager of American Dunes, who spoke at the Washtenaw Charity Classic, over the past year, every one of the Folds of Honor Scholarship applications in Michigan were honored. That is in no small part due to the efforts of charity outings like the Washtenaw Charity Classic.

The second reason I love the Washtenaw Charity Classic is the staff. The club’s staff goes above and beyond to make the event enjoyable for the players. It is Washtenaw’s signature event and it shows. From the employees greeting players in the parking lot, through the lunch, the play on course and the dinner afterwards, it is all first class.

Third is the outing’s format: the shamble. In a shamble, the best tee shot is chosen, and then every person plays their own ball until they hole out. Players get 80% of their established handicaps, and the best two scores count for the group.

The shamble format with handicaps is better than the usual outing scramble. Too often in scrambles, one or more players are disengaged as they realize that their shots are never really going to contribute to the group score. In a shamble with handicaps, everyone has a good chance of contributing to the group score.

That’s where the next element of the Washtenaw Charity Classic comes into play: Each foursome is joined by a golf professional. This year, my group’s pro was Jim Yuhas, a PGA professional at the Kendall Academy of Golf.

This makes the round really fun. In the several years I’ve played the Washtenaw Charity Classic, my group has more often than not used the pro’s drive. On par threes, it is particularly gratifying. The pro parks the ball on the green, and those of use who get strokes are putting for a 1, a zero, or even a minus 1. On fours and fives, it is still fun to hit shorter than usual clubs.

I was happy that my group actually used my tee shot on one of the holes. I striped an absolute zinger of a drive on the par four eighteenth.

As in years past, World Golf Hall of Famer Dennis Walters was the guest of honor. This year, however, he wasn’t there to perform his legendary show. Walters was there to play golf.

It really is incredible to see Walters swing and putt from his custom golf cart.

Last, but by no means least is the presence of Dave Kendall, Michigan Golf Hall of Famer and Washtenaw Golf Club co-owner. Kendall was everywhere, hobnobbing, organizing, encouraging and even playing.

All of this is remarkable because — as has been well-publicized elsewhere — Kendall was diagnosed with cancer early in 2024. During treatment, he had resigned himself to not playing golf again, but a conversation with the aforementioned Dennis Walters convinced him to give it another go.

As Kendall tells the story, he started with putting and as his strength improved, advanced to chipping; then playing a hole or two from the 100 yard mark; then playing a couple of full holes; then nine; and eighteen. He got a hole in one and shot his age.

Kendall played with Dennis Walters during the outing. It was inspiring to see them.

I have never come away from an encounter with Kendall without feeling as though he has given me something to think about in my golf game — and by extension, life in general. This day was no different.

In a talk with the outing’s players after the round, Kendall said that golf has taught him to celebrate small accomplishments on the way to bigger ones.

“I learned to appreciate and celebrate the little things in golf,” Kendall said. “It helps because you gain confidence and belief in yourself through that.”

“When you discount some of yoru accomplishments and say ‘well, I did good, but I didn’t win’ you are actually kind of calling yourself a loser — and you shouldn’t do that,” Kendall said.

Reflecting on his illness over the last year, Kendall extended that golf lesson off the course.

“We need to celebrate each day. We can’t take it for granted and say ‘what’s one day or one week?’ It’s one more day or one more week than you would have had otherwise. Instead of discounting your days, celebrate them and build confidence into the future.”

Celebrate a good swing or a good hole and build confidence for the next. Celebrate the day and build confidence for tomorrow.

Good advice.

A couple of final notes. Every great golf outing has great sponsors. Here are a few: