Tommy Snell: Don't be a Turkey, take one home

This is the time to gobble up some Thanksgiving fun on the golf course.

What better way to spend a few holidays than on the golf course with family and friends. Golfers can feast on competition and prepare for cranberry salad, sweet potatoes, oyster dressing and fried turkey this holiday season by heading to the golf course.

Allan Thomasson organized the Turkey Shoot in 1992 at the Gulfport Par 3 to raise money for junior golf and other worthy causes. This year's 3-person, select shot event will tee off at Great Southern Golf Club at 10 a.m. Saturday. No matter the score, every participant will take home a turkey.

No camouflage needed. No muskets or shotguns! Just 14 clubs and a big appetite. Turkey shooters will conceal themselves in food stations full of brisket, smoked sausage, jalapeno poppers, award-winning pudding and more. Nobody will go away hungry. The $100 per person entry fee includes prizes for six places gross and net and hole-in-one values up to $50,000, as well as brisket.

Bored on Thanksgiving Day? Russ Bloom's Turkey Day Shootout at The Oaks allows golfers to be home in time for turkey, trimmings and football. The 2-person scramble will shotgun start at 8 a.m. on Nov. 26. The $40 entry fee for cardholders and $50 for non-cardholders includes golf, coffee and donuts, and great prizes.

Thanksgiving remorse? Eat too much? Kyle Ramey and Windance want you to work off the feast. With bellies full golfers will shotgun at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 27 in a 2-person Turkey Shootout. Members will pay $25 plus cart fee, and guests will enjoy golf, camaraderie and prizes for $50.

Need to work off some of that turkey and dressing? Leave it up to Chris Altese and the Diamondhead staff to offer unique holiday fun. The Gobbler 3-person scramble is set for Nov. 28 on the Cardinal Course.

This 18-hole, flighted event uses a "blind-flighted" scoring method, giving everyone a chance to grab some holiday enjoyment.

It's all about the fun and the giving! The $75 per person entry fee includes golf, range balls, prizes, a Special Event and a Mulligan Package that involves a free throw, an actual mulligan and a Red Tee Buster. Participants must bring four canned goods that will be donated to a local Food Pantry for the holidays.

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday, and golfers give thanks.

Tommy Snell, golf coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, writes a column for the Sun Herald.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Tommy Snell: Don't be a Turkey, take one home ."