Golf in my Life

Kid

As a kid, I started playing golf in Junior High School around 1969-70. I remember my dad gave me a set of clubs that had belonged to his brother, my Uncle Moose, who had died in 1968. It was an eclectic set but there were four woods (made of wood) and odd number irons, both a pitching and sand wedge, and a flat putter. Most of my early playing was on the practice green at the Middlebury College Golf course where me and Ken Freeman would have mini-tournaments. Back then, the course was only 9 holes and I did play a few times.

Trying to find the history of that course online, I found some information that the Manager of the course, Ralph Myhre, expanded it to 18 holes in 1971. That seems about right as I do remember playing 18 holes while in High School, 1971-75. My memories include caddying for Tom Gaydos, a HS classmate, and he would let me play when we got out of view of the clubhouse. 

In the summers of 1972-74, I worked as a Hobart Engineer at Middlebury College. One of my coworkers was John Myhre, son to Ralph. Because of the job with the college, I could play using the student discount which was very cheap back then. I vaguely remember John flipping our cart on one of the new holes that had a steep bank around the green. We both were young and nimble so no one was hurt. I should mention that the course is now called the Ralph Myhre Golf Course at Middlebury College.

I did not play at all while I was in college. After graduating from UVM in 1979, I moved in with my parents in Florida. There is a lot of golf in Florida, so I would eventually take up the game again.

Senior Tour

From 1980 to 1990, the Senior PGA Tour was started and one of the first stops for the tour was the Suntree Country Club near Melbourne. In 1986, my company ENSCO moved it's office to Suntree, a five minute walk from the clubhouse. My boss, John Pitkethly, was playing the Pro-Am they had for the Senior Tour. After our move, John would offer tickets for entry. A few years I did this and saw a lot of great golfers including Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Chi Chi Rodriguez. Some of the winners included Miller Barber, Lee Elder, Don January, and Bob Charles. The course they played on was designed by Arnold Palmer.

LPGA

Going to watch the Senior Tour was a convenience, and the tickets were free, but I next went to see the LPGA play at Lake Buena Vista in Orlando Florida. My main interest was to see a particular player who had grown up in my hometown of Middlebury Vermont. Her name was Patty Sheehan and she had been playing on the tour for a long time. I got to see her two times:

1. 1996 - Healthsouth - Final Round - Karrie Webb won
2. 1997 - Healthsouth - Final Round - Michelle McGann won (in playoff)

Both of these tournaments I met up with Rodney Bicknell, also from my hometown and a member of the PGA. Back then he was a head Pro running a course in Florida. Here is my ticket to 1997:

The pairings in 1997 were a "Who's Who" of the LPGA. Patty happened to be a friend of Rodney's and after she completed her round, Rodney introduced me to her. It was an honor and I sent her a thank you note (back in the days of snail mail), She responded with a nice note and a signed photograph, both hanging now in my bar room. We are also friends on Facebook.

I am not sure why I did not go to more tournaments, but I know they finally left the Orlando area.

PGA

Of course the PGA is also big in Florida. There was a time when they played at the Walt Disney courses located next to the Magic Kingdom. I saw 19 rounds over 8 tournaments:

• 1996 - Walt Disney World Classic - Final Round - Tiger Woods
• 1999 - National - Third Round - Tiger Woods
• 2000 - National - 3 of 4 rounds - Duffy Waldorf
• 2001 - National - all 4 rounds - Jose Coceres
• 2002 - Disney - 2 of 4 rounds - ??
• 2003 - FUNAI - all 4 rounds - Vijay Singh
• 2004 - FUNAI - 3 of 4 rounds - Ryan Palmer
• 2007 - Children's Miracle Network - Final Round - Ryan Palmer

Here are my tickets for the 1999 event that my Mom attended with me for one of the days. She was a big fan of Tiger Woods and was happy to go with me to see him. My best memory was taking mom to the practice green to get a close-up of Tiger. We found a spot close to the small picket fence keeping fans out. Tiger headed right towards us. He dropped a few balls off the green and was going to hit a few chips. We were standing right behind him and when he went to hit the first ball, my mom stepped back when he started his swing. Apparently, he saw this out of the corner of his eye and said to her "Don't worry, I won't hit you." My mom was so happy, Tiger had talked to her.

My mom died in January of 2001 and was not with me when I got the following autograph. Gary Nicklaus was playing in the tournament and his dad Jack was following him. I saw people approach Jack for autographs but he would turn them away so he could keep up with his son's group. He was outside the ropes with all the rest of us. I happen to be at the 18th green on the Palm course when Gary was finishing on that hole. After he putted out, I decided to be brave and ask Jack for an autograph. Since Gary was done, he obliged me and even made a comment about his photo on the cover. Of course he signed over the photo of Mark O'Meara, but who cares...

I always liked the Disney tournament, I even played the Magnolia course once. There is a par 3 with a Micky Mouse trap which I hit into. Not often you get to hit out of Micky's ear. I followed the tournament until it finally ended. The PGA was changing the season and adding the FedEx Cup. Some day I need to make it to Bay Hill, Arnold Palmer's tournament.

Tournaments

I have played in a few tournaments through the years. I use to help organize small tournament at our company. We usually tried to play two a year. Here are the tee times from one of the ones I organized.  I am in the last group; to gather the closest to the pin and longest drive data.

I also played in tournaments organized by AFTAC, our customer when I was at ENSCO. I even played in the Cecile Fielder tournament back in the last 1990s. Cecile lived in Suntree but we played at Viera East. For 9 holes, each team of four had  a famous baseball player with them. We got two players, Moises Alou and Joe Sidall. Mo was not a golfer but he was fun. The following year at Spring training I called out his name. He saw me and came to talk for a good 20 minutes. I got a bunch of autographs but I am not sure where they are.

