Camaraderie on the links is an enjoyable experience

Old friends gather for a golf outing at Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma

As I meandered through the front door of our office in Factoria on Monday morning this past week, our front desk office coordinator Celeste Hoyt commented on a new sunburn glistening from my forehead.

I informed Hoyt the sunburn was most likely the culprit of a full-day of golf from the previous weekend. While getting a minor sunburn even though the skies were pretty overcast wasn’t exactly enjoyable, having the opportunity to hit the links for 18 holes with friends Mike Honeycutt, Tyree Bell and Robert Masaniai at the Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma was something I wouldn’t miss for the world.

Since our quartet is scattered across different cities/towns in Western Washington (Belfair, Port Orchard, Puyallup and Bothell), getting the four of us together for a round of golf was a considerable challenge. Bell, who is the consummate planner of the group, began preparations for the golf outing in early June. After a scheduling snafu at another course, we ultimately decided to choose Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma due to its relative central location.

The course didn’t disappoint.

Honeycutt and Bell are avid golfers and both shot in the 80s, while Masaniai and myself shot in the abysmal 100s. Each of us are ultra-competitive individuals but the day wasn’t about the final scores. The day was about the camaraderie and friendship that took place over the four-and-a-half hours on the course.

As you age you quickly discover spending time with friends becomes extensively more difficult. Everyone has families, career jobs and a multitude of responsibilities to complete on a daily basis. You cherish times spent with good friends. This was one of those days for all of us. Honeycutt and I didn’t even bring our cell phones onto to the course, instead opting to leave them behind in our vehicles for the duration of the round.

As usual, we had a great time razzing each other about a wide array of different topics as we attempted to pull multiple pranks on each other throughout the day. I can’t wait for our next outing on the links!