I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your father-in-law. We know he rests quietly now in a better place.
HOW EXCITING to work a U.S. Open. Back when the U.S. Senior Open was held at Medinah, my father trained Medinah's new caddies, and got to play the course a couple hundred times. I was the #3 caddie there, then (Tom Rhode, with whom I caddied at Barrington Hills Country Club throughout the 60's and early 70's was #2; there was no caddie #1).
My buddy Ray Dillard and I had the plan to get Ralph to qualify for the last two rounds: Ray tosses him a club, says, "hit it, Ralph," and whenever dad is on the green, Ray will walk away.
PERFECT PLAN. Dad goes to qualify out of Skokie Country Club. After 13 holes, he leads the eventual medalist by four strokes, dad being one over par. BUT, for some reason, on a day when they are playing from the way back tees, the course is doused with water, dad is kind of worried that one over is not enough, so he tries to draw his 2nd shot on the 14th hole into the pin. Disaster! Catches a branch and goes 180 degrees out of bounds. Dad makes 6 - three over. He birdies 15, back to two over. The sixteenth is a signature hole, 240 yard par three, pin cut to the extreme left side of the green. Dad decides to go for the pin. Tries a cut, but ends up hitting the dreaded straight ball. Takes three more to get out of the bunker. Two puts for six, triple bogey, five over par. He mindlessly double bogies a non-descript 17th hole, and then pars 18. Shoots 78. Misses the cut by one.
His real problem? Well, other than that six-inch gap between the ears, was that he did NOT take a caddie to Skokie CC. Either Ray or I would have gladly taken his bag, but he thought the kid who looped for him in the practice round would show.
Wondering about the way that things might have been.
Enjoy Normal. Someday, you might get a chance to catch me up on the long story.
Fairways and greens my childhood friend -- nothing but, and sink 'em all from inside of five feet.
Great to hear from you! It's funny how memories of the mid 50's are so vivid. We were pretty inseparable back in K thru 1st. When we moved, I thought it was to the other side of the world. I had lost my best friend! I've often wondered why we didn't rekindle our friendship after your family moved just a few blocks away on First St.
I loved the golf story about your dad trying to qualify for the US Senior. (By the way...I worked the 2008 Senior Open at The Broadmoor.) Your dad was one of Streator's best. And he taught several very good ones the game. Sister Jan, one of his pupils, was thrilled to have had the opportunity to play with him at a recent high school reunion. Do you recall that he and my mom played with Patty Berg at SCC? I have the signed scorecard.(By the way...your dad beat Patty.)
Memories are still pretty vivid of climbing the tree in your backyard and getting on top of the Stephen's shed. Was that a chicken coop? And how about their goat that we used to tease? Do you remember putting ketchup on our clothes so the old ladies across the street from our house would think we were bleeding? I must have really enjoyed those few years. As you can see they have had a lasting impression. I often thought that my old buddy, Mark, probably went off to become a famous mathmetician. Even in the first grade you were a brain. It sure would be fun to get together to share some memories. Maybe a game of golf is in the future?
WOW - you have the collectibles! Is there any way you could e-mail me a .pdf copy of the score card? YEARS later, in the late 1970's my long time lady friend Susan B Gillies and I went to watch Patty Berg put on a clinic in one of the western suburbs, near Elmhurts, off of route 83. Got one tremendous tip from her -- how far your hands ought to be from your body -- the width of you palm ... it's a very easy set up check.
Do I EVER remember the inseperable duo - the bloody ketchup scams, the chicen coup - TEASING the damn Billy Goat? Willie - you jest - that was one MEAN-spirited critter - and to think how badly he reflected on the goodness and kindness of Bud, Louise, Nancy et al the Stevens'.
Didn't get to be a world famous mathametician - HOWEVER, I do maintain a Sports Forecasting Blog - NFL, NBA, PGA Mens, B-Ball MarkGanzersSportsBlog.Blogspot.com
I'd LOVE to play some golf. We have a 5-hold par-three course at the local park district. Less than a two-mile walk. Yardages are 150, 120, 225, 195, 145 ... but, when nobody is around, you can have a MUCH larger course -- longest par 5 is 590 ... have worked my handicap back down to about 7, trending 6. Actually played an 18-hold round, all par three's in which I made five two's!! Shooting 1-under par.
All my good scores came in competitive rounds, everything 75 and under. All time low score is 71, shot several times - twice in a club championship (match play), hit one out of the first ten greens in regulation, sitting on 11 tee at one over par, then started to really strike the ball well, got it to even, had an up hill 12 foot putt on 16 to get to one under (par 71), so .. the last thought on my head as my hands exploded through the putt were "don't leave it short" ... shit, no way ... 8 foot down hell putt coming back ... damn lucky I didn't 4-putt ... finished par, par.
The other 71 occurred when dad and I were playing the course PGA pro and his assistant, the BCHS golf coach (and state of illinois athletic hall of fame coach Jeff Blessman) ... I was woozy, hung over on the first hole, when Walt conceeded an uphill 2 1/2 foot putt ... never loooked back - finished at even par, 71 ... kicked the crap out of them ... dad was club champion there about a dozen times ... he even beat Steve Cisco (former big 10 champion and former CDGA Junior Match Play Champion) several times for the club championship ... it was Thunderbird in those days, less than 6,100 yards long - but, built on a bog and all greens elevated.
Now, it got rebuilt and is called Paul MacKray Memorial Golf Club, which I think plays at just about 7,000 yards from the back tees. Truly world class facility.
If you get up here, we'll play there. If I get down by you first, you pick the course. BUT .. in every event, we will HAVE to play the golf course from HELL ... Lakemoor Country Club in Lakemoor Illinois ... played it last fall, and, for the last 7 holes, hit the ball like Sammy Sneed ... all the while shooting .... 57-58.
UNBELIEVABLE course, with everything in plain sight ... all the trouble is there before your eyes. All the yardages to the center of the greens are 100% spot on accurate ... the greens putt very true - smooth, good pace ... and yet, and yet ... this is SO odd, every hole measures between 25 and 45 yards LONGER than the yardage on the score card ... it is as if they measured it with a laser gun from tee to front of green in meters.
Here's a summary of that 115
Were I not a man of such high character and moral rectitude, who has met both fortune and poverty, and treated those two as the imposters that they are, I would have burnt this golf score card, and drowned the memory of it in cheap bath-tub rot-gut gin (and Orange Juice).
The last time I shot two consecutive nine-hole rounds as bad as those, I was probably in 5th or 6th grade. And I don't give a flying fig. I learnt something very important about persistence and perseverance.
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