Cape prepares for first downtown golf tournament

The first annual Downtown Golf Tournament is set to kick off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, and more than 70 golfers have signed up to play.

"There's a lot of excitement. People have been asking me about it everywhere. They're kind of curious whether it's for real or not," said co-organizer Charlie Herbst. "I think quite a few people will show up just to watch even if they didn't sign up to play."

One golfer who's definitely coming to play is Marge Thompson, the 81-year-old director of the River Heritage Museum. "I'm determined to finish even if it means my daughter has to drag me to the last hole," she said. Thompson said she hasn't played golf in six years but is a former club champion in Florida and won the Lassie Classic with her daughter, Trisha Kell, at Cape Girardeau Country Club.

This, though, will be a different experience. "I've played crazy golf in some silly tournaments, but this will be something new. I can't wait to go through the CVB," she said.

The first hole starts at Gazebo Park in front of the Common Pleas Courthouse, and the ninth hole finishes at the Red House. In between, golfers will battle sidewalks, trees and maybe even some Mississippi River catfish of the living variety.

That's because hole seven is on the east side of the downtown floodwall and has a big, muddy water hazard. "That's probably the most challenging hole," Herbst said. "Because it's all rough brick and pavestone, the ball takes some funny bounces. When we played the course for a practice round mine careened off into the river. But the balls float so I got it back."

Extra balls will be available for golfers.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said he's only playing to have fun, never mind what the score card reads. "It's going to be wonderful," he said. "It'll take me just as many swings to get to the end as it does on a regular golf course. Any time I shoot under a hundred in golf or over a hundred in bowling I know I've had a fine athletic day."

The par for the nine-hole downtown course is 35.

The event will end sometime around 3:30 p.m., at which point golfers will head to the Red House for an all-you-can eat catfish buffet catered by Port Cape. The profits of the event will go toward the Red House building fund and the organization is showing its appreciation by sending out 13 volunteers. The helpers will direct people along the course and make sure Southeast Missourian editor Joe Sullivan doesn't take any liberties with his score card.

The Red House volunteers may be in the costume of 1803, but that's up to mother nature, says director Jane Randol Jackson. "It depends on the heat," she said. "Some of the costumes are made out of heavy wool, so if it's hot like it is today, shorts might be more appropriate."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245