Fore! Bandits tee off @ ESPN charity golf outing

The sun was shining and the golf balls were flying yesterday as Rachel Folden, Stacy May and Bill Sokolis teed off in the ESPN Charity Golf Outing to support the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. The golf outing was held at the Stonewall Orchard Golf Course in Grayslake, Ill.

Playing as celebrities in the outing, each was paired with four other golfers to compete in the scramble format of golf. In scramble play, each player tees off from the tee box, then the team plays their next ball from the best shot. Each golfer’s shots must be used a minimum of two times throughout the 18 holes.

Breakfast (various donuts and coffee) was provided by 7-Eleven to fuel the hungry golfers as everyone began filing in around 9:30 a.m. for the event. Around 10:45, the golfers headed off to their carts to prepare for the 11 a.m. shotgun start.

Before things got started, Folden and Stacy May checked in from the driving range with nothing but good hopes and one goal: have fun.

On the course, Folden kicked things off from the fifth hole on the course and laced a nice shot down the middle of the fairway. Her team, made up of people from Zero Friction, had a fun day of golf from the get go, and finished 7 under par after 18 holes. Each hole on the course came with different prizes and challenges, along with hole sponsors offering different treats and prizes as well.

“It was a lot of fun yesterday,” said Folden. “It’s good to be a Bandit so we get to do things like this and put our name out there. It was a good tournament, and I’m sure Stacy May killed it on the 18th hole starting out when she hit the longest drive.”

Folden took home a hole prize on the second hole of the course, as she dropped the shortest drive in the fairway to win a nice Wilson driver. Folden even came close to sinking a long distance put earlier in the course.

Stacy May equaled Folden’s success by taking home the longest drive in the fairway contest on hole 18, winning her own driver from Wilson. May started the day at the 18th hole, dropping the longest drive from the get-go.

“We shot like 6 under so that was pretty good. It was hot, sunny, it was nice and it was just a good time,” added Folden. “I won the [golf club], which I’ll be giving to my dad as a father’s day present.”

Bandits President and CEO Bill Sokolis had a blast during the event as well, guiding his team to the pin with multiple long drives off the tees. Partnered up with members of Southwest Airlines, the city of Aurora, Nicor and Napa, Sokolis and company tore through the greens en route to an under par showing.

After all the puts had been sunk and long drives landed, ESPN held the silent auction to raise even more money for the Jimmy V Foundation. Items included an autographed football from Robbie Gould, signed Jonathan Toews jersey, a Mark DeRosa jersey, 3 Bandits jerseys (Folden, Fox and May), a suite package to the Hawthorne Race Track, a basket of Chicago Bulls prizes, an autographed Patrick Kane jersey, a Derrick Rose autographed basketball, various spa and vacation giveaways and more.

All in all, the event was a ton of fun as our three golfers had a blast, and fared well on the course as well. Sun burnt and exhausted, the six Bandits representatives (Bill, Sarah, Andrew, Hannah, Stacy and Rachel) headed home … all in a day’s work @ the Bandits.