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On Wednesday, the staff of the course held its 3rd annual "Veterans Golf Free" day, allowing all former and current members of the U.S. armed forces the chance to come out and golf for no charge.

"It's just the right thing to do," course co-owner Brian Ferrier said. "My dad was a vet, and I know that he just would have loved this."

Ferrier said that the weather was very conducive to golfing, and that this year's event was the best one since the course has been holding them.

"It's just been wonderful," he said. "We finally got the turnout that we wanted."

As of 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the course was full of veterans, with almost 100 service people, on the course.

It was so busy in fact, that Ferrier and his staff had to ask some of the veterans to wait in the clubhouse, as all of the carts were out on the course. The co-owner of the course said that he believes the event was so well-attended because he and his staff were finally able to get the word out about it.

"It's been a lot of fun," Ferrier said. "We were so glad to be able to get some of these guys out here, because some of them haven't golfed in years or haven't ever golfed. But they get to get out here and see people that they may not have seen in years."

Former soldiers representing four different wars were on the course Wednesday.

"We are just thrilled with it," he said. "We couldn't have asked for a nicer day or a nicer group."

Ferrier said that while he had never served in the armed forces, he was very glad to be able to do something nice for those who did.

"I was lucky," he said. "My number never got called during Vietnam. If it had, I would have went. But I do feel like I owe something to all of the people who did go. I'm grateful they did what they did to make a difference. This is just a small, little thing we can do to show our appreciation."

He went on to say that he was surprised by some of the people who came out to play, as he said he had knows several of them for years, and didn't know they were veterans.

"There were some guys that I never even knew served," he said. "It really puts them in a different light. There are a lot of people out there who went and risked their lives for our country, but you will never hear them brag about it. That really says something about their character."

And it seemed like all of the vet taking advantage of the free day of golf were enjoying themselves.

"It's a mighty nice thing to do," Vietnam veteran Steven Carter of Metamora said. "Most of us were very proud to serve our country, and it feels really special to have someone do something nice like this. It gives us a day to really feel honored, like somebody is going out of their way to do something for us. It's pretty great."

Ferrier said that in addition to being very proud to play host to all of the veterans, he was very proud of his staff.

"The only reason this thing was able to go off the way it did was because of the staff that works here," he said. "Our indoor crew and our outdoor crew worked really hard to make this happen. They are a great bunch of guys and girls. Any credit for this has to go to the staff."

He also said that he wanted to thank Circle K RV for supplying the hot dogs and pop for the veterans.

"I'm just glad we were able to do this for all those brave folks," Ferrier said. "I wish we could do it every day of the year."

Mike Larson can be reached at (810) 664-0811, ext. 8124 or mike.larson@lapeergroup.com