Jordan HammThe craziness began at the Waste Management Open in the tournament’s Pro-Am Wednesday. Some of golf’s best and big name celebrities tried their hand at the course before the tournament starts Thursday.
Here are some takeaways from the Pro-AM:
Hole-In-One:
Dave Wood, the former University of Arizona football player and father of current Wildcat football players Carter and Trevor Wood, had the shot of the day at the illustrious 16th hole, as he knocked in a hole-in-one. Must be something about hole-in-ones and the last name “Wood(s)” on the 16th hole.
Randy Johnson And His Shadow:
Things got a little weird for the newly inducted hall of famer. The Randy Johnson featured in the Diamondbacks Legends Race made an appearance at the 16th hole as Johnson was teeing off. The real Randy put his first tee shot into the stands, and his mulligan found the rough. “Legends” Randy as we will call him even tried his hand at a tee shot, but didn’t make it out of the tee box. The exchange took a dangerous turn as “Legends” Randy tried to get in on a caddie race, but fell down before he even got started. It was a little reminiscent of when Randy took a spill running the bases for the D-backs….
Multitalented Artists:
There were a few of the celebrities that were tied to music and not necessarily the game of golf…so it seemed. Country stars Jake Owen and Dierks Bentley are no strangers to the Waste Management Open, as both have played the Bird’s Nest in recent years. But there is more than just that for these two country stars and this tournament. Bentley’s father was active within the tournament as a Thunderbird, and Owen was pursuing a career in professional golf before a wakeboarding accident forced him to step away from the game. Owen eventually turned to country music, and both are now some of the premiere artists in the genre.
Josh Collmenter:
Collmenter was a bit of a nuisance for his teammate Aaron Hill last year when Hill was a participant in the Pro-Am. The Tomahawk brought along giant cardboard cutouts of Hill’s head that would be raised up whenever Hill teed off. Luckily for Collmenter, there was no retaliation. “I’m kind of the ringleader of that, so I guess no one stepped up. There were a few teammates out to see me, and I had some buddies here, so it was fun to see them,” Collmenter said.
Urban and Tebow Reunite:
In Florida’s heyday, if you would have told me Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow would be playing in the 2015 Waste Management Pro-Am with Meyer as the head coach of Ohio State and Tebow as an ESPN broadcaster, I might have called the psych ward. But…he we are. The duo that was so successful at the University of Florida was paired up Wednesday in the Pro-Am. Tebow wore his Florida blue, and Meyer rocked some Ohio State colors, but the two looked thrilled to share the afternoon together. After the round, Meyer said Tebow was “like a son to him” and that Tebow should still be in the NFL.
