“True Grit” tournament hosted aboard Combat Center

Twentynine Palms -- The Marine Corps Logistics Operations Group hosted its first-ever “True Grit” tournament at the Desert Winds Golf Course aboard the Combat Center on April 6, 2018. The tournament was open to anyone with access to the Combat Center’s golf course.

“We wanted to do something to help raise money for our upcoming Marine Corps Birthday Ball, but also wanted to use that initiative to foster cooperation between our unit and the Marine Corps Community Services,” said Maj. Milton Rehbein, intermediate MAGTF logistics operations course faculty advisor, MCLOG. “Along with the idea of working with the golf course and MCCS, we wanted to do something a little different with the tournament. We’ve added some things just to make it a little more fun for all the players. There are some people playing today who haven’t played golf before.”

The tournament itself consisted of 18 holes and 64 competitors divided into 17 teams. Prior to the start of the tournament, Col. Jason Beaudoin, commanding officer, MCLOG, gave a quick speech thanking everyone for coming out followed by some general course information from Rehbein. While the weather may not have been favorable for long drives with the wind picking up shortly after the tournament started, some of the more experienced golfers were shooting 12 under par on the course.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to reach out and work with the units aboard the installation,” said Gene Schouler, general manager, Desert Winds Golf Course. “We’re here to help, and this is one of many unit functions we’d like to see organized going forward.”

For the tournament, there were prizes for the first, second and third place teams. The first prize was the name of their team on a plaque that will hang in the clubhouse at the course, second place received customized golf bag tags, and third place received green tube socks, reminiscent of the golf comedy “Caddyshack”.

The event ended with a two-way tie for second place, broken with a put-off on the practice green next to the clubhouse. After the final award ceremony was conducted, a lunch was held outside the clubhouse for the competitors and volunteers of the tournament.

“Right before our courses begin, MCLOG hosts a small internal tournament to introduce everyone in the course to each other,” said Maj. Jacklynn Holiday, advanced collective training faculty advisor, MCLOG. “This tournament sprung from that idea. Along with raising money for our ball, we can help bring people from across the base together to play golf, have fun, and build camaraderie with others outside of our own units.”