22 years ago my son Josh started a family tradition. We call it the Raymo Cup.

The first Raymo Cup was held in the St Cloud area and included me, my son Josh and my brother Greg and his son Nicholas. At the time Josh and Greg loved to golf and golfed often. I was just starting to golf.

This event has grown over the years and has turned into a nice guy’s weekend out.   It now includes my brother Jim and his wife’s side of the family. My son Brandon joined us early on and my brother Greg and his son Nicholas and son-in-laws JT, and Dusty. We have had my son in law Seth golf with us a few times and my son Jeremy who lives in Wichita, Kansas. My sister’s husband James golfed with us once and he cooked up some great steaks that time. Last year my grandson Zane joined the Raymo Cup. He’s the next generation and I hope they’ll keep it going. A few others have joined over the years.

Each year someone different hosts and we all crash at his house. It’s a great way to be able to golf different golf courses. In the past we had a bowling tournament but we dropped that a few years ago and started a corn hole tournament and the winner comes away with some good cash. We also play cards and those games can go into the wee hours of the morning.

The winner gets an ugly green jacket named after my dad, “the Carrell Coat” and needs to wear it at Christmas. The trophy is named after my mom Rosemary, because family time meant everything to her. We hand out another trophy and that is one you don’t want to get. It goes to the person with the worst shot of the Raymo Cup. It’s a small toilet, because we call it the Sh*t Shot of the tournament. We all vote on it! It always brings lots of laughter.

This year Josh decided to golf at Oak Hill and Pebble Creek. This is where the Raymo Cup started. I really enjoy golfing both courses. Sunday we golfed at Pebble Creek in Becker, this is where the Class A state golf tournament is held and I have covered that for many years. Each June I spend two days at Pebble Creek.

Sunday I walked into the clubhouse the guy working says to me, ” aren’t you the guy that works for a radio station and is here at state golf?” I said Yes, but today I’m golfing. We both laughed. After golfing the course I really have a new appreciation for those high school golfers that compete at Pebble Creek. It’s amazing they can birdie and par each hole consistently. I can’t even come close to that.

It was a really fun weekend with my family. Next year we are heading to the Brainerd area.