Last Sunday was the 113th U.S. Open. For golf aficionados, it was an event not to be missed. Lefty started the day with a one- shot lead and it seemed like he would finally shake his curse (ending second five times at the event).
Alas, the drama of sport reared its head, and we golf lovers watched as a Brit took the U.S. Open title. It was, in short, a farce—not the good kind.
Last Sunday, I also attended Cascade Theatrical Company's Fox and the Fairway—a stage production and a British farce of the best kind. While tragedy and drama took center stage at the brutal Marion golf course in Eastern Pennsylvania, here in Central Oregon comedy and laughs ruled the day at the fictitious Quail Valley Country Club. No ball-swallowing roughs in sight; just witty zingers and fast-paced antics.
Fox and the Fairway's local but very talented cast delivers a deluge of charm as it takes on a collection of feisty members at Crouching Squirrel Golf and Racquetball Club in the annual golf tournament, the one the Quail Valley boys have lost five years running. (No, I'm not making that up. Five second-place finishes going into the tournament. I think there's a line about life and art imitation here somewhere.)
But this year, the Quail Valley boys vow, this year it is going to be different. This year no more runner-ups. No more almosts but not quites. Of course, you'll have to stop by CTC to find out the outcome of this particular tourney.
If you're a lover of one or all of Central Oregon's 25 courses, this script is spot-on; the play is a truly lovely, chuckle-filled evening with the Mr. or Mrs. Golf-Cart-Driver in your life. And even if you don't love golf, there are still some well-earned laughs. Heck, half of them are sex jokes. And why not? As one character observes, golf and sex are the only two things you can enjoy without being any good at.
