|
Click here to
view or add photos to the Rich Moriarty Irish Open Shutterfly
site. |
Moriarity Open only gets
better
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the
Missoulian
The best and the
brightest - emphasis on the brightest - have made a habit of
gathering once a year at Highlands Golf Course for the annual
Moriarity Irish Open
tournament.
This year the tournament, named for Rich
Moriarity, who died of a heart attack in 1986, turned 20. It has
drawn golfers to Missoula like garishly-garbed, nicknamed moths to
the fire. John (Spike) Kriskovich was there, after he ran his record
in bar fights to 41-0. Rod (Tito) Tomita is a regular, as is Curt
(Skinny) McGinness. And so on.
And it hasn't truly ended; by the
time you read this, 58 or so people who graced Highlands on June 24
will be in Ireland. A majority of them will be golfing.
So
how did this private, unadvertised get-together morph into an event
that drew 140 far-flung golfers on one continent, and 40 to another?
Todd Moriarity, Rich's 45-year-old son, ventures a
guess.
“It's like a potato chip,” he said Wednesday from
Seattle. “You can't have just one.”
That's why Jim McElwain,
lately of the Oakland Raiders and currently on the Fresno State
University football staff, was on standby for a flight out of
California to the tournament (he didn't find a seat and missed the
tourney). It's why Todd Moriarity's old friend Mike Erickson timed
his trip back from Japan around the Open.
“The
nice thing about it is the way people support it,” Moriarity said.
“Everybody's been doing it. For 20 years.”
Rich Moriarity was
only 52 when he passed. He was a railroad cop who'd just gone into
work on his day off.
“He had to carry a gun, it was law
enforcement, and he was always good friends with the police,” said
Todd, before showing some Irish black
humor. “There was no warning. Aside from the fact that he smoked and
drank and was overweight.”
Todd was 23 at the time, and his
younger brother Shannon (Camper) Moriarity was 12 or 13. The wake
was held at the old Mansion, in the pro shop. Richard Hoffmaster,
who most people know as Shadow, closed it for the day. And the
policemen honored the tournament's patriarch with a quick
18.
A tradition was born. If there seemed liked a surplus of
planes flying into Missoula on June 23, the Moriarity Irish Open may be the
reason.
“You know what,” said Todd Moriarity. “There were
probably 6-8 people that called me who usually come, but because of
Ireland they couldn't. They couldn't do both.”
Right, back to
the Motherland. In 2003 Moriarity and friends Bob Smith, Scott
Orlich and Tomita and their wives went to Ireland for 10 days. In
the midst of some pints at the Marine Links Hotel pub, Moriarity
jokingly asked proprietor Mike O'Nagle where would be a good place
for the 20th Moriarity Open.
“He
asked me how many people we'd have, and I said, ‘Between two and
200,' ” Moriarity said. “ ‘Montanans are crazy.' ”
Moriarity
told him about his father, his uncle Pat, and “The Baghole”
tradition of high score on Highlands No. 7 carrying everyone else's
clubs to the eighth tee (You can learn more about the Moriarity Open at
www.baghole.com.)
“He said, ‘You should have it here,' ”
Moriarity said.
Back in the States, he put out the word: If
we save $50 a month for the next four years, we could all do this.
Including air fare, it came out to $2,200 per person. That's if you
felt like playing three rounds of golf at the famed Ballybunion Golf
Club. If not, you could save $300-400.
And so the Moriarity
Open, with
little fanfare yet unbelievable support, just got a lot bigger. And
bigger is better.
“I always think that it's not about dying,
it's about living,” Todd Moriarity said. “Every day might be your
last - don't take your good times and your good friends for
granted.”
2007
Past Tournaments |
Past Winners | The
Highlands |
Photos |
Links
3/26/11
cooper
webcam |
