Military Golf Challenge

Discipline. Focus. Determination.

These are all qualities practiced by military soldiers both active and retired.

Discipline to stay the course, learn, grow and not falter under duress. Focus on the task at hand, on the end result and the ultimate goal. Determination to be the best and to achieve something to be proud of.

Without honing these qualities a soldier would have a rough go of his or her career. They are beyond important, they are mandatory.

Coincidentally, these three qualities are also required of top golfers, or even novice golfers hoping to achieve greatness. Keep your eye on the ball. Practice. Perfect your stance and your swing. Drown a million balls. Adjust, modify and re-adjust.

Discipline. Focus. Determination. If you don’t have at least a working combination of all four, you won’t get far in the game of golf.

And this is exactly why four retired Army friends were able to go so far with their game.

 It began with an idea: “What if we played ALL of the military golf courses in the US?” A seemingly rhetorical question asked over a friendly lunch would not simply end there.

After all, these were soldiers! What kind of military men would they be if they brushed off a challenge so easily? And beyond that, what kind of soldiers would they be if they didn’t succeed with flying colors?

The Operation was born. Beginning at Wright-Paterson Air Force Base in Ohio and ending after playing them all, the four would travel the country doing just that – playing every military golf course, sharing stories and creating a legacy they would leave behind for years to come.

This is the story of Ltc. Tom Wilczak, Msg. John Zook, Col. Bill Logel and Ltc. Dennis Casazza – all retired – and their quest to play all 184-or-so military golf courses in the US.

The mission began with a trip from Chicago to Phoenix in 2010. Msg. John Zook and Ltc. Dennis Casazza .  On the way there, they had to pass 12 military installations and play those golf courses in Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisianan, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

In 2011, the group moved on to New Mexico and the Midwest. En route, the guys took in the sights of America – painted deserts, petrified forests, fruited plains and purple mountain majesties. Even though the mission is to play every military golf course, there’s no harm in a little on-the-way sightseeing.

 In the Fall, Msg. John Zook traveled thru the south and East coast playing another 32 installations and golf courses.

In an interesting turn of events, Col. Logel saw the Grand Canyon up close and personal for the very first time on this trip. Imagine being a soldier and traveling all over the world but never seeing this wonder, practically in his own backyard? No doubt that added something special to the trip.

As military men, the group also took note of the important landmarks they came across, like the monument commemorating the Wounded Knee Massacre at Fort Riley in Oklahoma, and the significance of many of the bases, like the home of the F-16 fighter jets at Luke AFB in Phoenix and Whiteman AFB in Missouri, which is the home of the B-2 Bomber.

The golfers also encountered some interesting and terrifying weather, such as the devastating tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011.

The following year took Msg. John Zook and Col. Bill Logel out to California on a tour of its 18 bases. The route began in San Diego and went north along the Pacific coast highway to San Francisco and Sacramento, then back south through the high desert. Fourteen courses in all kept the golfers busy during their West Coast trip.

And just this summer Msg. John Zook made it out to Hawaii, one of the last legs of their nationwide golf trip, and played all seven golf course.   Next year is the final leg of the golf trip, the five golf courses in Alaska.

It began with an idea and ended with aspirations of taking their Military Golf Challenge to other countries. But let’s take it one step at a time. There’s much more to this story.

Discipline. Focus. Determination. Would you have what it takes?

By Amy Wilschke (amy.wilschke@gmail.com)