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Pants at half mast for Jim Martin memorial golf tournament

Funds were raised and pants were lowered at the second annual Jim Martin Classic golf tournament held Saturday at North Vancouver’s Murdo Frazer Golf Course.

Funds were raised and pants were lowered at the second annual Jim Martin Classic golf tournament held Saturday at North Vancouver’s Murdo Frazer Golf Course.

The tournament is held in honour of North Shore teacher, coach and sports administrator Jim Martin who died in a house fire in 2011. The event includes the popular Pants Down Tee-Off on hole No. 1, a tradition born of a heart-warming memory and funny mix-up. Jim’s son Nick Martin explained in a note to the North Shore News:

“The story of the Pants Down Tee-Off started with a photo. After Jim passed, there weren’t many photos left of him, as most of his pictures were in his house when it caught fire. This was one of the remaining few photos that we had as a family. It was this photo that inspired me to start a golf tournament and name it the Jim Martin Classic after my dad.

Jim Martin
Here's the photo of Jim Martin that started the Pants Down Tee-Off tradition. photo supplied

“My brothers and I didn’t know why he was teeing off with his pants down in the photo, but we knew he was always the center of attention and the life of the party so we just thought it was Jim being Jim. When the first tournament came around, everyone set up and teed off from Hole 1 with their pants down just  like my dad did in that photo. The original photo of him was taken at Hole 1 of Murdo Frazer as well, which is why we chose to host the tournament at that course.

“We even had custom beer koozies made with Jim’s infamous photo emblazoned across it, a fitting gift if you knew Jim.

“It wasn’t until all the photos from last year’s tournament came out that we found out why my dad was teeing off with his pants down in the original photo. My mom, Adriana Martin, asked me why everyone was teeing off with their pants down when she saw the photos shared on Facebook.

“‘Only the previous champion is supposed to tee off with their pants down,’ she told me.

“It turns out that instead of the Green Jacket, like at the Masters, my dad’s tournament champion was presented with a pair of Green Boxers. The photo of Jim teeing off with his pants down was him showing off to everyone else that he was the returning champion, wearing his Green Boxers with pride.

“Nevertheless, a tradition was born, and on Hole 1 of the Jim Martin Classic everyone tees off with their pants down.”

This year’s tournament raised close to $1,800, with proceeds going to the athletic programs at Argyle Secondary and Carson Graham Secondary, two schools strongly tied to Jim Martin and his sons Nick, Connor and Luke.

The Martins organized the tournament along with friends Steve Bailey and Colby Woit. The Martin boys are hoping to expand the tournament in 2019.