Last year I attended the 2008 Puma Open at Harborside International, and had such a good time that I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for 2009. I didn’t know what to expect, considering that last year’s 9 hole four-person scramble was by far the best scramble I’ve ever played in.
What Is The Puma Open?
For those who don’t know what the Puma Open is, let me give you a brief rundown. The Puma Open is not your typical golf outing, where you play a standard scramble, instead your four-person team must compete in a nine hole scramble with special “Puma Open rules” on each hole.
2008 vs. 2009 Puma Open
The format for the Puma Open hasn’t changed a bit, you earn points for each hole you play based on your teams score and the best score for each hole wins a prize. The 2009 Puma Open has added two new holes to the 9 hole format that were submitted and voted on via the Puma Golf facebook fan page. The two new holes for 2009 are:
Hole # 4 Golf Pong
Before teeing off, players divide up into teams of two and each player gets three chances to chip balls into one of six buckets arranged in the shape of a pyramid. This may seem like an easy hole to play if you have he chipping and short game skills of Phil Mickleson or Tiger Woods, but it’s a lot harder than you can imagine.
Not to worry, the golf balls used are those provided by almostGolf, so you don’t run the risk of getting hurt. It was definitely a fun twist on a classic college party game.
Hole #9 Putt the Tee, Drive the Green
Players must tee off with a putter and putt with their driver. I don’t know about you, but I was a little hesitant to tee off using my putter for fear of damaging the face or worse getting a nasty stinger. It turns out none of the above happened, and according to the hosts at the hole if you did break your putter, Puma Golf would pay to replace it. At least my mind was at ease after learning that bit of information.
The key to hitting the drive with your putter was to tee the ball up extra high and aim to the left of the target, which is what I did, and the ball flew maybe 45 yards at best. Not too bad for driving with a putter. The other challenging part came when you had to putt with your driver on the green, which is not as easy as you think. Overall, this was a great addition to the Puma Open, even if it meant possibly breaking your putter.
One hole worth mentioning that isn’t new for 2009, but is a slight modification of last year’s Longest Drive hole:
Hole # 5 function drinks Longest Drive
Just like last year, the person who hits the longest drive in the fairway or the rough wins a prize, but to make it more interesting Puma Golf shook things up by having you tee off from an empty function drink bottle. This elevated the golf ball about 6-8″ off the ground and made for some interesting tee shots. Luckily, one of the guys from Golf Chicago Magazine that we were partnered with had a pocket knife, and he cut down the function drink bottle to a 2 1/2″ height. Just for the record, we didn’t come close to winning the longest drive with our modification of the function drinks bottle.
I did watch the team in front of us have one of the players hold the bottle upright, while the other person hit the ball. Watch the video to see this crazy stunt in action, it’s quite amazing.
The Photo OP was also really fun, because you got to be really creative by posing with a pair of giant Puma Clydes shoes with the Puma Model.
The only hole I missed from 2008 Puma Open, that they didn’t have this year was the Don Julio Know Your Tequila hole where you tee off with a vintage fairway wood before getting a killer margarita. Otherwise, the six other holes were identical in format from 2008 (On The Clock, Draw, almostGolf Hail Mary, Mulligan, Lucky 7, and Photo OP).
Casino Night & Prizes
After the golf scramble, the second-half of the event begins with an awesome dinner buffet provided by Bolingbrook Golf Club and casino night. The casino night just like last year offered BlackJack, Craps, and Texas Hold-Em games to play with your 1000 Puma chips. The team with the most Puma Chips at the end of the casino night wins a prize. My teammates were not big gamblers and decided to give me all their chips to play with, so I started out with 4000 Puma Chips.
I ended up playing BlackJack for about half-hour and came away with nearly double of what I started with, at 7,700 Puma Chips. Not too bad for a half-hour of BlackJack, if I say so myself, but it wasn’t enough to win the team casino night prize. Still a great time!
After the casino night, prizes are awarded for the top team scores for special event holes : On-The-Clock Hole, Golf Pong, function drinks Longest Drive, almostGolf Hail Mary, Photo Op. Additional prizes for Team Golf Score, Team Chip Stack, and Combined Team Score.
Verdict
The big question is how did the 2009 Puma Open compare to last year’s event? Not only did the 2009 Puma Open exceeded my expectations, it was even better by the addition of the two new fan submitted holes and modification of the Longest Drive hole. I had such a great time this year , that I’m not sure how they’ll be able to make it even better in 2010. I guess I’ll have to wait and see for the 2010 Puma Open.
It’s not too late to experience the 2009 Puma Open with five more stops left on its fifteen leg city tour across the United States and Canada. Next Stop September 18th Norcal,CA, September 25th Charolette, NC, October 9th Miami, FL, October 16th Texas, and October 23rd Atlanta.
For more information and to register your four-person team visit http://thepumaopen.com
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Very, very awesome. I went to the event in NJ and it was great too. Oh and “my song” in the background was perfect.
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