Maxamania returns to Rackham GC for Year 2

“We meet, in Detroit. We play, in Detroit.”

With those lines, delivered by Laz Versalles, now of the Fire Pit Collective, the Maxamania event at Rackham Golf Course was formulated.

The Maxamania event returns to Rackham Golf Course this spring on May 21st. First conceived in the fall of 2019, the inaugural event took place in May of 2021 as a production of members of the Refuge, an online community hosted by No Laying Up. The idea began as a team match between Laz and Refuge member Josh Bors, and quickly morphed into a much larger, 72-person event featuring a vintage Wrestlemania motif.

Like any good Wrestlemania-themed golf outing, countless numbers of wrestling memes were traded in the lead up to the event, and the costumes donned on the day of the event would only be acceptable at a place as welcoming and quintessentially Detroit as Rackham GC. While the trash talk preceding the event was fun, it was also an opportunity for the Refuge community to rally around one of its own.

The Max in Maxamania is the son of Refuge member Todd Chapman. Max suffers from Peroxisomal Biogenesis Disorder. In addition to raising more awareness around PBD, the event also raised $9000, which helped contribute to the addition of a lift to help Max up and down the stairs in his home as he grows older.

For the regular golfing hacks in Detroit, the classic Donald Ross design at Rackham, 9 holes of which still remain fully intact, needed no introduction. For many of the event participants traveling in from out of state, however, including several members of the No Laying Up team, it was their first chance to see the historic municipal course and dream about what could be possible not only for Rackham’s future, but for the future of muni golf, as well. The visit from NLU likely contributed to Rackham being included as a stop in the Tourist Sauce travel series in the fall of 2021.

While this event is run by members of the Refuge community and consists mainly of Refuge golfers, one need not be a member or even familiar with the organization to participate in the event. For example, when I signed up for the event last year, I did not know a single person in the event and went in blind. Here’s how my morning pairings went, as written in a different article:

My group at Rackham consisted of a golfer from Chicago, another who had family in the area, and a local who played the local Detroit muni often. My cart partner, Ryan from Chicago, didn’t take a single practice swing all day. If he did, I didn’t see it anyways. I likely missed more of his shots that day than I actually witnessed. Brian, who had family in the area, was also a quick player, and on more than one occasion dropped an iron shot from somewhere in the trees right onto the pin. On the holes he played more conventionally, he frequently was sinking long bombs around the greens. Kevin the local, who had secured a cooler of Oberons for the event from a local beverage distributor, was ripping heaters and generally befriending every person he met throughout the day. Kevin was such a great hang, that for the first time ever I exchanged numbers with another golfer, with a plan to play more golf that summer.

As enjoyable as the morning round was, I joined an 8-some alternate shot grouping in the afternoon and met a whole new round of people that I had a blast with. It’s a small enough event, but with a large enough amount of golf, that you are bound to meet someone who you will want to play with again.

This year’s Maxamania 2 is spearheaded by Jesse Dula, who led last year’s charitable effort behind Maxamania, in addition to handling a lot of the groundwork of prepping the event. While the Wrestlemania theme will not return this year, a new theme has been established for 2022: “Celebrating Max, Music, & Muni’s”. The championship belts and wrestling-themed raffle items from last year will be replaced with music-themed items this May, and likely a few new ridiculous outfits.

This year’s entry fee is $175, which includes a donation to Max, breakfast, lunch, and golf from dawn to dusk. Entry forms, event details, and payment info is available here.