Miller and others endure chilly round for a good cause

Miller and others endure chilly round for a good causeASPEN, Colorado – It was a cold day on course for Bode Miller and some other Olympians in Snowmass, Colorado, this weekend. Golf course, that is.

The inaugural Bode Miller and Olympic Friends golf benefit in Snowmass wrapped up with chattering teeth and raw fingers and noses for the 15 teams of four that turned out to raise money for Aspen’s Cancer Survivor Center for Health and Well Being. The center opened in January, the brainchild of Aspen resident and Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club coach Riggs Klika.

The golf benefit, however, was masterminded by 11-year-old Bobby Moyer, whose mother, Mary Moyer, is one of the center's clients and a breast-cancer survivor.

An avid ski racer and golfer, Bobby is known by coach Klika and others on his ski team as "Bode Jr." Wanting to do something for his mother, the boy found a way to get in touch with his favorite U.S. Ski Team athlete and invited him to play in the tournament.

Moyer spent the entire day Friday with his hero as Miller signed autographs in Aspen, spoke with other young ski racers and attended a dinner party Friday night at Klika’s house.

Other Olympians in the tournament included 2006 snowboarding silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler, nordic skier Craig Ward, recently retired slalom standout Kristina Koznick, Casey Puckett, Liechtenstein's 1984 slalom bronze medalist Ursula (Konzett) Gregg, and 1996 mountain biking medalist Tammy Jacques. Recently reappointed U.S. team coach John McBride also played in the tournament.

As the athletes were divided among the teams, tournament organizers saw to it that Moyer and Miller were placed on the same team. Moyer, who said he usually scores in the 70s when playing alone, landed a 60-point total with his team.

“It was the worst golf I’ve played in my life,” Moyer said when he stepped off the course shivering in the cold. “Because it was freezing and I couldn’t even swing. If I played by myself, I wouldn’t have had that good of a day. I had moments of greatness and moments of … horrible.”

Miller, who was the only player wearing shorts, said the day was cold but enjoyable.

“It was good fun,” he said of the tournament, which was played in a scramble format with most teams purchasing two mulligans.

In turn, Bleiler, Koznick, Puckett and McBride, all smiling despite their bright red cheeks, echoed Miller's sentiment.

Moyer, whose team used only one of its mulligans, said he had expected Miller to be an astute golfer and was not disappointed.

“He’s pretty good,” Moyer said. “He had moments of greatness, too.”

Moyer said he would remember his weekend with Miller for the rest of his life and that, in the flesh, his ski hero measured up to his expectations.

"He’s what I thought he would be,” Moyer said. "He’s kind of a little kid in a really big man's body. He's not like a stuck-up celebrity. He's relaxed and laid back and more like a kid.”

Miller, who has participated in other charity events this summer, including a minor league baseball game in which he had a memorable leaping catch in the outfield and another golf tournament benefiting research for brain injuries, said that such events bring a mixture of tedious PR tasks and genuine pleasure.

“Sitting there signing autographs for an hour and 45 minutes is not enjoyable,” he said. “But being interactive with cool people, helping people out and doing something positive is good.”

Miller said he’s indifferent to the way his participation in charity events may serve to alter some of the general public’s bad-boy impression of him.

“Just the same as it doesn’t bother me when people have the wrong impressions, it doesn’t do much for me when they have the right ones either,” he said. “If it helps them to also be a bit more responsive to helping out, that’s good.”

Tournament organizer and cancer survivor center director Kathleen Callahan said there is a chance the entire U.S. Ski Team may play in next year’s tournament, and that the benefit turned out fantastically considering the short planning period.

“We had two months to put this together and it turned out better than I thought,” she said. “Bode and the other Olympians have been just fantastic. We’re hoping to do it again next year.”