December 26th, 1992, Bill Clinton was elected, but not yet inaugurated. OJ was still a well respected football analyst and Jimmy (Tritt), Fran (McLaughlin) and I (Brian Hudson) decided to go golfing with all of the new golf equipment that we had gotten for Christmas. The temperature was 12 degrees with 1” of snow.
Needless to say, we didn’t need a tee time that day at Delmar Golf Course.
Dressed in our favorite winter attire, earmuffs and all we set out for our round around the “Delmar Horn”. Jimmy Tritt won the inaugural Snowball Classic with a +10 score of 21. The conditions were brutal and the greens were bumpy to say the least. Snow and ice have that effect on them. We decided as charter members that we would hold this event every year the day after Christmas and thus Snowball Invitational was born. For the next 8 consecutive years we played religiously the day after Christmas.
As time went on, life began to get in the way, and the Snowball Classic was shelved until the spring of 2016, when The Francis J McLaughlin Snowball Invitational was reborn. My son, Brian, found the original trophy at his grandmother’s house and began asking questions. Brian Jr. had just completed his senior year of golf at Ellwood City High School, and challenged me to restart the annual event. That Christmas, my two sons, Sam Barry and I set out to restart a cherished family tradition.
Since then, the event has grown to include family, friends, and members of Delmar GC. The original McLaughlin trophy now resides on the trophy stand at Delmar and is a cherished event yearly. What started out as just “three goofy guys going golfing when it was 12 degrees” has turned into a yearly golf course tradition. Snowball champion now receive an engraved Snowball Classic mug and are celebrated the cold weather golfer of the year. This goofy tradition has carried on, and it is my only hope that it will carry on, just as it has for many more winter seasons.
PARTICIPANTS, PICTURED BELOW: (Left to Right) Noah Rinker, Marcus Platz, Brandon Melfi, Brad Hampton, Tynan Hudson, Rick Hudson, Garrett , Master of Ceremonies Brian Hudson, Joey Hudson, Ric Fec, David Marshall, Dexter Boots, Brian Hudson, Geoffrey Bokor, Alex Scott, Sam Barry Jr., Jenn Griffith
2022 Snowball Classic Results:
[Conditions: 17 degrees, coating of snow]
- 1st Place: Ric Fec 16 * won on 2nd hole of the playoff
- 2nd Place: Rick Hudson 16
- 3rd Place: Brandon Melfi 17, Sam Barry Jr. 17, Brad Hampton 17, and Joey Hudson 17
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