Every summer the Raymo boys get together to hang out and do some golfing. It’s my sons along with my brothers and their sons and it includes in laws. We call the event the Raymo Cup and its our 19th year.

It was my year to host. We take turns hosting, that way we can golf different golf courses around the state. We golfed Madison and Montevideo this year. My son Brandon just moved into a much larger home in Montevideo that could accommodate all of us. We made the decision to stay at Brandon’s. We start the weekend off with a bean bag tournament on Friday night. Jim’s grandson Ethan was this year’s bag tournament champion with an exciting comeback through the losers bracket to beat Dusty twice in the championship match. Josh won this year’s Raymo Cup and will add his name to the sleeve of the Carrell Coat. A coat named after my father. Another award we give out is the worst shot of the tournament and unfortunately that went to me. On hole 18 in Montevideo I had to chip up on the green from a steep hill under some tree’s and I hit the ball and it rolled back down the hill to my feet. So I get what we call the toilet trophy.

What makes it fun is getting together and just hanging out. For me sitting around the campfire in the evenings catching up with everyone and having a few laughs is what I enjoy. Plus grilling some big steaks on Saturday night is a tradition. The golfing is fun too, but just being together is what the Raymo Cup is all about.

Since this is our 19th year we have a lot of history. Every year we have to retell all the funny stories we have had during the Raymo Cup. Some have to do with golfing and some about everything else. Most of the stories that get shared every year are about my brother Jim. Jim is the life of the party and makes life just that much better. He has no patience and we all know that. Once in a restaurant we were all sitting at the same table and he thought we were waiting too long to get our food, which we weren’t, we just had ordered. Jim got frustrated and walked into the kitchen to see what the hold up was. We all laughed. On another occasion we were staying at the Arrowwood in Alexandria and we were sitting at the outside bar and Jim asked the waitress if they had Windsor here? Every bar has Windsor, once again we all laughed.

Another story that gets retold every year about Jim happened in the motel room that five of us were sharing. Jim fell out of bed in the middle of the night and hit his head on the dresser, then he got up to go to the bathroom and fell down again. It woke all of us up in the room but not one person asked if he was okay. Nobody got up.  The next morning he was yelling at us for not being concerned about his well being. We all laughed.

We reminisce about some great golf shots over the years, and some not so great shots. I’m not a good golfer, but I enjoy the game. I am always good for a few good golf shots during the Raymo Cup. Each year I always sink a long putt and that’s what I’m known for. I think this year is the first year we didn’t have an eagle. The Raymo Cup has never had a hole in one. Each golfer brings something unique. My brother Greg is the most consistent, his ball is always straight. My nephew Nicholas can hit the ball well over 300 yards off the tee. My son Josh is good off the tee and chipping. Brandon hits the ball a mile, and is good around the green. Sunday Dusty was amazing at chipping. Ethan is consistent from a hundred yards out. Jim is  really good at putting. We all have had some really good shots over the years. Some memorable bad shots also.

I am already looking forward to next year. My nephew Nicholas is hosting and we decided to stay around Lake Okoboji in Iowa which is thirty minutes from Worthington. Next year will be our twentieth year of getting together and making it a guys weekend! My son Josh created a interesting Raymo Cup website. Lots of pictures with results and stories from each year. Check it out. https://raymocup.webs.com/