During a time when Covid-19 seems to be running full speed ahead and every piece or tidbit of news that comes out seems to be nothing but more dreary information, it was refreshing to see that there was some good news in Tigertown this past Monday. Outside of football that is.
Thanks to former Tiger Wayne Buckingham, there was a golf tournament held on the Walker course at Clemson to benefit Sharone Wright. Some of the Clemson greats there to play and help out were Elden Campbell, Dale Davis, C.J. Spiller, Tajh Boyd, Danny Ford, Grayson Marshall, Cliff Ellis, Dalton Freeman, Bobby Conrad, Terrell “T-Mac” McIntyre, Terrence “TO” Oglesby, Levon Kirkland, Homer Jordan, Donnell Woolford, and James “Coleslaw” Coley.
This country boy from the little ole town of Turbeville, SC had the privilege of attending this fundraiser along with my nephew, Jacob, and I stood in awe as we got there a little before nine that morning and had the opportunity to watch the greats named above. I grew up watching or listening as they gave their all on the football field or basketball court.
When the time came for us to find out who we would be playing 18 holes with, we ended up being paired with James “Coleslaw” Coley. Coleslaw was a player that, being honest, I did not remember. However, after Monday, I will never forget him as long as I live, and I know it is fair to say that Jacob won’t either.
The three of us (Team Huth was the name started out with) head out to hole number seven to start out our day of golf. As we arrive at the tee box another golf cart meets us there and I have to take a double take because the guy driving asked if we minded if he could play with us. The reason I had to take a double take was because I was sure that the guy talking to us was Terrence “TO” Oglesby and the passenger was Terrell “T-Mac” McIntyre but that couldn’t be, right? Could it?
I mean, I didn’t have the money to pay the huge price that it took to get our own choice of stars. I was already playing 18 holes with Jacob and Coleslaw on a course that had been on my bucket list since they put the Clemson paw on it when it was built. Now we suddenly has two basketball greats joining us.
So our day began with a surprise like no other and lasted that way right up until the very end. There was so much fun had that it wasn’t even fair in my honest opinion. Everything that could happen to us did just that…happen.
We became known as Team Clemson Caddy Shack less than three holes in and we laughed on every hole. Sometimes so hard that one or two of us had to step away from our shot to finish the laughter. Coleslaw finally told Jacob that he wasn’t gonna say anything else to him once we got on the green because every time he did it seemed to scare him so bad that he couldn’t hit the put with any strength.
For those of you that don’t know. I’m a type one Diabetic and as fate would have it, as we played hole number three, my sugar began to drop. I knew it as soon as it happened so I grabbed a pack of the peanut and honey lance crackers out of the snack bag and started to open them. At the same time, Jacob goes to find his ball and he does. It is in a muddy part of the rough and as he attempts to drive out of it we become, you guessed it, stuck.
Here I am trying to stuff crackers in my mouth and help push us out of the bog and nothing at the time seemed to be working. So Jacob moved to the back as I moved to the driver’s side of the cart and pushed the cart while holding one foot on the gas. As the cart begins to finally move I hear Jacob yelling stop emphatically. Low and behold, he was not pushing from the side but directly behind the cart and mud was all over his legs after the cart came out of the bog.
Again there was so much laughter that neither one of us could control ourselves as we caught back up to the rest of our team. The rest of them got a kick out of it as well. We finished out our day talking, joking, and hitting the little ball around some more.
I tell this story to tell you this. We had a blast while helping out a former player from Tigertown. My nephew and I, both from a one stoplight town, two former Tiger basketball greats and a former football great, that did not know each other at all to help another hoops legend that needs all of the help we can give.
On Team Clemson Caddy Shack alone you had a guy that took time out of his day as a new assistant basketball coach, another that had to rush out as soon as we finished so that he could pick up his kids, a guy that took time off from his new restaurant and came back to Tigertown, and a deputy sheriff and his nephew that drove three and a half hours all to help a fellow Tiger out.
What this “sheriff” (the nickname given to me by TO) saw and witnessed on Monday was just how blessed I was to be able to not only help out my friend, Sharone Wright, but also was blessed enough to gain three new friends while checking off another bucket list item in Tigertown.
The overall goal still has not been reached according to former Clemson SID, Tim Bourret, and he can use all of the help that can be gotten so below you will find the link to the Gofundme page that Wayne Buckingham setup for those that want to help but weren’t able to go to the golf tournament. Like he told me a about a week ago, “It would help out Sharone tremendously if each Tiger would donate just a dollar“ – Wayne Buckingham
Great article. You left James Trapp sprinter and NFL DB off the celebrity list. I played with James and he’s a great guy