The first-ever ComedicCLE "Indoor Outing" Golf Tournament
We spent a Saturday at Golf Zone, in Avon, Ohio for our first attempt at an indoor golf event and we have to admit, it was pretty awesome!
The simulators there are truly amazing. Video playback of your swing, every statistic about your swing and additional graphic features like showing the path of your club thru the ball etc., etc. All of those things and more are shown to you for every swing on driving range practice mode.
The simulated play is very realistic (in my case unfortunately so) and there are a lot of upsides compared to standard golf. No lost balls. No walking/riding between shots. The ball tees up automatically and they have tee/fairway/rough/sand options on which to place your ball accordingly for each shot.
We paired up one sponsor with one comedian for six teams of two. Phil Eckinrode (golf glutton) played as a sponsor for his firm Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP because we knew he was a golfer. He was randomly paired with comedian Gary Campbell (teddy bear hustler) and they proceeded to win the tournament while Phil (again, golf glutton) also took home the Long Drive and Closest to Hole. The balls on this guy!! No really, the prize was a lot of golf balls and some cash. He also is a previous winner of the Cleveland Comedy Open at Hilarities. It was an unfortunate pairing for everyone else because Gary Campbell was probably the tourney MVP if we were to name one.
Moosehead BBQ has great food. Go there if you want really legit pulled pork, ribs, BBQ chicken etc. And they have some of the most original and best potato salad ever. The cornbread is problematically delicious too. They provided the food and needless to say, there were no leftovers!
Josh from Moosehead played with comedian Rob Stutzman. Josh couldn’t possibly outplay the level of his restaurant’s food but he can golf. He has played at Golf Zone before and it showed. Rob is no slouch. But they were in the middle with Jim and Megan for most of the tourney. They also had to deal with Joe Briggs flaunting numerous cups of gelato in their area during play.
Which brings us to Coco’s Gelato. Because Golf Zone has Coco’s right inside! They have tons of flavors that they put out regularly and they are so creamy and rich they gave Joe Briggs an instant addiction issue. It is worth the trip and they have options for every diet and flavor profile. Also, Joe Briggs knows how to dress for golf and had a super-dope, classic golf bag.
Those are the positives. As I said about myself, Joe was the victim of realistic play. He was paired with Jack Long. At 23, Jack is my son and apparently unaware of sunscreen as he was intensely burned (son-burned?). That didn’t stop him from ripping a few long drives and irons but the only competition they were really in was with me and comedian Christian HB (Columbus)…for last place. Christian had never golfed before. By the end of 18 holes, he had golfed once! Really though, he learned quickly and saved a bunch of shots.
A very close competitor was Jim from Railroad Brewing. The guy can putt. Flat out. 20 feet. 30 feet. He was splashin! But luckily for everyone else he was paired with our very own Megan Brautigam. She is a brand new golfer and golf is mean. So they were middle-of-the -pack status throughout. We went to Railroad Brewing after the tournament and the beer selection and quality there is excellent!
Our choices were Barefoot Blonde, Red Caboose and Day Trip. It’s hard to pick a favorite between the three because they were all really good. I will not further review them because I am far from knowledgeable. But Jim introduced us to mixing beers together and the world is brand new again! We also took home a few growlers and they stay fresh for several days. Railroad is a very cool place. They have food trucks, delicious beer and scheduled entertainment. Not much more you can ask for. It’s also only about 100 yards from Golf Zone so it’s a great “19th hole”.
Greg from Hahn Loeser & Parks punished a bunch of drives and kept Phil grounded as much as possible. Also a very legit golfer, Greg was paired with comedian and producer David Morales. They were early favorites but fell behind and never got back in it. Dave remained clutch whenever needed and Greg is a good golfer. They should be disappointed. Dave Morales has some shows coming up this summer so check him out if you’re looking for a comedy show.
One aspect of the tournament that really stood out was our host, Mr. Brian Kenny. Brian did color commentary for over four hours! Never too much and never a dull moment, we could not have been more impressed but we were not surprised. We have worked with Brian many times before and that’s how it goes. It doesn’t hurt that he is one of the absolute best comics in Cleveland. Look him up. He is not hard to find. You will laugh.
We’ll, that’s it. Thanks again to all who sponsored, hosted and participated in the ComedicCLE “Indoor Outing” golf tournament. We will have info regarding upcoming events soon.
(The pics and video were shot and edited by Megan Brautigam)