June 12, 2007

BROOKLYN, MI — Andy Cohen might be a good babysitter of babies, but he sure can babysit kegs. The tournament received a huge bonus from the best kegsitter in tournament history as Cohen become a hero to many participants of the Carl Spackler Open.

"No problem at all," said Cohen of his kegsitting. "I was happy to help. Believe me when I tell you I had as much fun as anyone zipping around the course on the cart with a keg of beer."

The tournament received word two weeks ago that 2 half-kegs of beer was too much beer. The order was decreased. Captains Club Chairman Greg Long was called in to change the order back after the local beer distributor thought the order was unconsumable.

Cohen added, "I drove the cart that was on Hole #3 around for awhile and then parked it behind the green at Hole #14. As a point of reference, I dropped it there when the first group (that tee'd off on Hole #8) was on the tee box of #12. I would guess the keg was about 1/2 empty by this point, and the groups were only 4 holes in.

I then walked to the cart on Hole #8 and noticed that it, too, was light. I drove it around for another 20-30 minutes until it kicked. I was, I believe, on the 10th tee box when it kicked. I then drove to the cart that was parked behind Hole #14 green and determined that it had less than a 1/4 left. I would guess that by this point you were halfway done with the scramble, with 1 keg gone and the other only 1/4 full."

Buddy Glenn Hoffert commented during the scramble from the 10th tee box. "Andy looks like a professional out there. He should update his resume."

Cohen continued, "I left the 1/4 full keg behind the green at Hole #14 and drove the empty keg back to the clubhouse. I told Kristin, a.k.a. the general manager, 1 half-keg was gone and the other was going to kick within the next 30 minutes. She said it would take her at least an hour to secure another keg and get it to the course. I made the call that that option was unacceptable and that we'd need to negotiate a price on cans.

We agreed on a price of $1 per can on Black Label, Milwaukee's Best, Natural Light, and Miller High Life. The 'premium' beer (Bud Light, Miller Lite, etc.) was going to cost $1.75/can, which I though was too much. I did convince her to sell us one case of Bud Light for $1/can, but that's all she would do. She agreed to buy back any beer that we bought but didn't drink. I bought 100 beers and gave Kristin $100 cash."

The tournament plans to reimburse Cohen for his generosity. "He cared for the beer like my local daycare center," said Matt Pritchard of Dublin, OH. "It is a great pleasure to know someone with such love for beer and Spackler."

Cohen continued, "The group and I went through the 100 beers in about 20 minutes. After they had all been distributed I went back to the keg that was sitting behind the green at Hole #14 and determined there was about a case (maybe a little more) left in it. Fresh canned beer had just been distributed to all groups.

I drove the keg around for another 25 minutes until it kicked. I believe I was on the tee box of Hole #3 with the first group (who tee'd off on Hole #8) when it kicked."

Cohen thought for a moment and continued. He added, "I went back to the clubhouse and secured another 50 beers at the $1 per can. At this point Kristin was gone and I was working with Angela, who talked with Kristin on the phone while I was in the clubhouse. I loaded the 50 cans on the cart (30-pack of Milwaukee's Best Light and 20 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon) and paid $50 cash to Angela."

Andy did finish up his interview with Spackler officials with a side note.

"There were a couple of local guys sitting at the bar the entire afternoon," said Cohen. "They were impressed when I brought back the first empty keg, and were shocked when I brought back the second empty one. When I came back with the empty cooler after the first 100 beers, one of the guys said, "I've never seen beer disappear that fast in my life!" Another one said, "How many people do you have out there... a hundred?" When I told him there were 55, he started at me blankly for about 15 seconds and then shook his head and went back to his business."

Greg Long took a moment at the press conference to thank Cohen. "Andy Cohen was a major contributor to the success of the Carl Spackler Open," said Long of his contribution. "The 4-man scramble was a tremendous success due to unique ideas and Andy. The Open would not be the Open without special people."

The 2007 Carl Spackler Open Championship completed over the weekend. Jason Watson, Brad Green, Matt Pritchard, and Rob Reustle won the 4-man Scramble with 111 points. The team received 1 point for par, 8 points for birdie, and 16 points for eagle.

The team scored 9 birdies and 2 eagles in winning fashion.