Martin wins golf bonanza

WORLEY, Idaho – Jim Cleveland considers Randy Martin a “good” friend.

That’s “good,” as in lower-case “good.”

For now, at least.

“But if he keeps doing things like this, he’s going to become a GOOD friend,” Cleveland admitted Monday morning as he waited to tee off at Circling Raven Golf Club as one of the 51 friends Martin invited to join him for the free day of golf he won as part of the course’s “14 Weeks of Summer” promotion.

“Any time he makes it to Coeur d’Alene after this, there’s free beer waiting,” added Cleveland, a vice president for Jivaro Professional Headhunters, a recruiting company with an office in Coeur d’Alene.

And why shouldn’t there be after what Cleveland reaped from his friendship with Martin, a financial advisor and longtime Spokane resident?

“I couldn’t believe it,” Martin said of hearing that his name had been drawn out of a hat that included those of golfers who had frequented the course on the designated days of its 14-week promotional event. “I’ve never won anything in my life.”

In this instance, though, he cashed in big.

And he made the most of it by filling all 51 complimentary spots with an assortment of people that ranged from close friends, to clients to friends of clients.

“It took awhile for the whole thing to really sink in,” recalled the 52-year-old Martin, an 8-handicapper and Circling Raven Men’s Club member who plays the course about twice a week. “At first it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to come up with 50 friends who play golf and can get off work on a Monday?’

“But you know what? I filled it up in about three days. It was kind of bizarre, because I didn’t realize I had that many friends. It was like being 10 years old again and getting to invite people to your birthday party.”

Martin even got a commitment from a friend who lives in San Diego, but ultimately had to arrange for a fill-in when his friend couldn’t fit a quick trip to the Pacific Northwest into his schedule on such short notice.

Circling Raven officially closed for the season on Sunday, but brought in its clubhouse staff for one more day to accommodate Martin and his friends.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this, nor has anyone I’ve talked to,” said Steve Caruso, Circling Raven’s interim director of golf. “But our purpose is simple, and it’s sincere. We appreciate those, near or far, who come to the course and give us their business.

“Randy is a perfect example, really. He loves Circling Raven, he’s a regular player and he will certainly represent us well.”

In addition to free golf, Martin and his friends also received coupons good for substantial discounts on merchandise in the Circling Raven pro shop – another aspect of the promotion that factored into Martin’s list of invitees.

“What I thought about, first, were friends of mine who loved golf, because not all of them do,” Martin said.

And then he thought back to a golf workshop he had attended and the importance the instructor placed on having good playing partners.

“I started writing down some names,” Martin recalled. “At first I thought it was going to be hard, but really, I had the names written down in about an hour and started making phone calls.

“That was the fun part.”

And Martin ended up with no one in his group he hadn’t met.

In the case of Cleveland, the two were connected through their jobs.

The wife of one of Cleveland’s office managers, Mitch Knight – who also played on Monday, works for Mitchell.

“It worked out great,” Cleveland said. “Mitch came with the approach that if there’s any way to get a Monday off, you invite your boss to go golfing, and I think that worked out pretty well.”

Surprisingly, Martin had no “long-lost” relatives calling up and asking for a spot in his fifty-twosome.

“In fact, I don’t have a relative playing in this,” Martin said, “which might be bad. I forgot to invite my nephew, who’s a scratch golfer.

“Oh, well. Maybe he won’t read the newspaper.”