Urban golf tournament set to tee off downtown

For the sixth year in a row, golfers will abandon the greens and hit around an urban course in Cape Girardeau.

The First-Ever Sixth Annual Louis J. Lorimier Memorial World-Famous Downtown Golf Tournament and All-You-Can-Eat Catfish Buffet will start at 1:30 p.m. June 26 downtown.

Created by Charlie Herbst six years ago, the tournament has become a fun and popular philanthropic event. Each year the town comes together to whack plastic BirdieBalls around the streets and support the Red House Interpretive Center.

When Herbst discovered the BirdieBall, a plastic cylinder roughly the size of a golf ball, he joked with friend Joe Sullivan that they could turn downtown Cape Girardeau into a golf course -- something Sullivan had daydreamed about many times. While navigating around cars and corners might not be a typical golf course, the downtown golf tournament is part of an international growing trend of "urban golf."

"There are different variations of urban golf," Herbst said. "But basically it is like a giant putt-putt golf course in a downtown setting."

Herbst said some holes are par 2 and some par 3. The longest hole is a 100-yard par 3 into a fountain. The River Campus course will not be used this year. Herbst said more people seemed to enjoy the street course.

Thomas Meyer has played in the tournament every year and last year won third place. Meyer said he is excited to be a part of this year's tournament.

"It's quirky," he said. "I love meeting new people and it is so out of the box. I look forward to it each year."

Herbst expects 40 to 60 people to participate in the tournament. The entry fee is $25 per person, and proceeds benefit the Red House Interpretive Center. The entry fee includes the BirdieBalls, a special strike pad, an event T-shirt and a catfish buffet in the Yacht Club at Port Cape Restaurant. The entry fee includes the BirdieBalls, a special strike pad, an event T-shirt and a catfish buffet in the Yacht Club at Port Cape Restaurant.

John Breaker, creator of the BirdieBall and President at Birdie Ball Inc. will donate custom printed BirdieBalls for the event. Breaker came to Cape Girardeau from Denver two years ago for the tournament and hopes that the tournament will take place for many more summers.

"This is by far the longest running BirdieBall event," he said. "It's been going on for six years and hopefully will go on for 60, and we will always be happy to support it in anyway that we can."

Breaker currently has his eye on creating a BirdieBall tournament in conjunction with the Ryder Cup in Medinah in 2012. In late September, 12 BirdieBall golfers from the UK and U.S. will head to Chicago to compete.

"I'm going to talk to Charlie about doing a qualifier event next summer, we want at least one representative at Medinah from Cape," Breaker said.

The entry form can be found at the Southeast Missourian, Arena Park office or the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Registration is accepted on the day of the tournament, but participants are encouraged to sign up ahead of the event. Contact Charlie Herbst at chas111@herbst.com for more information.

rpayne@semissourian.com

388-3644