The History of the FrostBite Open Charity Golf Tournament
Our humble beginnings
It started with 8 friends golfing on the day after Easter. After a few years of religiously scheduling their golf outing on the Monday after Easter, the same 8 friends decided to start a spring scramble tournament at their place of employment.
So, at Lakes of Taylor Golf Course on March 28th 1996, these friends and several invitees came together for an outing. The Fee was $45.00 per golfer with no perks to speak of. All that was offered was just a round of golf and a chance at $287.00 worth of door prizes. Most of the stuff was only items a left-handed golfer could use. Even so, boy did we think we got a deal! We impressed ourselves.
The spring of 1996, according to the farmer's almanac, was going to be unseasonably cold. On the way to the Golf course, we drove thru a 30-minute snowstorm. Once all 92 golfers got there the whiteout subsided; leaving heavy frost on the greens. So we waited. And waited. We waited for an hour and a half, until the earth's warmth melted the frost off of the greens.
Finally, the tournament began. Smiling golfers hit the links. At the mid point of the outing, gale force winds accompanied by freezing rain pummeled these rugged golfers. Some golfers could not finish, claiming their hands and feet were frostbitten. Through these awful, sinister conditions was born the Frostbite Open.
The Year 1997
Lakes of Taylor Golf Course
After learning from past mistakes, we were bound and determined (now that we had an official name) to make this year's event better than the last. Some of the guys went off to get sponsors. This would allow us to offer these brave souls bigger and better door prizes. This year we raised $2,000 for door prizes and golfers packs for the 144 golfers that braved the elements. The outing was a lauded success.
The Year 1998
Giant Oaks Golf Course
Due to the previous golf course doubling their golfing fees, we were forced to find a new home. The sincere folks at Giant Oaks golf Club, located in Bedford Michigan, were able to meet our needs.
1St Year as a Penrickton charity event
We thought since we were able to raise $2,000 just for golfing needs, maybe we should put these funds towards a good cause. So we raised the price of golf to $60.00 and concentrated on our newfound sponsors. We knocked on many doors, witnessing the good, bad and ugly that comes with charity work. Thru it all, 160 golfers participated. And with the help of a few sponsors we raised $5,500 cash. We presented the money to the director of Penrickton. Kurt Sebley was gracious enough to accept our donation in a worn out coffee can. The first annual frostbite open charity golf outing to benefit the Penrickton Center had successfully begun. We freeze so that we may warm the hearts of as many children as possible each year.
The Year 1999
Giant Oaks Golf Course
Once again the kind folks at Giant Oaks Golf Course were more than willing to host the Frostbite Open Golf Tournament. Even with the early signs of an El Nino coming, the outing was filled to capacity. We totaled 168 golfers strong; all participating for the good of the children. This year we were able to offer two cars and a set of Anderson Windows from the fine folks at Superior Window Company for hole in one prizes. Money raised that day came to $8,800! Ah, yes. One would think we were getting better at this.
The Year 2000
Warren Valley Golf Course
Due to the sudden popularity
of the Frostbite Open we had to move to a larger facility. Warren
Valley Golf Course got the job. Still being somewhat new at this golf tournament
stuff, we didn't think about flood plains, spring rains, and the effect
those rains would have on a flood plain. Unfortunately for us, Warren Valley
golf course is located directly on the Rouge River flood plain. Five days
before the outing was to begin Mother Nature sent a deluge of rain for
two days. By the third day the entire golf course was under water. Imagine
the look on our faces when the Frostbite Committee showed up to pay our
bill. 2 days before tee off and all we saw was Lake Warren
Valley. After a few well placed phone calls to the Wayne County Commissioners
office, the golf course was being pumped dry by eight 10 inch super pumps.
Fortunately by the time the Frostbite was to begin there may only have
been a handful of uncharted water hazards. The fine folks from Wayne
County pulled it off! By Monday at 8:00am the golfers arrived to a beautiful
warm sunny day. So warm in fact, many golfers made jokes about our
tournament name. This year we needed our first group of volunteers. We
had two separate golf courses to keep an eye on and all types of logistical
concerns to deal with. In addition to hole in one cars and windows,
we offered a new Harley Davidson Sportster. Overall, 252 golfers hit the
links on a 70 degree day.
By the end of the day, $15,100 had been raised for the center.
The Year 2001
White ford Valley Golf Course
Once again we had to move to a larger facility
due to the increase in participation. Whiteford Valley Golf Course
got the job. White Ford Valley Golf Course is located in Ottawa Lake, Michigan.
This tiny hamlet of a town is nestled a stones throw away from the Ohio
/ Michigan border near US23. Whiteford Valley offers 4 different 18 hole
courses. The Valley became our obvious choice for future outings. This
site provided us the opportunity for growth that we were looking for.
