Sad, but inspiring story.

[Brutus3]

Got paired up with an old timer...

So there I was on a Sunday... Going to a local course late in the evening hoping to get a nice practice round in before a tournament in the morning. I figured I'd breeze through in about 2 hours as a single. At the tee box I'm approached by an 87 year old man who could hardly hear, hardly speak, and had some of the oldest clubs I had ever seen. I'm thinking, "Great...now it's going to be a 4 hour round", as the starter didn't even give me the option of refusing. He then goes on to tell me that Frank (the old timer) is a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, and he always shows up at the same time every Sunday checking to see if his foursome showed up for their tee time. He always thinks it is Wednesday and he has a 9am tee time (reminder: it's Sunday and around 4:30pm). The problem other than the horrible Alzheimers (sp?) is that the other three players have passed away 10 years prior, and he has no idea. I felt horrible. Being a 10+ year veteran of the Marine Corps, and having seen some tough times and places in my life, I obviously had a great deal of respect for this gentleman. He proceeded to hit a 73 with ridiculous ease. Wow. I finished at a 74 and felt a little hustled! Anyway, I had a beer with him after the round, and he told me what happened to him in the war. Apparently, he was in a foxhole while artillery was barraging his camp, and the reason he survived (although being terribly wounded) is because he bent down to light a cigarette at the exact moment a shell landed 5 yards from his foxhole. Had he not at that very moment, he'd be gone, like 60% of his unit. He actually quit smoking that day (which surprised me a bit since it was smoking that ironically saved his life. I was humbled by this great guy, who simply loves the game of golf and refuses to stop playing. Great man, great time. Be nice to the old timers, my fellow golfers...they paved the way for us all. :friends:

[rockmastermike]

thanks for sharing. sad and inspiring at the same time you are spot on. wonderful story!

[Cobber]

Great story.... thank you for sharing. I love playing with elders and hearing their stories. Most of the time I leave the course with a lot of respect for them and don't remember much about my round.

[14mh]

Very nice story. Thanks for sharing

[dcaput02]

I'm cynical enough to question if the Alzheimer's and war stories are part of the hustle. That would be something.

[Jimbud]

All you guys that learned the game from your dad play as often as you can with him. He wont always be around.

[Scott@84]

Great story, thanks for sharing. What part of PA are you from?

[Brutus3]

Near Lancaster, PA.

[profsmitty]

[quote name='dcaput02' timestamp='1285341532' post='2712072']
I'm cynical enough to question if the Alzheimer's and war stories are part of the hustle. That would be something.
[/quote]

I'm sure we've all been hoodwinked before. In this case, personally, I really don't care. Even the most cynical part of our intellect should at times hide in shame when confronted with that which is beautiful and noble. Even if they seem remote at times, visions of things as they could be make the dark and dangerous world we live in, bearable.

[KyleGD]

Wow, what an incredible story. You don't get to play a round of golf like that everyday. Thanks for passing it along.

[MB_Viking]

Not to be a jerk but, that's the fourth time I've heard the exact same story.

I am starting to think that everyone who survived the war was lighting smokes.

[swbyps]

Great story! I too am a vet (10 years Air Force) and have always loved to talk with older vets. The coach of my sons baseball team a few years ago...his father was in WWII in the pacific. This gentleman was in a wheelchair, but would be at a lot of our weekend baseball tournament. I would sit there with him all weekend and listen to his stories about the war, his wife (she had passed way several years earlier), baseball (they were from NY so he had great stories about those 40s 50s and 60s Yankees and Mets) and life in general. He told me about how the Japanese soldiers would sneak up to their fox holes at night and attempt to ambush them. He said one night in the pitch black when his buddy got out of the fox hole, he was attacked by a Japanese soldier. He then went on to tell me how he had to stab the Japanese soldier while he was grappling with his buddy. I was just mesmerized. God bless them ALL!

[sigep1967]

Nice story

[Brutus3]

[quote name='MB_Viking' timestamp='1285345166' post='2712187']
Not to be a jerk but, that's the fourth time I've heard the exact same story.

I am starting to think that everyone who survived the war was lighting smokes.
[/quote]


I promise you, this just happened to me last week. Ive never heard a story like it...and being in the Corps as long as I have, I thought I'd heard it all. It was amazing.

[MB_Viking]

I am not doubting that you heard it for the first time. I am just wondering why I have heard it a few times now? (a family memeber of mine used to be a war correspondent, so maybe through him?)

I stand corrected BTW, it was three times for "I bent over to light up" and one for "I left to go back for more chow".

Has anyone else heard that story or is it just me?

My apologies to all vets if I am delirious here!

