Ready for the Masters

I have been watching the Masters Golf Tournament the past couple of days - probably to see what Tiger Woods might do, and also Phil Mickelson who I admire a great deal as a family man and as a professional golfer. I gave up active golf when we left Florida but there are times I really miss the game.


The picture shows my wife's brother Don and me on our way out to play on one of the courses in Florida. I miss Don, especially when golf is on television because there are times I can envision him out there with the best of them. He was a skilled golfer and he shed a lot of sympathetic tears for me. My dad was a very good golfer when he was a cadet at West Point and I ended up taking the game up when I was in the Air Force. At one base we were required to have physical training twice and week and during the warm weather I chose golf, and in the winter I was in bowling leagues.

At one stage I averaged 85 or so without handicap and I thought that was great. I accomplished some unique things in my game: one time I drove a ball into a tree where it remained lodged in the crotch of a branch. Another time I lost a couple of golf balls down gopher holes on a course in Arizona. My greatest accomplishment was that I lost 13 balls into water hazards with Don on a course in Florida. That is, thirteen balls lost on an 18 hole course. Don said there ought to have been a trophy of some sort for that caper. We had a lot of laughs together when we golfed together. Occasionally Don would have a problem with a drive or a putt and he'd grin at me and say, "I didn't see that happen and I hope you didn't see it either."

Our golfing times together went way back - maybe even to the 1960's. I always enjoyed my time with him - it helped my game and I amused him. As I said, I miss him because he passed away a few years ago shortly after his wife died. There were so many times we got together and at night Joyce would play cards with Don and Mary. Those were always roudy games and yet they were the makings of great memories. They were good people and I have a hunch that Don might be looking down right now from one of the windows of heaven, watching the champs of today and the champs of tomorrow as they go for the traditional green jacket to the winner of the Masters.
As far as I'm concerned, Don was always a winner to me. Thanks for the memory!