Kaiser Realty sales associates helped make history Oct. 1 when they teed off at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Golf Tournament. Billed as the “Largest Shotgun Start in the World”, Kaiser Realty was a hole sponsor for the event and also sponsored a team in the tournament. Former Auburn University Football All-American and St. Louis Cardinal safety Larry Willingham is a Kaiser sales associate and a member of the ASHOF. “What we wanted to do was make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest shotgun start for a golf tournament in the history of the world. We had more than 1,000 golfers starting at the same time on nine Robert Trent Jones courses throughout the state,” he said.

On Oct. 2, former Olympic gold medal winning diver and Outreach Director for the ASHOF, Jennifer Chandler said Guinness officials had certified the event and it is now in the record books as the largest shotgun start for a golf tournament in history. “We did what we set out to do for this year. Next year we hope to grow it more,” she said. “I use the same philosophy with this tournament that I tell the school kids we arrange to come through the ASHOF in Birmingham. I tell them to always work and never give up. If you believe you can do something, anything is possible.”

“I’m glad we had the chance to get out there, have some fun and enjoy the fellowship we had with other members of the Kaiser sales team,” said Tim Hayter, one of the Kaiser sales agents that participated in the tourney.

“It was great,” said Glen Kaiser, Kaiser Realty’s Qualifying Broker in Orange Beach. “Alabama sports legends like Robert Brazile and Bob Baumhower came around and spent time with the individual teams. We even got to tee off a hole with former NFL players Scott Hunter and Paul Crane.”

Willingham was another of the ASHOF members who teed off on the same hole all day, playing his hole with every team in the tourney. Organizers allowed the designated ASHOF members to shoot “Mulligans” for teams in the tournament. “You would have thought after playing the same hole all day I would have been able to play better toward the end of the day,” he said with a chuckle. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.”

Kaiser Realty Sales Associate Bobby Kilpatrick was also a member of the team. “It was a beautiful day and Magnolia Grove was beautiful. I wish our swings had been as pretty as the day and the golf course,” he said. “But I was glad to get out here and support a worthy cause like the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.”

Proceeds from the tournament, according to Chandler, allow the ASHOF to provide free field trips for school children across the state to visit the ASHOF in Birmingham. “Last year 8,500 students went through the Hall of Fame. We were able to pay not only for admission to the Hall, but for 99 percent of the students we were able to provide free transportation to and from the facility,” she said.

Chandler said many people do not realize Alabama has such a rich sports history. “ESPN did a survey to name the top 100 athletes of the 20^th century. Five of the top 15 are in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame,’ she said. “It’s important that our children know that if they keep trying and keep dreaming, anything is possible. Jesse Owens was born one of 10 children in a one-room house. He kept trying and dreaming, and look where that took him.”

Kaiser Realty, Inc. has been a full-service real estate sales and rental firm since 1980 with offices in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. To contact the sales or rental department, call 968-6868 in Gulf Shores or 981-5977 in Orange Beach.