All 292 golfers showed
up on time and the tournament began. Spreading these golfers over 3 courses's
helped improve play time. Over $11,000 in door prizes and golfer goodies
also came with the ride. Whiteford Valley Golf Course had never hosted
an event such as this before. They were not familiar with the enormity or the
professionalism required by the Frostbite Open. One can only
imagine what happened next. After various meetings with the golf course, the
plans were set. The event was set to begin. Of course, the typical Frostbite
Open spring rain and wind storm occurred. The pavilion at that time had
no doors to keep the heat in the building; the temporary walls did not reach
the bottom of the floor resulting in the pavilion being just as cold as the
elements outside. At that time the committee thought that the Frostbite
Open tournament would cease to exist. Surely no one would participate
in an outing like this. Boy were we wrong. The rugged folks that are
the Frostbite Open held out until the end and raised a whopping $25,331.00.
By this time our volunteer base had raised to over 30 people.
I cannot give enough praise to these angels from heaven. Without them we
could not exist.
The Year 2002
White ford Valley Golf Course
Major improvements were made to the
pavilion to ease the suffering of our resilient force of followers. The
package was presented to 320 golfers. After surviving 2001 one would
think what else could go wrong. Right?
Easter Sunday, we got a phone call from the course
golf pro stating that this year's event must be cancelled! Apparently
10 inches of snow had fallen the week before; the effects of the melting snow
combined with a fresh downpour of rain resulted in the complete flooding of
one of our key courses and half of another. After excusing ourselves
from our family obligations we rushed down to the golf course to have a special
meeting with all of the key players to try to salvage what was left of this
huge mess. Three hours later after moving all of the golfers from the
flooded course to an alternate course and making a couple of par-5's into par-3's,
we headed home to try to salvage what was left of Easter with our families. The
day of the tournament was uneventful. The weather cooperated, the pavilion
was toasty warm, the food was delicious and the end result was $29,198 raised
for Penrickton.
The Year 2003
White ford Valley Golf Course
Banner year for golfers! We had 396 participants and all of the same perks as the previous year. Mother Nature forced us to send our troops out in the pouring rain only to let up to rays of sunshine later that day. Total amount of money raised that year for the Kids at The Penrickton Center totaled $38,380.00.
The Year 2004
White ford Valley Golf Course
What another banner year for golfers; in that we had
364 participants in early April with all of the same perks and gifts as
before. Mother Nature as always had something up her sleeve. The morning
started out sunning with no wind, giving our battle hardened group a false
sense of security.
The total amount of money raised this year for the
Kids at The Penrickton Center amounted to $42,375.00
Note: this is no outing for a fair weather golfer.
The Year 2005
White ford Valley Golf Course
Due to this years outing being held March 28th many
golfers decided to stay home. We dropped in total to 280. We had
all of the same perks as the year before and a twist. The longer you participated
in the frostbite Open tournament, the more cold weather gear you would
acquire. This year's heated mittens, blanket, and knitted hat were not
needed.
Mother Nature this time had something good up her sleeve. The morning
started out sunning with no wind and continued to get warmer. This resulted
in the second warmest Frostbite Open on record. This gave our
battle hardened group a welcomed reprieve.
Total money raised this year for the Kids at The Penrickton
Center amounted to $40,339.00
The Year 2006
White ford Valley Golf Course
The temperature was a warm 63 degrees; April 17th brought back many of the golfers that decided to stay home the year before. This year's event offered 340 + golfers a chance to hit the tees a little earlier than most of the golfing squads in Michigan. We had no issues with the golf course, the food, or Mother Nature of any kind, so the story will be short & sweet.
We did however create something new this year: This year was the first year for "Kids Get the Cash Trophy Presentation"
You ask, what is that?
The Kids Get the Cash trophy is a tournament within a tournament.
For a sponsorship fee of $1,000 or two or more $575.00 sponsors
from on source, one team can play for this beautiful bronze
challis that you can take with you to your place of business.
This year we had seven teams participate in the Kids get the cash trophy,
with Parfection Golf Center bringing in the best score.
The end result was $45,323.00 raised this year, which put the outing at over a QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS for the center since we began raising money for them.
The Year 2007
White ford Valley Golf Course
The history books will look back at the Big -3 in 2007 and say that this particular year was the year of change! The Frostbite Open Golf Tournament suffered the same fate. Due to the drastic cuts within the automotive Industry the Frostbite committee had to change with the times.
Members that played a small role in the planning, raising money, & packaging were asked to come to the plate and take a more active role. Thanks to their hard work and perseverance the frostbite open golf tournament teed off at 9:00am. April 9th, to a sunny warm 28 degrees, those that were there thought the weather god answered their prayers,
The day started off very pleasant, only to change two hours later. At that time the temperature dropped the wind picked up and once again our tournament name became the norm, for our 300 plus golfers.