I also played in different local tournaments for many different causes. Jeff Piotrowski was having us play in one for local Veterans. The photo is Jeff donating some money to use a cannon to shoot the golf ball on a par 5. It went probably 350 yards but I think it ended up in the water. It was fun. This tournament was at Turtle Creek in Rockledge. This was in August of 2018.

Vermont Related

I had mentioned earlier playing at the Ralph Myhre Golf course owned by Middlebury College. In 2019, I stopped by to see the tournament called the Duke Nelson Invitational. There were 22 college teams in the tournament and here are  the #1 players from four teams leaving the first tee. Actually, they are walking across the tee I would play. Middlebury came in third. I know the coach, Bill Beaney, who was a great friend to my brother John. I should mention that the wife of Duke Nelson was my HS French teacher.

Back in 2015, My brother John had called and said that the team was coming down to play a pre-season mini-tournament at PGA in Port St Lucie. I drove down to surprise Coach Beaney, here in the photo. We had a good chat, there was still snow in Vermont, it was in March. The other teams they were scrimmaging were Amherst and RPI.

For many years, my friend "Bic" would organize a Vermont Cabin Fever tournament here in Florida. We usually played in Brevard or near Longwood. A few years we played in the Port Orange area. I always loved going to play and visiting with friends I grew up with in Middlebury and making new friends. Here I am with Dave Munson back in 2004. (Skip Brush on the left)

As the tournament got bigger, we started playing at Rolling Hills, a course in Longwood. We did a group photo back in 2010. Thanks to Rodney and Carla for always making it a fun time, I have plenty of great memories.

Rodney left Florida and became the Pro at the Neshobe club in Brandon Vermont. My brother Tom works there and started to invite me up for the Neshobe Member-Guest Tournament. Tom and I would go out and practice like we are here in 2006.

In 2014, Tom and I played. It was usually a three day tournament. Six teams in each flight, and you play each team for nine holes. Points awarded for each hole won, and a half point for a tied hole. Teams of two, playing best ball. I think this team is Lance and Jamie. I am not great on names but I do remember they always had the best snacks on the course. Fist time I ever ate pickled fiddleheads.

Although there were lots of new people I would meet at these tournaments, I always enjoyed seeing old friends from Middlebury. In the cart, playing together as a team, was Roger Paquette and Alan Pratt. Sorry to say that Alan passed away recently. This photo was in 2015

In 2016, Tom and I just finished out of the top 3 in our flight, missing out on the prizes.

In 2019, I was in Vermont for other reasons but still made a visit to Neshobe. There was a mixed doubles tournament and I went around and took photos of all the groups and sent them to Tom for distribution. The couple on the left is Ed and Heidi.

Adult Play

I played a lot with different sets of foursomes through the years. A few years with John Pitkethly, Bob Austin and Gaylen Drape. For many years with Jim Middlebrooks, Fred Arnold and different fourths including Gaylen Drape and Joe Dreher. I started keeping a spreadsheet back in 2008 of all my scores. I was playing almost weekly for 8 years and then Fred died in 2015. He was our golf organizer and play instigator. I stopped playing as much after his death. I did play 70 rounds in 2013. My spreadsheet had 416 rounds. Only one round was my score above 100. 

Uncle Radar Member Guest

My old ENSCO boss John was married to a nice Louisiana woman named Rose. She had a Uncle named Radar. He would visit us from Louisiana for 4 or 5 days of golf. This was back in the early 2000s. Here is Uncle Radar at Cocoa Beach Golf Club. John even had hats made.

Spring Lake

We started to play at Spring Lake every year in May or June. Located in Sebring, we could hear the racecars at the Sebring Raceway. The deal was great, for less than a $100, we would get three rounds of golf and two nights in a nice townhouse. Sebring the city was a short drive away for meals but the Spring Lake clubhouse had a nice bar and some good food too. Here are Fred Arnold and Jim Middlebrooks out on the course. The course expanded from 18 holes to 27. They were know for the world's largest green in the early years. It was about 100 yards long. The tee box would note how much to adjust the markers for the different pin locations. You may have to add or subtract up to 45 yards from the 100 & 150 yard markers.

Suntree Country Club

I mentioned earlier that I use to watch the Champions tour at Suntree. My most recent playing was once a month with some of my old bosses from ENSCO including a past President of the company and two Vice Presidents. As a non-member, I could play once a month so I would join a group that would play on Friday mornings. After the round we would stop for lunch at the clubhouse. It is a beautiful course and the last place I played. It happened to be with Rodney, Karla, and Tim. They broke me so I have not played in 17 months.

Here is my old boss John playing at Suntree...

Gaylen's Birthday

I mentioned that Gaylen was in a few of the foursomes I played in. Gaylen always wanted to play at a good course on his birthday. In 2000, we played the Magnolia Course at Disney World, the same course I was watching the PGA on including Tiger. Here I am with Bob Austin (sitting) and Gaylen (red shirt). I am the cute one.

South Carolina

In the 1990s, a group of us from Florida would drive up to Myrtle Beach and meet a group from our corporate office in Springfield Virginia. Usually, there were 8 of us and we would have a long weekends of golf. Did this for about 3 or 4 years. We played a lot of different courses but there are very many in that NC/SC area. One course was on the Stateline and you play 9 holes in SC and 9 holes in NC.

In 2013, with Fred, Jim & Gaylen, we went and stayed at the Legends in Myrtle Beach. This is the club house. We actually did this 3 times.  They had three courses on site, condos to stay in, and two beers for each round played. They had a breakfast buffet too before your round. It was fun.

When I started this post, I knew golf was important in my life, but it made me realized how much I have played through the last 50 years. As I prepare to turn 65, I need to start playing again. Hit em' straight!! Or as I like to say "FORE!"