‘Irish Cart Bomb’ blasts foes in golf tournament

From left, Glenn Smith, Steve Mullin, Yogi Singh and Eric O’Malley of ‘Irish Cart Bomb’ pose for a photo after ruling the 11th Wollak Golf Classic held last Saturday at Kingfisher Golf Links. (Kay Elliot)

“Irish Cart Bomb” bested 14 other teams to top the 11th Wollak Golf Classic held last Saturday at the Kingfisher Golf Links.

The winning team is made up of Yogi Singh, Eric O’Malley, Glenn Smith and Steve Mullin and they shot a 67 to put their names on the perpetual WGC trophy.

Sharing the spotlight with “Irish Cart Bomb” in the 2020 edition of the annual tournament was hole-in-one winner and second-time WGC participant Jeremy Rother. He sank the ace on the par-3, 140-yard No. 15.

“Was it planned? I guess you always try to aim for a hole-in-one at every par and that shot was a fun surprise,” the Marianas High School teacher said.

Meanwhile, according to WGC organizer Dan Wollak, the first WGC took place on Memorial Weekend in 2014.

“I wanted to put together a fun little golf tournament with my golfing buddies before people left for summer travel. My goal was to create a low-pressure, team-based tournament and tried to create some adapted rules so that the people who are higher handicap golfers could still contribute to their teams,” Wollak said.

Organizer Dan Wollak, left, presents a hat to Jeremy Rother for making a hole-in-one shot in last Saturday’s 11th Wollak Golf Classic at the Kingfisher Golf Links. (Kay Elliot)

“The rules of the tournament were adapted to level the playing field for a wide range of handicaps so that no team had a huge advantage. Your handicap dictates which tee box you played from and how many mulligans you were allowed to hit,” he added.

The annual WGC also always supports a great cause and for this year, the $905 funds raised will will be donated to the Saipan Cares for Animals.

“The tournament is open to everyone but is not publicly advertised and instead, it has been a more word of mouth tournament and so most people who are playing are close friends or friends of friends. When I opened registration for the tournament, it filled up in just over an hour. In the 11th WGC, 16 of the 60 participants were new to the tournament,” Wollak said

“The main thing I hear is that it is a lot of fun and they like the camaraderie of it. Nobody takes themselves too seriously and the rules are designed to make golf easier and more fun, especially for the higher handicappers,” he added.

Kingfisher Golf Course awarded four free golf vouchers to the winning team, while sponsor MARPAC gave away products such as Landshark, Shock Top, and Bud Copper Lagger. Busch t-shirts, Busch, and Bud Light coozies, Landshark beach towels, TaoTao Bud t-shirts, Budweiser Titleist hats, and Bud Light soft-sided coolers were handed to the closest to the pin winners, while McDonald’s donated $100 gift cards and John and Flor Jones provided wine, Beluga Vodka, cigars, and golf shirts and hats.