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In July of 2000, Herman
Waddy, William Wilson, Mark Hicks
and Pat Scales got together in
Pinehurst for four friendly rounds
of golf. The purpose of the trip was
to enjoy some golf, camaraderie,
fellowship and some great
home-cooked food prepared by Pat’s
grandmother.
While talking after one of
the rounds, the idea was born that
we do this golf outing annually and
give it a name. We tossed names
around and somehow settled on The
RainMan. How did we come up with
that name? Pat wasn’t playing very
well on the front nine during a
round @ Mystery Valley in Atlanta
and after the turn and during the
rain, he began to play like a man
possessed. William “Spoonie” Wilson
retorted that he was going to begin
calling Pat “The RainMan” due to his
exemplary play in the inclement
weather.
Although we had fun during our first year in Pinehurst it rained 2 of the
4 rounds we played that year. One
of our founders, P. Scales, grew up
in Pinehurst so he set up the first
outing. We joked with him the
entire weekend about how beautiful
he said Pinehurst would be but that
he failed to mention the rain. The
RainMan Tournament was born!
The second, third and
fourth outings were held in
Charlotte, Atlanta and Raleigh
respectively. In the fifth year, The
RainMan began to take on a life of
its own after moving back to
Pinehurst, the American home of
golf. Spoonie bumped into Lavelle
“LA” Lewis of the Platinum
Tour/Atlanta and mentioned the
outing and The RainMan began to grow
into a well-organized golf
tournament with twenty-eight
players.
In years six and
seven, we moved to Myrtle Beach, SC
and forty-eight and sixty players
respectively, participated. The word
spread like a California wildfire
bringing golfers from California,
Utah, New Jersey, Maryland,
Illinois, DC, Tennessee,
Mississippi, South Carolina,
Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia
and Florida.
Our participants have a great
time!! Here are some testimonies from
our participants.
"I would like
to take this opportunity to give
props to each and every "Rain Man
Invitational" participant. It's
great to see brothers from all walks
of life; North South, East, WEST and
all ages can come together and have
one hell of a time. I look forward
to seeing each and everyone of you
next year, I'm sure my WEST coast
companions join in my sentiments.
See you next year, keep on doing the
dam thang. Cause when I get there,
I'm gonna make it do what it do."
Peace my BROTHERS.
Uncle Teddy.
"I would also like
to thank all the brothers and
sisters who participated
and made the tournament a most
enjoyable occasion. I wish I could
have
brought my "A" game, nonetheless, I
thoroughly enjoyed the competition
and camaraderie of young and old
brothers from around the country,
although it seems it was the "ATL
Invitational". I am sure the other
Jersey brother would agree. That
being said, we will return and maybe
bring some reinforcements. See you
brothers next year. If you happen to
be in the Philadelphia area, give a
brother a call."
Ric Rowland
"Also, Gerald,
Spoon, Hicks and Pat, man yall keep
doing the damn thang!!
I don't know how yall plan on
topping this year, but everything
was on point, as usual. Thanks again
fellas for having a TOP Rated
Rainman Tournament for only $435.
That's crazy. See you next year and
I am going to try and get my
handicap low enough to get in the
Championship flight and win Low
Gross. That's right Hicks, I'm
coming after you next year."
Peace
Donnary
Fontenot
"You guys are a
CLASS ACT. Despite everything we
went through people had a great time
this year. Last year Hicks and I
were a little stunned because we did
not get comments but you really out
did yourselves this year. I was just
telling my wife that these comments
make it all worth it. I am proud to
be a part of this event and look
forward to making this the best
African-American golf tournament in
the country! I want to personally
thank all of you for accepting me as
part of your group and let you know
that I am proud to be affiliated
with this event."
RAINMAN FOREVER!
Gerald Robinson
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