Having golf buddies is a special part of the mystique of golf. Buddies who can share your ups and downs. Buddies who can laugh at you when you screw up and cheer you on when you’re on pace for a personal best.
You can catch the first part of this post at Buddies — Part I if you haven’t read it yet.
The Guys
After the move to Hamilton, I spent a lot of time golfing alone again or being paired up with strangers. But after a few years, I started to golf with some of the young guys from the church youth group. At first it was a youth leader-youth relationship but it quickly became golfing buddies. These guys are all 10 years younger than I am, but we bonded with our love of sports (especially golf) and God amongst other things.
There are four of them so we never got to golf as a group (no courses will allow a fivesome — we asked). But I rarely had to golf alone during those days. Usually there would be at least one of them able to join me.
Let’s meet the guys.
Mr. Mootoe
Mootoe is probably the one I golfed with most. Even though he was a lefty we had tremendous fun on the course. He struggled with the game which is unusual for an athletic guy like him, but he never gave up. He’s a quiet guy, but has a great inner strength and is a loyal friend.
One of the funniest stories I remember about Mootoe happened off the course. It was at a men’s retreat that we used to go to every year called Fish n’ Chips. [The conference grounds was situated on the Trent-Severn waterway and had a 9 hole golf course. So someone decided to have a weekend that was a combination fishing derby and golf tournament.] This year (the year that he got the Mootoe nickname — I haven’t a clue why though) we were staying in a trailer down by the river. After having a satisfying BM, Mootoe had some difficulty operating the machinery to dispose of the contents. There were some rather loud complaints coming from the tiny little washroom as he managed to get the water flush going but the solids did not go down.
Needless to say, it was difficult for anyone to get close enough to the situation to figure out how the toilet operated. Finally, we managed to see that there is a second lever that is used to allow the solids to be flushed. And none of us hurled — although it was a close thing!
Don’t ask about the microwave and the hotdog.
Dayfe
Dayfe is one of those happy-go-lucky fellows — emphasis on the lucky. We used to say he had a horseshoe strategically placed. He has a natural reflex that allows him to do well at just about any sport involving sticks and balls.
Dayfe and I share a love for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and I believe that we are the only people in the history of the Fish n’ Chips (you’ll notice a lot of stories from those retreats) to where Leaf hockey jerseys during the tournament. The NHL playoffs were underway that weekend and our Leaf’s were actually still in the mix so it was an exciting time for us.
I don’t have any specific golf stories about Dayfe. He was just always there and always played reasonably well. He was quiet and a lot of fun to have around, whether on the course, at a party or sitting around a campfire. And he always had that horseshoe …
Brayn
Brayn joined us a little later. He brims with bravado and strives for excellence on the course. He will probably never have the time or training to be a scratch golfer, but if he had been able to start younger I believe he could have been.
There are lots of stories about Brayn that I could share. Like the time he was over an hour late meeting me for a tee time because he looked up the course directions on Google without knowing that their mailing address wasn’t at the course itself. Or the time that we were paired with a guy who was having a fantastic round until his tee shot on the 15th bounced off a tree and beaned a guy on the next fairway.
But one of my fondest memories involves the first time that he came with us to Fish n’ Chips. The longest hole on the course is about 370 yards. It is pretty much straight away with a wide (but not manicured) fairway. He was new to the game and feeling quite frustrated at this hole. He was ready to quit after about the 10th stroke, but we convinced him to soldier on. He finished up with a 15 but didn’t want us to put that on the score card. He wanted us to put down a 9 or 10. Well, we convinced him that honesty was an important part of the game (and life in general) and we had our pastor with us that day so he agreed.
Well, it turns out that the handicap system used averages the score of 3 holes (chosen randomly before the weekend) to generate a handicap. Luckily for Brayn, the 7th hole was one of the three and he was able to take home a brand new mountain bike as the Low Net for the weekend. Who says honesty is overrated!
Clabbo-Clabbo
Clabbo is the fourth of my guys. He is a faithful friend and lots of fun, despite being a Montreal Canadiens fan. His game is not very good — he can break 100 if he stops after the 9th hole. But he is out there with us every chance he gets. It doesn’t matter that his scores are high. He just loves to be with us and we love to be with him. It works.
The best shot I’ve ever seen him make was quite funny. We were golfing up here in paradise when the guys came up for a visit. We were joking around on the 8th tee as Clabbo was teeing it up. Then we were quiet as he took his swing, except that right at the top of his backswing Brayn let one rip. The sound must have distracted Clabbo from all his swing thoughts and he just swung through the ball. Result — straight and long down the fairway! He was really mad until he saw how well his ball traveled.
And let’s not forget that Clabbo is the only golfer I’ve ever seen hit a boat with a golf ball…
These guys are missed. Since I’ve moved we still stay in contact, but it isn’t the same. I miss golfing with them. I miss playing ball hockey in the church basement on a Saturday morning. I miss the campfires, movie nights, Bible studies… I miss them.
I certainly hope that you have good golf buddies like these in your life. Why not share a special moment or characteristic about one of your golf buddies?
What’s Next?
That brings us to the present: Buddies — Part III.
Why not share a story about one of your golfing buddies?
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