FORE!!

After suffering through last night's Mystics game, the BasketCases deserved to have a little fun today . . . and we did! Despite some late blogging after the OT win at the Phone Booth, we still managed to get up bright and early this morning for the drive to Columbia, Maryland for the University of Maryland Rebounders' First Annual Miniature Golf Day, at the Columbia Sports Park.

The event was held to benefit the Women's Basketball Program, and lots of Terp celebrities -- and plenty of fans of Terps' basketball -- participated. Some of the "celebs" were stationed at one hole all day to play with everyone who came through. Others, like Coach B, Lang and Marissa, had been "auctioned off" to play the full 18 holes with the highest bidder. After all, this wasn't just a fun event, but a fundraising event as well.

The course was wonderfully decorated with Terps gear by the volunteers, and the owners of the course took it upon themselves to replace the normal blue flags with specially-ordered Terrapin-red ones for all the holes (thank you!).

They even dyed all the water on the course red (either that or the BP oil spill has drifted farther north than anyone has reported before today).

Newly-installed Hall of Fame Coach Chris Weller was on hand to welcome everyone (and to receive loud congratulatory cheers from the boosters). After she kicked things off, she then moved to the 1st hole, where, as one of the celebrity golfers, she graciously played and/or chatted with every foursome. (Who needs to pay a fortune for a Pro Am when you can play with a Hall-of-Famer at a Rebounder mini-golf!)

Sponsors got to have their names on the tee signs. We were impressed that Markus and Tyler Thomas -- at the age of two -- saved enough from their allowances to sponsor a tee sign wishing their Dad a Happy Father's Day.

The weather was sunny and brutally hot, well into the 90s, but fortunately there were patches of shade to be found on the course. It also helped that the Rebounder volunteers who planned the event (and did a phenomenal job . . .thank you Daphne and Co!) had ice buckets well-stocked with water bottles all over the course. Such planning and attention to detail helped ensure that the day was fun and that nobody suffered from dehydration.

Like the twins, the BCs also sponsored a hole (Number 11). But on this wonderful course we had a great time today playing all the holes, especially since we were paired with two of our favorite professional golfers Maryland fans. The other two members of our foursome even brought their own putters! But their clubs were no match for the pastel, plastic-covered putters provided by Columbia Sports Park. Nope. Our pastel putters had nice little lines etched into the plastic that showed you where to line up the ball. It worked every time. One of the BCs even hit a hole-in-one!

The course "hazards" were appropriately identified. Here the signs communicated that it would be a good idea to avoid dukies and Tarheels.

Lunch was served between the morning and afternoon tee times. After lunch, Coach B, Laura Harper, and other dancers wowed the crowd with the Cha Cha Slide. Their dance moves helped raise an additional $500 for the Terps' basketball program. The performance was definitely worth the extra money we all ante'd up!

Question: What do these 5 women have in common? Answer: A National Championship ring . . . plus that they love, and are loved by, Maryland Women's Basketball!

Although it was Father's Day, today was also a good day to spend quality time with Mom, as Jade Perry did with her mother, Gwen.

Maryland Women's Basketball, past and present. Days like this remind us of just how lucky we are to be fans of a program with such a great tradition and with folks like these . . . folks who are so welcoming, so accessible . . . and so talented. Just look at this lineup of baskeball celebs who volunteered to spend a hot Sunday outdoors to raise money for the program and to help fans/boosters enjoy this event: Rear, left to right: Coach Chinn, Jazz Perazic, Crystal Langhorne, Coach B, Marissa Coleman, Laura Harper, Lori Bjork, Coach Langley, Lynetta Kizer. Front, left to right: Subrena Rivers, Sonia Chase, Jade Perry, Ashleigh Newman, Kim Rogers and HOFer Coach Weller. Wow!

Again, thanks to all the Rebounders who put so much effort into finding the perfect venue, planning the event, and pulling it off so seamlessly. Everything ran so smoothly, you would have thought they'd been holding this event for years! Fortunately, the event was so successful, it probably will be held for years to come. Yay! A great day -- lots of fun -- we can hardly wait to do it again next summer!

Photo Credits: DC BasketCases