AVON LAKE, Ohio -- A lone car sat in the parking lot of Sweetbriar Golf Club on Wednesday and that was not unexpected, given the circumstances.
After all, it was 4:20 in the morning and the only sign of life I had seen prior to arriving were two raccoons jaywalking on nearby Lear Road. As I parked my car the stillness and coolness of the early morning reminded me of my days as a Plain Dealer paperboy on Cleveland's West Side. Eerie, yet tranquil. The smell and the solitude of the pre-dawn is something seldom forgotten.
"I can't get up early to go to work, but I can get up at 3 in the morning to play golf," says Josh Bernhofer, emerging from his car with an enviable nimbleness. "I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I think I was awake at 2."
Bernhofer, 23, was the first of eight players to arrive for the second Plain Dealer Summer Solstice Golf Challenge, where four sports staffers and four readers who won an essay contest played golf from sunup to sundown on the longest day of the year, seeking to complete 72 holes.
Bernhofer, a Middleburg Heights resident and salesman for Play It Again Sports in Strongsville, was joined by fellow winners Brandon Archibald, Dorothy Kasper and Rick Slovenec and Plain Dealer staff members Kristen Davis, Bud Shaw, Dennis Manoloff and yours truly. The fact that we would spend the next 18 hours together -- part of the time under trying circumstances with sweltering temperatures in the mid-90s -- is never mentioned.
The others arrive in quick fashion. We get organized and wait for the first sight of the sun, armed with Illuminated Golf Balls to get the earliest start possible.
• Manoloff, better known as D-Man, is frantic. It is 4:30 a.m. and we are unpacking our cars. Golf bags, coolers, shoulder bags and backpacks are scattered about. D-Man is rummaging through his golf bag like a man in search of a misplaced Rolex.
"I can't find my BenGay," he says, sifting through assorted golf gloves (he frequently wears two at a time), an extra shirt or two and a bottle of Gatorade. "I bought it specifically for today." He never finds it but in true D-Man fashion, he takes one for the team.
• Have you ever struck one of those illuminated golf balls? It's not unlike slugging a roll of wet toilet paper. Instead of the distinct "ping" you get from today's metal drivers, the "Night Flyer" ball produces a sound closer to that of a muted cowbell. But they are pretty as they fly against the darkened sky -- and they serve a purpose.
"It's kind of like watching a live version of that ProTracer on television broadcasts," said Shaw, as we watched Manoloff launch a weak fade off the first tee with the day's opening swing at 5:16.
• It didn't take long for Kasper, 51, to offer a well-appreciated reminder that she is a registered nurse. The Cleveland Heights resident came equipped with pain relievers and a great sense of humor, supplying both antidotes and anecdotes. She encouraged everyone to come to her in any medical emergency, a comforting thought.
"If anyone suffers a bee sting, insect bite, allergies or soreness, just come to me," Kasper said before we assembled on the first tee. "I have all sorts of meds. If it's sun poisoning or heat stroke, we'll just put ice down your pants. You'll be fine."
Kasper, who works at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehab, also has a small tattoo on her ankle. It is of a putting green and a golf flag. It is in remembrance of her first and favorite golf partner, her late father.
• Painesville's Archibald, 28, is a student and insurance/accounting specialist at Case Western Reserve's dental school. He is also a gifted putter, dropping six consecutive putts of about 10 feet over the first 12 holes. That prompted Bernhofer to say, "The guy is automatic from 10 feet. He never misses. I'm getting tired of telling him 'great putt.'"
"Yeah, but you know what?" I offer. "He never gets tired of hearing it."
• Shaw and Bernhofer are the two best players, with Slovenec a close third. Manoloff is the most entertaining. No one else is even close.
"That man kept me going for the last 18 holes," said Kasper. "He was a total riot."
To those who know him, it was just D-Man being D-Man.
• Kasper leaves a long-range putt woefully short during our second round. She's still away. "USA, USA," I chant. The others look at me as if I had been drinking.
"My grandson taught me that," I respond. "You Shoot Again. Get it? USA. You Shoot Again."
They still look at me as if I had been drinking.
• As we head down the homestretch after 9 p.m., Slovenec, a 51-year-old director of operations for a company in Wellington, appears as strong as he was before the sun came up. On our 70th hole of the day the Hinckley resident drives the ball about 250 yards on the 397-yard 18th of the Legacy Course. He follows with a 9-iron shot that stops about eight feet from the pin. He makes the putt for birdie. We all cheer.
• Kasper's boss, Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove, encourages employees to walk at least 10,000 steps a day as part of the hospital's wellness program. At the end of the Solstice Challenge, Kasper's pedometer registered 36,354 steps. And we used carts.
• In between all those steps were a mix of perfect shots, duffed balls, three-putts, an eagle and infinite laughs as we golfed virtually nonstop from 5:16 a.m. until 9:23 p.m. The goal of 72 holes was reached with a wee bit of light remaining on the horizon. It was a satisfying accomplishment on a scorching day after last year's crew tallied 58 holes, battling two weather systems, cart-path only rules for half the day and a change of venue at midday.
• On their final hole of the day, Shaw, Manoloff, Kasper and Bernhofer agree to tee off simultaneously. Bernhofer shoots video.
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