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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK They say rain never keeps a golfer off the greens. And Mike Hoover and his comrades were ready for it as they tackled the annual Ketchum Wide Open Saturday. Dressed as “Dumpster Fires” with cardboard flames licking at the edges of the cardboard dumpsters they wore, they only needed to pull the lids over their heads when the rain became too intense. “We decided to be dumpster fires because, given the general state of the world, it seemed relevant,” said Hoover, who took part in the annual slack fun-raiser with Jocelin Gardner and Michael Coiner. “As for the rain? That’s why we have lids.”
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Evan Whyte and Gary Meed, juxtaposed against the beer kegs making up the putt-putt hole at the Warfield, dressed in the style of “Night at the Roxbury.”
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Eighty-two teams—or, 164 golfers—turned out for the annual slack special, despite a cold morning rain that turned to snow halfway up Baldy. Fortunately, the rain stopped an hour and a half into the five-hour event, giving golfers a reprieve as they walked among nine creative goofy golf holes set up at restaurants, such as Smokey Mountain Pizza. “It shows the resilience of the crazies,” said Grumpy’s Pete Prekeges, who co-chairs the event with Rick Lethbridge, who owns the Cellar Pub. Among those who turned out for the event were Brooke Fukuoka who had made the drive with her husband from their home in Jerome to celebrate their wedding anniversary by having dinner in Sun Valley. “We heard about it and thought what a fun thing to do,” she said, as she prepared to golf wearing a rubber chicken head.
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Mike Hoover and Jocelyn Gardner watch as Dumpster Fires teammate Michael Coiner plays the hole at the Cellar Pub.
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The creative team at The Argyros set the mood for the couple with a Kon Tiki environment in the Tierney Theater that included inflatable palm trees, a thin but risky narrow bridge that served as a shortcut to a hole in one and a giant cheese grater for the ball to roll over enroute to either the all-important hole or a bigger hole dubbed Lake Argyros. Participants could take advantage of drink specials, ranging from tropical drinks at The Argyros’ Kon Tiki Bar to cold brews elsewhere. Given the damp chill outside, Sally Todd and Adele Doneen sprang for warm Irish coffees served up in martini glasses at the Warfield. The cold didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of golfers like Quincy McGraw—or, maybe she was just keeping warm jumping up and down every time she hit something close to a hole in one. Riley Kilmartin Schmidt and Jeri McCune would not be denied, rain or no.
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The Argyros gang transformed the Tierney Theater into a tropical paradise while turning the bar in the lobby into a Kon Tiki bar.
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They simply donned yellow rain jackets over their evening gowns. “When I was young, I saw my father do this and it’s been my dream to do it ever since,” said Kilmartin Schmidt. “I’m living my dream.” Anna van Leeuwen Thrasher and Christina van Leeuwen Kaufman, meanwhile, took advantage of the opportunity to don Dutch orange bicycle and speed skating wear and wooden Dutch shoes in honor of their first-generation Dutch family. Never mind that they’d worn a hole in one of the wooden shoes.
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Anna van Leeuwen Thrasher and Christina van Leewen Kaufman show off their wooden Dutch shoes—the 30-year-old pair with a hole worn in the bottom.
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“We dress Dutch any opportunity we get, said Kaufman. The Ketchum Wide Open started as something to do during spring slack but evolved several years ago into a fundraiser, as well. This year the beneficiaries were the Blaine County Charitable Fund, which offers assistance to those with medical or household emergencies, and Stella’s Shelter for dogs. Mary Fauth, the executive director of the BCCF, was among those who played a round on Saturday, her 6-year-old niece CeCe and other relatives from Walla Walla, Wash., in tow. “Those from out of town are thinking they should have an event like this in their town,” she said. “It just shows how a small town thing can be so fun and positive.”
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