It has been a busy Thanksgiving weekend here on the East Coast. After the big day, of course, we are followed by the traditional Black Friday sales and shopping. I leave the shopping to others and organize the annual Turkey Bowl Golf Outing at Cream Ridge Golf Club. We select Cream Ridge for its accessibility from New York as we always have some players coming from the Big Apple.

It was a record day for the game. There were three threesomes and one foursome battling on the course. Bill Marine, Cream Ridge’s PGA professional, is a great guy and secures tee times for our reliable group well in advance. He makes Cream Ridge a great place to play. I say reliable because our group shows up no matter what the weather is like — rain, freezing cold and, occasionally, balmy weather as you never know what the last weekend in November will bring.

We had a few cowards pull out days before due to the threat of bad weather, but I have to tell you, Friday was one of the best golf days we have ever had at the Turkey Bowl. It threatened to rain but never did, and the sun even came out for a while halfway through the round. The temperature was in the low 60s, with some wind but, all in all, very bearable weather.

At the end of the day, the big winner was John Ecklund, who played lights out with a gross 74. With handicaps deleted from the scores, there was no one close to John’s game. He played in my threesome, and I can’t recall John ever playing so well. Perhaps it was the turkey dinner the day before, or maybe it was the joy of not shopping on Black Friday, but I really believe he was motivated by the homemade Turkey Bowl trophy, which will sit proudly on his mantle until Black Friday 2010.

The presentation ceremony was held at a townie bar call the Plumbsted Grill, where Chris “Yammi” Ottaunick (the 2008 winner) passed on the trophy to John.

— Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO