Don’t miss the bus
- Updated: July 15, 2018
SKCC notes: Group of Anniston friends buys old school bus for adventures, vehicle made its public debut/maiden voyage Saturday to the Sunny King Classic
The Boys On The Bus: Sunny King Classic organizers and players (from left) Hank Smith, Jason Alderman, Christopher Alderman and Brett Key step off the bus their group of friends recently brought for group trips.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – You literally could not miss the bus if you drove up to the road to Cider Ridge’s clubhouse during Saturday’s second round of the Sunny King Charity Classic.
At first glance you’d think the fully equipped 1999 Blue Bird school bus parked in the lower lot across from the practice area was the means of transporting tournament volunteers back and forth from the golf course to their staging areas.
The bus was bringing people to the golf course, all right, but this was a players-only vehicle.
The PGA Tour has its production and performance trucks. The Sunny King Classic has its own bus.
A group of about 20 Anniston Country Club friends, many of them community business leaders who play in or help organize the Classic, got together last month to purchase the bus for their personal limousine/party bus for group trips to things like SEC Championship Games, outings to Top Golf and the like. It comes in real handy for moving tornament organizers to Sunny King Classic sites.
Luggage, golf bags, beverages and other road trip essentials were loaded into the back of the 56-seat flat-nose school bus. They were all belongings of the 10 intrepid souls who took part in Saturday’s maiden voyage of the Funniston – a fusion of Fun and Anniston – Bus Company, an actual registered LLC
When it comes to fun, these guys aren’t messing around.
“My wife has wanted a bus for years; she always talked about getting a bus,” said SKCC chairman Hank Smith. “When this thing came available she said get it.”
The group bought it about three weeks ago for $6,000. The ‘For Sale’ sign is still painted on the windshield.
Right now it doesn’t look like much but it runs and is road worthy. Its traditional yellow paint has been covered over by a black coating and spray-painted with signs and slogans like “FBC,” “SKCC Express,” “MAGA 1%,” and “Go Dawgs.” Eventually, the bus will be wrapped for a more formal and festive presentation and its seats taken out and replaced by couches and other amenities.
They brought the license plate and insurance papers for the bus by the golf course Saturday afternoon, sending the group in search of a screwdriver to attach said plate.
The bus has a rolling list of qualified drivers and when not on the road, for the time being, is being kept at an undisclosed location. But don’t miss the bus as it rolls through town on its way to Destination: Good Times.
EARLY START: Kenny Okins, the White Plains 15-year-old picked to hit one of the four big-money shots at the conclusion of Sunday’s final round, either has his shot dialed in or may have been one day and 30 yards early for winning his prize.
His shot for $100,000 Sunday will be from about 160 yards in the 18th fairway at Anniston Country Club. On Saturday, on the first hole of his second round, the young Okins holed out for eagle from 130 yards on the par-4 tenth hole at Cider Ridge.
The shot jump-started he and dad Rick to a 10-under-par 60 that has them tied for 12th in the Championship A Flight, eight shots off the lead.
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