Customer Golf?

I played golf yesterday in a "charity" golf tournament organized by some customers. The customers got to pick the charity and the donations came from their vendors. I'm not sure the hosting company (Verizon Wireless) directly donated at all...other than the hours spent by their employees not doing their salaried jobs. It is all pretty slimy when you think about it.

That's not the only most slimy part. The customers also got to set the 4-somes. Get a load of this logic, one of the organizers (A. Gandhi) has never broken 100 that I know of. He invited a friend of his who works for a competitor (Cingular Wireless) to be in his 4 some. Not only that but he arranges for a ringer who drives 340+ yards to be in his 4-some. It's no surprise that their group tied for the lowest score of the tournament despite having 3 mediocre players.

It's actually pretty despicable when you think about it. It amazes me that Verizon Wireless condones stuff like this. On the plus side, it was a beautiful day in northern Georgia at the Hampton Golf Village and the course was pretty easy. My group, two poor players (me and one other vendor) and 2 decent players finished at an honest 14 under.