Houston Texans players and coaches joined local celebrities and scores of charitable golfers Monday for a day on the links to benefit the Houston Texans Foundation at River Oaks Country Club.
It's probably a good thing that the money raised Monday had nothing to do with how well the players and coaches played. The tourney raises nearly $200,000 annually for Houston-area charities, but a low score on the links does not increase donations.
Teams were split into four golfers, each having at least one member of the Texans organization…for better or for worse.
"I'm not much of a golfer," head coach Gary Kubiak said. "I think I've played a couple of times (this year) with my boy. After today, that will probably be it for a while."
Kubiak wasn't alone. Texans founder and chairman Bob McNair said that he rarely gets to play golf, but looks forward to the annual gathering anyway.
"We're excited," McNair said. "It's going to be a lot of fun. It's nice to have all of our players back in town and we're delighted to be here and it's going to be for a good cause."
{QUOTE}General Manager Rick Smith joined the chorus of those contending they had little time to work on their golf game and didn't have too many of his shots chosen among the best ball format Monday.
"I have not had time to work on my game at all," Smith said. "(McNair) keeps me busy, that's for sure."
One Texan that was rumored to have a strong golf game was Matt Schaub. Much was made of the Kubiak-Schaub golf outing prior to Schaub's arrival in Houston.
Schaub beat Kubiak on that day and new teammate and fellow newcomer to Houston Ahman Green said that he expected Schaub to be the best player Monday.
"Quarterbacks are usually good players," Green said. "They have time for that sort of thing. We would get done with two-a-days in Green Bay and Brett (Favre) would be out there swinging the sticks. I didn't have the energy."
Schaub disputed Green's claims and instead insisted he's been working on learning the Texans offensive system and not the greens at River Oaks.
"I don't know where Ahman got that idea," Schaub said. "We'll see how I do out here, maybe July I'll be playing the way I like to play by then. I've only played once or twice since being traded."
Regardless of the play Monday, the six primary charitable organizations served by the Houston Texans Foundation (The Boys and Girls Country, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Rebuilding Together Houston, Child Advocates Inc., the Health Museum and Heart of a Champion) are still going to be winners.
