Randall Parks
PERSONAL – Randall lives in Rossville, Georgia with his wife, Erica, and their 4 Siberian Huskies (I knew I liked this guy – Go Huskies!). He’s a mailman for the United States Postal Service and has been golfing since he was 16.
TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – Simon Gober has a tendency for attracting Tennessee Volunteers fans. Back in about 2009 Gober took me to Ole Miss to check out the Grove and watch Ole Miss beat LSU. We flew into Memphis before the game and ended up getting 25 year-old drunk. We stumbled into a bar completely filled with LSU fans – hundreds of them. There were no Ole Miss fans there but there was one Tennessee fan – an extremely large and muscular man named Trey Grey. Trey Grey was trying to pick a fight with all 100 of the LSU fans but he was so big nobody would talk back. Simon and Trey became besties instantly and we all headed off to the pink poodle. Trey Grey ended up literally banging 2 or 3 of the strippers in the back room and we were tired so we ditched him 45 minutes out of town at the poodle. He more than likely wasn’t able to take his kid’s to the zoo the next day (his wife had told us that was the plan) and they more than likely got divorced after that. There was so much potential for Trey to be Gober’s life-long Tennessee fan buddy but Trey probably wants to kill us - which is scary - so it didn’t work out.
8 years ago or so Simon had a second chance at happiness with a Tennessee fan, this time in the most unlikely of places for a couple of country boys from the south. They both happened to be on a bus ride in Jamaica. Randall noticed Simon was wearing his ugly ass Ole Miss gear and that Misty was wearing her patented Auburn garbage. There was no way he couldn’t say anything he so he starting doing what any good college fan would do – he started talking shit. After 45 minutes or so on the bus and saying god only knows what to each other back and forth, the two happened to be staying at the same resort. The couple Randall and his wife were with boned out early so they replaced them with Simon and Misty. The four stayed up and had a classic night of drinking and talking shit. Unlike Simon’s late night of drinking and talking shit with Trey Grey, his relationship with Randall has lasted. They’ve been on multiple vacations together, had some great laughs, and consider each other truly great friends.
When I think about Kirk’s story from yesterday and Randall’s today, it makes me wonder how often we’re on a bus or plane or walking down the street and somebody we have the potential to be great friends with just walks on by and we never get to know them.
Lucky these two met and I’m excited to meet the infamous Randall Parks at the Montemar. Simon has spoken highly of him ever since that meeting in Jamaica and it sounds like the Montemar’s got another good one.
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – Hopefully the man comes through with some more ProV1s.
WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN IN 2023– Simon was under the impression that Randall was a single digit handicap who plays golf in his sleep – perhaps that was just the drunken shit talking because the scoring history doesn’t quite indicate that. It indicates a solid player who likes to get out and have fun on the golf course – somebody like most of the rest of us who should fit in just great. Because he was a late addition we gave Randall middle of the road payment points, he’s also got a middle of the road scramble team – filled with lots of great guys and mid-handicappers. I’m curious to see how it all plays out but I wouldn’t doubt if our format benefits a team like this more than the rest. I don’t think we’re going to see a 2nd coming of John Daily here – headed out last minute from the south to win a major as an alternate – but I do think we’re getting a guy who’s going to have a great time and play some fun golf.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2024 – Randall traveled the greatest distance to last year’s Montemar and went strong the entire way through. When I say strong I mean he managed to have fun the entire way through. I know this because, the last night in Scottsdale, I wasn’t ready for the trip to be over. I had smokes left to smoke and beers left to drink and I knew it would be a long time until I got to do those things again. I went to the hot tub after everybody was asleep and found Randall there, basically doing the same – minus the smokes. We ended up chatting for hours and it was great getting to know the guy. A huge bonus that he speaks “college football.”
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN 2024 – Much more of the same from a fun standpoint. From a golf standpoint, learning to avoid those double and triple bogeys would go a long way. Randall is in a much friendlier division this year because he’s got the benefit of a returners handicap and that alone will help him fly up the leaderboard. He’s bringing his brother this time around and I’d imagine they’ll scramble it up together. Who they pair with will help a lot with how those points go. He knows a lot more guys this year and that should help him tremendously come draft day. I except Randall to take a huge leap in the standings this time around.
ODDS TO WIN 56-1
FUN FACT – Neyland Stadium, where Tennessee plays it’s home games, and Husky Stadium, are the only two stadiums in the country where you can SAIL gate. The two school’s have announced a home and home series for 2029 and 2030. As I’m planning ahead here, those games might be fun to build a Montemar or two around.
MONTEMARS PLAYED – 1
MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 3 (TPC SCOTTSDALE, TS-PIIPASH, TS-O’ODHAM – 2023)
LIFETIME POINT TOTAL – 241.5
JACKETS WON – 0
TOP 3 FINISHES – 0
TOP 5 FINISHES – 0
TOP 10 FINISHES – 0
RECORDS – 0
TOURNAMENT HANDICAP – 32
INVITED BY – Simon Gober
PLAYERS INVITED - 1 (Chris Gentry)
PRIZES DONATED – Box of ProV1s?