This year we had the best Raffle prizes ever. Which resulted in lots of money being raised for the Penrickton kids, what started off as a dismal money raising effort, turned into $31,842 for the center. I must say that we were very pleased with the result considering the major obstacles the committee endured.
The Year 2008
Fox Hills Golf & Country Club
This year the Frostbite Open Golf Tournament decided to move to Fox Hills Golf & Country Club located in Plymouth Michigan. Fox Hills golf course, offered our golfers a higher standard of luxury, a country club setting as well as premier golf courses.
The farmer's almanac stated that the first two weeks of March would be unusually colder than normal, with above average amounts of precipitation , in other words SNOW!!!!! LOTS OF SNOW!!!!
Since This years outing was the earliest ever, the third week of March was no exception. On Good Friday Southeastern Michigan got hit with 8 inches of snow, leaving only 52 hours for most of it to melt before the 10:00am tee time on Monday.
The co Chairmen's cell phones were ringing off the hook for all of Saturday & most of Easter Sunday, with inquiring frost bitters, wanting to know if the outing was canceled. In the 13-years that the Frostbite Open Golf Tournament has existed, we have never had to cancel the golfing portion of the event. The final call was made at 7:00am the day of the outing by the Co Chairmen & the Fox Hill Staff, due to the fact the golf course still had at least 3 inches of packed snow on the course. The professional staff at Fox Hills shoveled off a couple of greens near the club house so that our eager golfers could still participate in the contest holes for longest drive & closest to the pin, as well as preparing the banquet room four hours early for our arriving golfers. By 9:30AM most of our 348 golfers had arrived to a beautiful setting of continental breakfast treats as well as an open bar. Naturally we moved the presentation portion of the outing to start at 11:00am; dinner was served at 11:30am. Instead of 3:30 PM as originally designed. When given lemons make lemon aid was the battle cry for all of the frostbite open staff.
All of the raffle prizes were given away, the dinners were served and the participants enjoyed an early libation treat. The end result was $43,000 raised for the children of the Penrickton Center. The Frostbite Open staff as well as the fine folks at Fox Hills Golf club turned his year's event into a wonderful experience.
In closing: next years Frostbite open will be held April 13th.
The Year 2009
Fox Hills Golf & Country Club
WOW! What a year!!!!!!!!
With Auto Company bankruptcies looming, home foreclosures at their highest since the Great Depression and the unemployment rate at over 12% in the state of Michigan. The FrostBite Open Committee knew that this year was going to be the most challenging year since our humble beginnings.
So we tighten our belts an extra notch and got to work. The money raising effort was very difficult having many of our good sponsors suffering bad times themselves. Golfers numbered 272 (30%) lower than lasts year’s count, the money raised going into the event was a reflection of the rest of the economy, so the Committee accepted the fact that this years money raising efforts were not going to be as high as last years.
All in all the day of the event was uneventful, 85 degrees and sunny a FrostBite open record, with 20 to 30 mile per hour winds. A thunderstorm did come rolling thru 20 minutes after all of our happy golfers got inside for the banquet portion of the event.
Even through these uncertain times, our generous sponsors & attending golfers pushed us over the $25,000.00 range. What can I say; a great time was had by all.
This year the FrostBite golf tournament had its first hole in one winner, Mr. Brian Ratliff, using his 8 iron on the #5 hole of the Woodlands Fox Classic. Mr. Ratliff won a Bose stereo system & a weekend at the Treetops golf village for his efforts. But more importantly he will be enshrined in the hole in one hall of fame board at Fox Hill Golf & Country Club.
Due to popular demand the Frostbite Golf tournament will be held the Last Saturday of April from this time forward, next years event will be April 24th.
The Year 2010
Fox Hills Golf & Country Club
This year’s event was a carbon copy of last years event, with the exception of about 100 more golfers attending totaling 372 in all.This years event had a diverse group, many golfers coming from area’s other than the auto industry. Because we had so many golfers this year we had to open up a par-3 executive 9 to accommodate our extra golfers. Many complaints were heard from our late comers that had to play half of their round on a par 3 course, so next year with the help of the fine folks at Fox Hill Golf Course , every golfer will get to enjoy the same course conditions as the rest.
This will force the Frostbite open to fill quickly at 360 total golfers, so get your monies in so that you will not be left out. We had the best raffle prizes yet, giving away a 3 month lease to a 2010 Mustang, complements of Mathews Ford of Oregon Ohio. We also gave away a 4 hour limousine ride (VIP Salon), a complete set of hybrid irons and many many more high end prizes. I can’t thank enough our loyal sponsors that provide money as well as beautiful raffle prizes, to make this year’s event the success that it has become.
All in all over $30,000 was raised for the Penrickton Center.
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