[Brutus3]

It may have been common since those gents spent most of their time in theater in a foxhole.

[Ronzo]

My Dad was a Bulge survivor. He and his unit took a white phosphorus barrage from German artillery. He and his Chaplain came out of it completely unhurt -- unlike the 60% or more of his Company that perished, horribly. All the men in my family who came back from WW II attributed their survival to luck. They said that they did the same things that other men in their unit did, followed their training in the same way, and the only difference between them and those who were killed or maimed was that they were in the right place at the right time.

[Brutus3]

Thanks for sharing, Ronzo. I heard the same from my grandfather before he passed (survivor of Pearl Harbor).

[Munich77]

Thank you so much for sharing. Those old timers on the golf course are always the most interesting. I remember at my old course in Canada there was a guy who played 12 holes of golf walking every day until he was 112. I have also been fortunate enough to play with people that say Bobby Jones in his prime. Oh and people that had Bernard Langer as a caddy .

[station2station]

Good story -

It also is a testament to how well you can play the game of golf if you stop overthinking your swing The guy just got out there and laid out a 73 without a bit of analysis.

[4ems]

[quote name='Brutus3' timestamp='1285336879' post='2711959']
So there I was on a Sunday... Going to a local course late in the evening hoping to get a nice practice round in before a tournament in the morning. I figured I'd breeze through in about 2 hours as a single. At the tee box I'm approached by an 87 year old man who could hardly hear, hardly speak, and had some of the oldest clubs I had ever seen. I'm thinking, "Great...now it's going to be a 4 hour round", as the starter didn't even give me the option of refusing. He then goes on to tell me that Frank (the old timer) is a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, and he always shows up at the same time every Sunday checking to see if his foursome showed up for their tee time. He always thinks it is Wednesday and he has a 9am tee time (reminder: it's Sunday and around 4:30pm). The problem other than the horrible Alzheimers (sp?) is that the other three players have passed away 10 years prior, and he has no idea. I felt horrible. Being a 10+ year veteran of the Marine Corps, and having seen some tough times and places in my life, I obviously had a great deal of respect for this gentleman. He proceeded to hit a 73 with ridiculous ease. Wow. I finished at a 74 and felt a little hustled! Anyway, I had a beer with him after the round, and he told me what happened to him in the war. Apparently, he was in a foxhole while artillery was barraging his camp, and the reason he survived (although being terribly wounded) is because he bent down to light a cigarette at the exact moment a shell landed 5 yards from his foxhole. Had he not at that very moment, he'd be gone, like 60% of his unit. He actually quit smoking that day (which surprised me a bit since it was smoking that ironically saved his life. I was humbled by this great guy, who simply loves the game of golf and refuses to stop playing. Great man, great time. Be nice to the old timers, my fellow golfers...they paved the way for us all.
[/quote]

Thanks for posting this. It truly is sad but his perseverance is inspiring. However, the golfer in me wants more details about his magnificent game. Did he play from the same tees as you? What was in his bag? Please tell us more.

[dalehead]

[quote name='dcaput02' timestamp='1285341532' post='2712072']
I'm cynical enough to question if the Alzheimer's and war stories are part of the hustle. That would be something.
[/quote]

Hustle? Brutus3 doesn't mention a bet.

Nor does he say anything about the old guy saying something like, "Aw shucks. An old-timer like me with my old clubs, I'm lucky to break 90." It was Brutus3 who surmised the guy must be a chop, and a slow one at that, based on his age and appearance.

[teespoon]

FWIW, I am fortunate at 71, to be invited by the young guys, to play along. I often light up a cigarette, as I just plain enjoy them. We got them in the rations during my time in the war in Vietnam.
When I play along with guys my age, they gripe away at me , mucho.

Combat Vets know the price of freedom. "smok'um if ya Gottim!" . but never in front of the little ones.

JMO
teespoon

[BNich0622]

Thanks for sharing. That is a wonderful story!

[dlamb83]

Story reminds me of the late John Wooden. Sat everyday and wrote love letters to his wife. Even though,she had died many years before,he still kept writing them. Guess it just goes to show how people were in their time. Not all about what you wear,drive,or how big of a house you had. Great story,and it takes me back to the time life was simple. Well...except for the wars. Hope that gentleman has many more years of golfing.

[Tone-NY]

Thanks for sharing. We are losing so many of our WW II veterans, they are what made us great.

[gjoliver]

tthanks for sharing, really!

[Stretch]

I want to hear more about Frank's game! 73 at 87 is pretty hot stuff even if you're not deaf and so confused that you don't know what decade it is. How'd he go around?

[Woodridge]

Great story!

[gpt104]

Thanks for a good golf story!