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Beer and buddies (and, oh yeah, golf)
top reasons for Memorial's popularity

By Tami Kamin-Meyer, Columbus Wired Columnist

For Chris Dyer, a 35-year-old resident of Indianapolis attending his second Memorial Tournament at Muirfield GC in Dublin, Ohio, this weekend is about more than just golf. “I drink beer, hang out with friends and enjoy the sunny weather,” said the medical salesman. His Memorial time is so memorable, in fact, he intends to make the three-hour trek for the golf tournament an annual tradition.

Attending golf tournaments is not a normal activity etched into Dyer’s social calendar. While golf is his favorite sport to play, he revels in watching college football the most. Still, the combination of sun and suds is one potent potable that can’t be beat, he said.

Debbie and Steve Barnett, a married couple from Ashland, Kentucky, drove three hours each way to attend the Memorial today. “We arrived at 1 and will be leaving around 6,” said Debbie Barnett. According to her husband, “We enjoyed the weather. It was the right temperature and we’ve seen some good golf.” This year marks the fifth Memorial the Barnetts have attended, and they agreed they would definitely be back.

“It’s a beautiful course,” said Steve Barnett. “I like to play golf myself and watch people who really know how to play,” he said, self-deprecatingly. The couple laughed as Mrs. Barnett chimed in, “He plays and I try.”

The Memorial isn’t the only golf tournament the Barnetts have attended. When the PGA Golf Tournament was played in Louisville, Kentucky in 2000, the pair was there, too. And they would go to others, said Mrs. Barnett, but none have been nearby.

The far distance didn’t faze one Manhattan-based investment manager who asked to remain anonymous. “I come to the Memorial because it’s special,” he said. “Even without Tiger Woods [playing here this year], it’s one of the best tournaments.”

For Jeff Craig, “a born and bred Buckeye”, this year’s Memorial is his twentieth. “I love golf,” he said. “If I could play golf every day, I would,” said the assistant service manager for a Columbus Chevrolet dealership.

In fact, he recently returned from a week-long trip to Myrtle Beach, NC with his close friend and fellow Memorial attendee Eric Seebach. According to Craig, “The Memorial is a part of Columbus and it’s great to see my favorite golfers up close.” Unfortunately for Craig, his favorite golfer, Freddy Couples, did not make the cut and didn’t play in today’s third round (a happenstance far less fortunate for Couples than for Craig).

For Cincinnatian Leslie Lohman, the Memorial Tournament weekend promises time away from home with her husband. “We got here Thursday and won’t leave until Monday,” she said, smiling.

The stay-at-home mom of two children, ages 13 and 18, said that while she and her husband don’t travel to Columbus other than for the tournament, they always have a wonderful time. This year marks the fourth time the couple have taken the 90-minute drive to attend the tourney. In August, they’ll travel to Chicago to catch the PGA Championship. “My husband is a big golfer and I enjoy watching the players,” said Lohman.

Tami Kamin-Meyer is a Columbus Wired Columnist, a Columbus attorney and freelance writer.