Kenny Jackson, Kinney Carlton and I joined Randy Bielfeld for the Special Olympics Benefit Tournament early Saturday morning at Duncan Park.

Each foursome had one special athlete playing with them. Randy was ours. Jeff Edwards wrote about Randy in his column on May 10.

Randy was a joy to have on our team.

He was our team leader.

He was our spark plug.

He was our captain.

He was our ace-in-the-hole.

He was our inspiration.

On hole No. 16, Kenny Jackson told us to be sure to get our chip shot up on top of the hill. Randy said, “Just leave the hill to me.”

On No. 17, Kinney Carlton hit his drive long and straight, right down the middle of the fairway. Randy said, “Now I can work with that.”

It was that way all day long. Randy carried us on his back. And he helped us appreciate a beautiful day on the golf course.

We did not win the golf tournament, but that’s not important.

What is important is that more than $18,000 was raised for Special Olympics.

And Randy and all the other athletes had lots of fun — just not as much fun as the rest of us.

Jack Lazarus

Natchez resident