Mark Olsen

Our golf tournament had humble beginnings in 1978, when a few high school buddies went down to Lake Limerick, played a little golf and had some fun camping.  The tournament grew slightly in the 1980’s with the addition of college friends and more high school buddies.  

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In 1989 our tournament expanded by getting more of our younger brothers involved and friends from work.  Tom Eilertson’s brother Scott joined, and in the next 10 years brought up many friends from So. Cal.   Our once modest tournament of around 20 players quickly doubled in size to its current status of 40+.  Johnny “Redcoat” Stevens, Chris “Longer” Long, Erick and Drew Posten, “Uncle” Mark Sievert and Mark “Ole” Olsen were the main So. Cal. additions.  

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Ole quickly became a favorite of the Limerick crew.   He possessed athletic abilities that most of us could not match, and a golf swing that was equally impressive.  I was surprised that he did not win our tournament immediately, but it does make sense to me now.  A major reason was that we gave him a hard handicap, and Limerick is best described as a Christmas tree farm where the course designer wanted to save every tree.  It takes a while for players to figure out that hitting the ball far does not help that much.  But, the main reason was how Mark went about the entire Limerick weekend.  His priorities were obvious, enjoy his time with great friends, and do what he could to make other players have a fun weekend.  At the end of every tournament, all of the Oakley boys continue to provide prizes that amaze our players.  The most impressive thing about this is that when any of the Oakley guys win we don’t really have much to offer them (as they bring all of the really cool prizes).   Ole was always gracious when he won a prize, and always the topic of conversation of the non-Oakley contingent was the same….how remarkable the prizes were, and how selfless the Oakley group was.

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One of my favorite memories of Ole happened in 2007.  Somehow our group of modestly skilled golfers got to play on a very nice, but tough golf course named Indian Summer.  I found out quickly that my skills were no match for this course, along with nearly everyone else.  After the round there was consistent talk of how punishing the round had been.  As I licked my wounds, I finally realized that none of the people I had talked to focused on who had done well.  This might have been partly due to the fact that I think that everyone assumed we were all in the same boat.   Finally I heard that Ole had shot well.  This all made sense.  He was one of the few players in our group that could handle such a course, and after the round he humbly got to the business of enjoying the company of his friends.  All of us in the tournament enjoy competitive sports, so many of us at times have been challenged to be happy for the winner.  It was obvious however that people were genuinely happy for Mark to be the champion (see pictures with him in the “green jacket”).  He was very well deserving…not only due to his golf skill, but also because the golf tournament got a chance to honor someone who had given so much to make a small “friends tourney” special.  

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Hopefully, our tournament has given Mark some fun memories, and that he realizes he has a bunch of fans in the Great Northwest, that are all hoping and praying for a miracle!   Mark has emulated what is the best part of our tournament…valuing and enjoying time with your friends.  

 

As Longer pointed out so well…Mark Olsen is loved!

 

Mike Minahan and the Limerick Crew