The Ackerman Classic: Remembering a Friend.

The Participants + 1 in the 2010 Ackerman Classic at Old Hickory Golf Club

By: Chad Moore
In April of 07 one of my closest friend’s Steve Ackerman suddenly passed.  He departed without warning making his passing difficult to comprehend even for those who barely knew him.  With any passing, especially those at a young age (Steve was 33), it leaves you feeling frustrated, sad, pissed off, but more than anything else, empty…  All who knew Steve felt these emotions in one way or another and the only way we knew deal with them was to get together and just simply talk about Steve.  I can’t say I was in favor of seeing anyone that day, but my wife Meghan convinced me that it would be a good idea to just share what I was feeling with others experiencing the same thing.  So reluctantly I made the journey to a friend’s house who had invited several of Steve’s closest friends over. With each person you see for the first time there was a total meltdown along with griping hugs and flashes of memories you experienced with that person and Steve.  Words are difficult to describe just how vivid and plentiful these memories were, to draw a parallel I’m guessing it was similar to those who’ve had a near death experience and their lives flash before their eyes.  This went on for hours as different friends showed up… In the midst of all of the sad emotions and waterfalls of tears a funny thing happened, we found ourselves laughing out loud as we told stories about Steve.  It was truly amazing how many stories we all had to share, some you were familiar with, some you weren’t, it really didn’t matter, it made us realize the impact Steve had on all our lives.

The night of the funeral many friends and family gathered at a local watering hole frequented by Steve, Rhodeside Grill.  That night we decided that it was better to celebrate Steve’s life rather than mourn about that fact that he was gone.  I know it’s cliché to say we are going keep his spirit alive through our memories, but that couldn’t be more accurate.  Steve does live on and although his life ended way too soon, he lived a full life, which was evident with how many lives he touched.  So it was decided from that point forward that we would celebrate Steve each year in the early weeks of April.

In 2008 we didn’t know exactly what we were going to do, but one thing was for sure, we would end up a Rhodeside.  The idea of golf came about, not because Steve played golf or even liked it, but knew it was a way for us to get out away from the daily grinds of life and enjoy an entire day dedicated to Steve and that’s exactly what we did.  Can’t say the weather cooperated that year, but we didn’t care, everyone who was invited showed up.  Sure enough that night all who played ended up at Rhodeside along with about 40 others.  I’ll be honest, this was a tough year and a day like this was needed for sure.

Around Feb of 09 I sent an email to the group about what we wanted to do for that year’s outing.  I made the suggestion that we set up a tournament, actually I’m not sure who’s idea it was, but I’ll take the credit.  Without hesitation we all agreed to develop teams, so the first order of business was to rank the field… can’t say this was an easy process as we have 1 true A play and a few Fs, but after a few squabbles and couple of trades the teams were set.  To commemorate the day I thought it would be a good idea to award each of the winning team members a plaque which read “2009 Ackerman Classic” over a picture of a dirty martini (Steve’s drink of choice).

The week’s heading into the tourney we had several days in the 70s, so we were hopeful that the weather would be a bit better than the previous year.  Well I can let you know that when we teed off it was about 47 degrees and raining sideways, but again we all showed up with no complaints.  By day’s end the sun had peeked out and we all managed to have survived even though there were allegations of a cart being driven on a green and threats of being kicked off the course.

The winning team score was 5 under par posted by Keith Livingston, Jason Ovslaski, Andy Togni and John

"Check it out Ladies.. This Guy won Closest to the Pin"

Burdick.  A short ceremony took place to award the plaques, of course a few stories were told and a beer two was drank, but we were ready to rush home, clean up and head to Rhodeside.  Oh and one more thing we that I almost forgot, at the end of this tourney we thought it would be nice to take a snap shot of the group, so we can remember what we look like when we’re old and gray.  Well we ended up taking quite a few pics and the most memorable (which I believe to have Steve’s stamp of approval) depicts several of us giving the Ackerman salute (a story for another day), which has since become a tradition.Sure enough when we arrived at Rhodeside several of Steve’s friends were already there with martini’s in hand ready for a night of sharing memories and laughter.  Yes most of the stories are the same, but they never get old… and on occasion you would hear one that you haven’t heard before.  What a night… I think I went down somewhere between 3 and 4 AM and for an old man like me that’s way past my bed time.

This brings us to this years Ackerman Classic.  Hard to believe it’s been 3 years since Steve passed… At this point I think most of us look forward to this time of year, although it’s still difficult to rehash the feelings of 3 years ago… we’ve come to enjoy each other’s company and to celebrate the life that Steve lived.  Meghan, Cameron and I reached out to the Ackerman’s and joined them for church this past Easter (the week before this year’s tourney).  It was great to see them and I promised that we would stay in touch, I would ask that each of you do the same.  I can’t tell you how much it would mean to them to hear from you all.

Well last year we decided that we would step up the efforts for tourney each year and this year was no exception.  JC Byrne had “Ackerman Classic” shirts made with the official logo of a martini glass (created by Mike Henry) embroidered on the front of the shirts.  Pretty nice shirts and they were even color coordinated for each team.  I must say this was a nice touch!  This year’s outing was held at Old Hickory Golf Club in Woodbridge.  Thanks to Adam McCaa, who was able to secure the location, we were treated really good and had a solid rate for a Saturday morning.

Other than the change in courses there was one glaring difference from years past, it was freaking beautiful outside.  I might have failed to mention that during the first Ackerman Classic in 08 it was freezing, didn’t have the rain like 09 but it was chilly.  At any rate, this year was shaping up to be the best of the bunch, new shirts, good weather, even had a few more peeps come out and joined us… hell my team even birdied the first 2 holes, which was 5 shots better than how we started last year, although our final score ended up 1 shot worse.

As it always is in a scramble.. It's who's gonna make more putts? Not this team.

Pretty solid day all and all. Old Hickory is a great course for our scramble format. There were no threats of being kicked off the course and we had a new winner with a new low winning score.  Team Green – Mike Dorner aka “Doc”, Chris Counts, Mike Henry, and Steve Willenheimer shot a tournament record of 6 under (yeah it’s only been two years of keeping track, but a new record none-the-less).  Unfortunately, we didn’t have plaques to award this year, that’s due to my slack ass, well I have a small excuse, my time’s been limited with the birth to my son Cameron… had to give him a shoutout, what up Bubby?  We also decided that rather than giving a plaque each year that we would get an office Ackerman Classic trophy, possibly a Stanley cup looking trophy that will have room for winners names to be engraved…. you’ll get it i promise, although it might not be until tee off during the 2011 Ackerman Classic.  After passing out the prize money, (yes we have money on the line… of course) and a beer or two, we all headed home to clean up for Rhodeside once again.

Again, a pretty good turnout at Rhodeside.  Without hesitation dirty martinis started flowing and of course so did the stories.  I didn’t stay as long this year…. babysitter had to leave at 12am, but I did manage to get in a martini or two!

That’s the story of the Ackerman Classic, created by a terrible tragedy, but a celebration we look forward to each and every year.

I know I speak for us all when I say we love and miss you Steve!

Your friend and brother always,

Chad

The Winning Scorecard at the 2010 Ackerman Classic