A golf rookie took first-place honors in a golf tournament on SE Campus Oct. 21.

Participants were given three golf balls to write their names on. Then they took turns driving the balls toward a flag. The student whose ball landed closest to the pin was declared the winner.

“It’s kind of nice to randomly win something,” said SE student Marc Baldridge, who has never played golf before.

Despite his lack of experience, Baldridge’s ball fell closest to the target.

“Golf is 50 percent luck, and the other 50 percent is just trying to hit the ball,” he said.

For Baldridge, this contest was his first swing at golf since he played Putt-Putt years ago.

The second closest ball belonged to SE student Harold Brown. It was the third time Brown had won second place in intramural sports competitions. Brown was previously runner-up in SE Campus’ intramural dodgeball tournament and obstacle course. 

Incentives in the form of extra credit for health and wellness courses and prizes for first and second place were offered to students who participated. Health and physical education instructor Cristina Pumphrey said many of the participants, including Baldridge, were students in courses for a health and wellness credit, which is part of the core curriculum.

“He’s a great student,” she said.

Shahzad Nazir, HPE instructor and intramural sports coordinator, said the contest was a way to get students outside and give golf a try.

“We try to encourage students to be more physically active in their lifestyles. Golf is a frustrating sport, but it’s a fun sport,” he said.

The first-place prize was a driver golf club. Second place received a sports bag with a TCC intramural logo on it.

Since he doesn’t play golf, Baldridge joked that he would probably keep his prize above his fireplace as a trophy, saying it would make a good story.

“It’s weird. I study for a test and do terrible, but I’ve never tried golf and win,” he said.