The Savannah Bananas are to baseball, as the Harlem Globetrotters are to basketball.
PGA Tour players and wives welcome the Savannah Bananas for charity fundraiser at RSM Classic
The Savannah Bananas brought their flair to St. Simons Island, Georgia, where they played in the RSM Classic Pro-Am and held a charity event.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
They have a flair for the dramatic, as their unique style of play has garnered the attention of thousands of sports fans around the United States.
But they are also willing to give back and support philanthropic efforts, as evidenced by their partnership with the PGA Tour this past week.
Ahead of the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia, roughly 90 minutes south of Savannah, the Bananas traveled south to participate in a charity wiffle ball tournament hosted by the PGA Tour Wives Association.
The whiffle ball game took place Tuesday evening and raised $25,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Georgia to help build a new playground.
“This is definitely my favorite [event],” Harry Higgs said.
“Admittedly, I do not do many of the PGA Tour Wives events, [but] this is definitely circled on my calendar every year. It’s nice to get away from the kind of hectic week in and week out grind and have some fun with some young kids.”
Players from the Savannah Bananas showed off their unique playing style. The team’s mascot, Split, also made an appearance.
Representing the PGA Tour were Ryan Brehm, Eric Cole, Justin Lower, Chris Kirk, Hank Lebioda, Austin Smotherman, Trevor Webylo, David Lingmerth, Trevor Cone, Peter Malnati, and Higgs. Their wives and girlfriends also participated in this year’s event.
Then, on Wednesday, Higgs welcomed two Banana players to join him in the RSM Classic Pro-Am.
Both players donned their baseball jerseys out on the course and played golf like they do baseball: with a flair.
On one hole, Higgs holed out a short putt, and when he crouched over to pick up his ball, he pretended to hurt his back. The two Banana players playing with him, Kyle Luigs and Zack Frongillo, rushed over and massaged Higgs’ back. But Higgs quickly started dancing soon after that, and the two Bananas did so too, creating a hilarious moment not often seen on the PGA Tour.
Later, the two Bananas decided to have some fun on a tee box.
With Earth Wind and Fire’s “Let’s Groove Tonight” blaring, Luigs danced around his ball on the tee. Then, Frongillo, standing about six feet to the left of Luigs, tossed him his 3-wood. Luigs caught it and immediately stripped one down the fairway while Frongillo did cartwheels around the tee box.
Higgs was quite impressed.
But Higgs also participated in some of the theatrics when Frongillo teed off shortly after.
After hitting an iron off the tee, Frongillo began doing some acrobatics. In doing so, he tossed his iron to Higgs, who caught it perfectly.
“Yes!” Higgs exclaimed. “Perfect throw.”
Indeed, the partnership between the Savannah Bananas and the PGA Tour can be described as ‘perfect.’
The two entities came together, created unique content, had fun, and raised funds to help children in Southeast Georgia.
All in all, it was a successful endeavor to kick off the RSM Classic, the final event of the PGA Tour fall season.
As for Higgs, he carded a 4-under 68 during the opening round. He teed off at 9:26 a.m. ET for his second round on Friday alongside Nick Watney and Brian Stuard.
Second-round coverage of the RSM Classic begins on Golf Channel at noon ET.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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