If not the worst golfer in Brown County history, I would be among the worst at the very least. I love the game of golf and when I first started playing I wanted to be so good.
I went to the worst possible golf courses in Central Texas to try and learn the game. Fact is, I only played one “big time” golf course in my life and that was Champions in Houston, Texas back in 1971. The U.S. Open had been played on that course the year before.
I was taken there as a guest, and I think I set a course record of about 210 or so. So, I couldn’t play the bad courses or the good ones, either. I was just a bad golfer, but I really tried.
I worked a later morning shift at KBWD in the 60s when I met Jess DeWeese. He was the pro at the Brownwood Country Club and wanted to help my game. He made me a sweet deal. He says to me, “Dallas, you can play free Monday through Friday on the golf course, as long as you are off of it by 9 o’clock in the morning.”
Well, I ate it up! Fact is, I abused it a little because sometimes I would take a friend or two with me and we’d get up about sunrise and head to the country club. We’d play what was called the “quick nine.” I guess it’s still called that, and we would be off the course by 9 in the morning where I could go to work.
And, I actually got better. I even got back-to-back birdies one day, and still finished shooting about 72 (for nine holes). I was so bad that the only way I would get invited to play is if somebody got in a tournament and needed a “D” player, then they would pick me.
Then, I got to the point to where I just wanted to give up. I had dug up enough turf and wrapped enough clubs around enough trees that I just wanted to quit golf. Fact is, the only time I would play was with a relative and it was during that time that I realized that I had simply been taking golf way too seriously. So, I came up with a new way to score.
I started going to the golf course, and standing on the first tee I would say to myself, “This looks like about a par 74 to me.” So I would finish 74 shots (which would be about the 11th or 12th hole) and then I’d go back to the club house. They would say, “Dallas, how did you do?” I’d say, “I shot 74 today.” They would go, “Wow! That’s great!”
Or, I would go to the first tee and say, “This looks like about a par 120 to me.” I would shoot like a 130, then go back to the club house and they’d say, “Dallas, what did you shoot today?” I’d say, “Ten over.”
My wife and I went to Utah several years ago and I crashed on a snowmobile, breaking my shoulder. Suddenly, I could honestly say that I couldn’t play golf. For about three months, I really couldn’t. After that, anytime I was asked to play, I’d say, “I would love to but I broke my shoulder and can’t play anymore.”
Of course, I could, but at least now I had a real excuse.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].