By Tim Clark
On a Monday in July, where do you find:
Two score lawyers in shorts?
Two athletic young women in golf skirts?
A Googler in Tartan plus-fours (Scottish golf pants)?
A Legal Aid department head serving as valet, then packing clubs to fill a foursome?
At the Stanford golf course, of course, for the 31st Annual Legal Aid Golf Classic, a fundraiser for the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. “One of the appeals of the tournament is that it’s hard to get onto the Stanford course,” said Ronald Garrrity, co-chair of the event for his 20th year.
The 80 entrants had a shotgun start (every foursome started at a different hole), where some 40 electric golf carts cruised to various starting tees. Scoring was done on the Golf Genius smartphone app, with personal tech support for the less tech-savvy. At the shotgun start, a golf marshal for the course headed out with his small dog in the cart. Teams of four comprised not only attorneys but their clients, business associates and local caring individuals.
Players headed to the first tee were immediately diverted, as were all later golfers. The first hole was closed for irrigation work, so instead players went to Hole 19, a temporary diversion of barely more than 100 yards, shorter than most par 3s on the course.
On the course, liquid refreshments were stationed at approximately every fourth hole. Except, as one group complained, the beer was gone by the time their foursome arrived at beer stations. Another team from the same law firm, which had played just ahead of the thirsty golfers, admitted that perhaps they had left too few brews for their compatriots.
On the course, there were myriad competitions, in addition to lowest score in two divisions: Longest drive, straightest drive, closest to pin and an $8,000 cash award for a hole-in-one, a reward that went unpaid.
Then there was an unacknowledged competition for the day’s highest score (not a good thing in golf), which ended in a tie and thus a kind of victory. “Our firm always finishes last in this tournament,” said a golfer who had shown up early to rent clubs to play. “We weren’t last but tied for last.”
Emcee for the awards dinner was the inevitable Tom Vacar, the KTVU-TV reporter who has handled that task for multiple Legal Aid tournaments, himself a lawyer. (Tom’s Channel 2 bio says he hasn’t taken a sick day since 1981, an enviable record.)
The dinnertime raffle excited almost as much interest as the prizes, understandable with one lucky player winning a Baccarat crystal Zodiac boar. One golfer, admitting that he was unprepared for his wedding anniversary the next day, thrilled slightly to win a $25 gift certificate from Godfathers Burger Lounge but then scored three bottles of Trefethen wine.
The prized competition was a team challenge for lowest score in two divisions, Senior and Regular. Not just lowest score but second, third and fourth lowest score. By the time the fourth place Senior prize was announced, there was barely a golfer over 50 who had not been awarded.
The games were not just in fun but to ensure that Legal Aid SMC can offer guidance and free legal representation when our neighbors need it most. By improving access to tenant protections, immigration relief, food assistance, and other safety net systems, we improve the quality of life for everyone in our community.