The Masters Golf Cart ©

True confession before we get started: I’m not a golfer. I’m a diehard Type A person who doesn’t like to wait on others, nor do I like others having to wait on me, so golf and I never got along. But having said that, I have had some oblique connections with golf over the years that you might find amusing. The first is that we used to live right between the 17th and 18th holes of the Robert Trent Jones course on Hilton Head, but I never played a round of golf there; the closest I came was walking my boxer dog, Ozzie, on the 18th hole at night and he loved every night we walked as much as I did.

Here’s a bit of history and golf trivia from Wikipedia you might find interesting. The idea for Augusta National originated with Bobby Jones, who wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game. He sought advice from a banker, Clifford Roberts, who later became the chairman of the club. They came across a piece of land in Augusta, Georgia, of which Jones said: “Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it.” The land had been an indigo plantation in the early nineteenth century and a plant nursery since 1857. Jones hired Alister MacKenzie to help design the course, and work began in 1931. The course formally opened in 1933, but MacKenzie died before the first Masters Tournament was played 

The U.S. Masters is one of the four men’s major golf championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, it is the first major golf tournament of the year. Unlike the other major tournaments, the Masters is always held at the same location: The Augusta National Golf Club. The field of players is smaller than that of the other major championships because it is an invitational event held by the Augusta National Golf Club. 

You seniors should recognize the names of some of the Masters’ winningest players because they were almost household words when we were younger adults: Jack Nicklaus has the most Masters wins, with six between 1963 and 1986. Tiger Woods won five between 1997 and 2019, and Arnold Palmer won four between 1958 and 1964.

The RBC Heritage tournament that will be held next weekend in Harbourtown was a favorite of my sons while we lived on Hilton Head. The golf course is adjoined on one side by Harbourtown, with its iconic (even if it is fake!) lighthouse, gift shops, restaurants and, of course, the beautiful harbor, where you can stroll and dream about what life would be like living on one of the sailboats or yachts moored there. 

All of this golf talk this morning was triggered by two things: first, the Masters golf tournament just ended with Scottie Scheffler winning his second Green Jacket, as is the tradition for the Masters, and second, I showed my gold cart to a potential buyer first thing this morning.

This is the cart I bought for my mother-in-law while we lived at the farm. She was in her early 90s when she moved there with us, and she loved riding that golf cart all over the farm, but most especially out to the orchard, where she would park it by the persimmon trees and look for the perfectly ripe persimmon for her afternoon snack. I wonder if she has a heavenly golf cart where she can explore the perfect orchard.

Finally, I was encouraged this morning to see Franklin Graham’s post on Facebook where he quoted this year’s Masters winner, Scottie Scheffler as saying, ” What defines me the most is my faith. I believe in one Creator, that I’ve been called to come out here do my best, compete and glorify God”.

Congratulations to Scottie, I’m glad he got to ride in the Masters Golf Cart last weekend!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors… see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column, you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA