Prior to embarking on the highways, flyways and waterways for the 4th of July weekend I wanted to recognize all of the Road Warriors that have participated in events from Blanchard to Grove and from Stillwater to Ft. Smith.
While I get a kick out of reporting on Mel Yates' travels and his commitment of time and natural resources to join us, we'd be remiss if we didn't recognize the travels of our members that don't live in the Panhandle, but also rack up the miles.
Grouping the regions, here are the members and what the travel looks like:
Western Oklahoma - Alan Barnett, Pat Dunn, Robert Lakey, Craig Phelps and Kelly Smith get the nearest at 130 miles one way while the farthest they've traveled for an Oklahoma event has been 223.
South Central / South West Oklahoma – Jeffery Banner, Jack Champagne, Brad Cooper, Brandon Henry, John Moore, Antonio Phillips and Shug Shuggart got their nearest event last weekend at Blanchard, 62 miles, while we’ve had players travel 280 miles to Grove.
South East Oklahoma – Mark Helms is the lone wolf in the deep southeastern part of the state, 230 miles was his long run to Grand Lake.
East Central Oklahoma – Chris Blankenship, James Fowler and Jimmy Smethers started the season with a quick 40-50 miles to Fort Smith but everything has been uphill since. Last weekend it was 171 miles to Winter Creek.
Tahlequah Contingent – Christian Abels, Jim Crawford, Mike Johnson and Warren Ragsdale get to sleep in for Broken Arrow events at near 60 miles, but they had to wake early for the 171 miles for the Kicking Bird season opener.
Greater Tulsa – Scott Bundrick, Todd Chapman, Brad Christianson, Bill Copeland, Curt Howard, Brad Kerr, Roland Lewis, Brook Lister, David McDaniel and David Shales make up our greater Tulsa area group. With just 30% of the events in close proximity, Winter Creek takes the prize with 133 miles and the rest in the 90 mile range.
Wichita, KS Area – Steven Bacci, one of our newest members and Ernest DeBruler to make his Oklahoma debut at Forest Ridge will put up with 180-191 miles for any of our events.
North Central Oklahoma – Ryan Cummings, John Kingery, Steve Lusk, K.C. Montgomery, Matt Parrish and Ron Walker had a 200 mile run to Fort Smith, but most are in the 45+ minute range.
Greater OKC – Jim Bailey, Austin Case, Jason Conner, Chad Coogle, Gary Chrisman, Nathan Elwood, G Bob Fraley, Jerry Hardin, Larry Hendrickson, Rick Henthorn, Michael Hicks, Tim Mathis, Darren Montgomery, Lon Norton, Tom Stewart, Fred Schmidt, Al Swanson and Scott Word are in that same 30% comfort range that Tulsa has, only opposite events. Grove, OK for the Grand Lake Showdown was 195 miles, with those 90 mile trips to the Tulsa area.
On behalf of the Tournament Committee, Tom Casady, Loyd Welch and myself we THANK YOU for spending some of your free time traveling the roads to compete with the Oklahoma Tour!
Have a WONDERFUL and SAFE 4th of July!
ps: Don't forget to register for Forest Ridge before you leave town, deadline is July 2nd!
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