Herbage Golf Fall Classic
By Michael Kinney
James Bridges has never been afraid of paving his own path. When he founded Herbage Magazine, he was creating something that unique for Oklahoma.
That was the same mindset Bridges had when he decided to put together the Herbage Golf Fall Classic. The friendly golf tournament was designed to not only bring together people cannabis industry but also strengthen the ties of the community itself.
“This is part of what we envisioned when we first created it,” Bridges said. “This is actually our third run at this, and it’s grown every year and come together collectively every year. This year is the year that I think that it became well organized well. It was very well organized.”
The third annual Herbage Golf Fall Classic was held Sept. 25 at the Choctaw Creek Golf Course (2200 North Hiwassee Road).
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, several members of the cannabis community showed up to the course to show off their skills with the golf clubs, laugh among themselves and talk about the industry.
“I am very happy with everything overall,” Bridges said. “The biggest thing that I got out of the entire thing was the ability for all of us to come together and experience something that some of us have never done before. Some of us have done it before, but it didn’t matter. We all were able to have fun outside while doing something and not just trying to sell and make money.”
The top prize went to the team from Bricktown Cannabis. They shot an 18 under par on the Best Ball Four Person Scramble format.
The Herbage wanted to give special thanks to the Choctaw Creek Golf Course, the volunteers and each of the sponsors. They included All Smoke Insurance, The Cowboy Cup, Local Leaf RX, Exclusive Gummies, Pott County hideout, Lone Wolf Family Farms, Dazed, EDP Contracting, BiggerStaff Budz, Resonant Cultivation, Doc Ferguson, Double Down Dabs, Brickhouse Cannabis, Roach & Budd, Mitties Medicinals and Sheek’s Kitchen, who provided the scrumptious lunch.
Whether the competitors were avid golfers or just hackers, the events catered to anyone who has a vested interest in cannabis.
“It’s always great to be included in something,” said Aubrey Elliot of Exclusive Gummies. “So, we thank them for having us here. It’s nice to network, reach out to other people, kind of see who’s in the industry and who’s doing what and who’s bringing that fire to the table.”
For Scott Wallach, who owns All Smoke Insurance, the opportunity to get into an environment where can he meet new people in the cannabis community is a good day for him.
“James and Herbage do a really good job of promoting the industry and the patients. Since we are actually based out of Texas, we’re in 43 states and have got five of the medical recreational states that we’re in as well. And Oklahoma’s probably one of our largest,” said Wallach. “For me, it’s meeting the new people, the business owners, the patients out here, showing them that the business owners are taken care of making sure that whatever they’re producing, that when they get it at the end of the market, they’re getting what they deserve. They’re getting the best product out there for their liability. They’re making sure that we’re protecting their business, mitigating their risk. So that’s, that’s what I like to be out here for.”
Haitham Abuamarah from Dazed had a similar reaction to participating in the Herbage Golf Tournament for the first time.
“It was great. I was just telling them back at the last hole, how much we loved it,” Abuamarah said. “It was a great idea. This is a nice time to not only talk to other people that are like-minded in the same industry but also just kind of unwind and have fun with the group that you’re with. It’s been fun. We love it. We love this event.”
Now that the Herbage Golf Fall Classic is in its third edition, Bridges is seeing it getting closer to what he originally envisioned. But he is also watching it grow beyond what even he imagined in certain aspects.
“It evolves over time and I never think there is enough time to really do what I want. But from the beginning until the end, if you look at where I wanted to end up, I’m past that,” Bridges said. “It’s better to me than what it was in my head before I first started because of its evolution and growth.”
Before the ink had dried on the player’s scorecard, Bridges was already looking ahead to how to make the next Classic even better.
“It opened the door for us to do more of these in the future.” Bridges said. “It showed that there was a demand not just for golf, but for people to come together, have fun be able to talk business with one another as well.”
The golfers are also already looking forward to coming back in participating in future events and believe this is just the start of something amazing.
“I think it gets bigger in time,” Wallach said. “I think it’ll get bigger and I think it’ll draw more corporate sponsors, and I think that’s going to be key. And bringing more patients into the game. I think that’s really cool. That’s what James’s whole idea is, is making sure that the patients and the companies meet up and so they know that what they’re getting is the best out there on the market. That’s what I get out of it.”
