Golfing with William, 79

Retired Director of Strategic Investments of a Large Utility Co.

Yes, of course his name is not William, but his story is no less interesting.

My wife thinks that the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, Colonial Williamsburg’s golf resort, should hire me with the title “Golf Buddy”. My job description would be to ensure guests and patrons of the course have a second to none golfing experience.

For the average golfer, very often, it’s not the course that distinguishes a round. It’s the company. Your pairing. You either score your handicap, better or worse. (Does God care?) That’s just a fact. If you measure your round by a number, you will ultimately find golf, like life, unsatisfactory.

I like keeping the same ball as an unstated goal. (Dislike losing them.) Above that, a squarely struck shot, one that you barely feel, like a swish shot in basketball, quenches the urge with a chase of, let’s play one more shot. Keeps you coming back. Like a round-ending birdie.

And, if that’s not happening for you, then putting and listening to the ball rattle in the cup can make many people’s day. No matter how bad they are playing. Or, they will wind up smiling at their scorecard that might have less than 25 putts, if they were separately recorded.

William retired in 2010. He told me, like many of us, he wanted to see how good he could get. Managed a 7 handicap. Probably within the first year of retirement. It’s the drive for success that’s the leftover of occupational achievement. With age, grandchildren, competing interests, illness, he’s struggled since. We all will and do. The definition of aging and life stages and the precision with which the game must be approached, an accumulation of shot after shot.

As with Mitchell, we are playing, just the two of us, less than 18 holes. William and I are connected by the starter, who says, Corey, William is playing 9, too. It’s 2:30 pm. William asks me if he can be at dinner with his wife by 5:30 PM. Absolutely, and after hole 7 9 (a par 3), we can finish earlier if we have to. There’s a path through the woods that takes us back to the club house. I used it many a time towing back dead carts when I worked as a golf cart attendant (2012 - 2014).

What’s your name again, William inquiries. Corey. I forget too, especially if it’s three golfers and they are younger and they speak quickly. My hearing, eyesight, and energy are not the same as a vibrating 40 year old (50 or 60 old for that matter). Some golfers, even the young ADD-inflicted ones, are going to apologize before we tee off that they can’t remember names. I will remember for the round, because of repetition (nice swing, so and so), but unlikely two weeks later or less.

We’re both in the same period of life. 70s. He’s been told by multiple staff members that I am a good golfer. A two handicap. No, I am not a 2. For a round, perhaps. But, a 7 - 9, depending on the tee box I play.

The staff want to assure a patron that he or she is playing with someone who gets around the course. Knows the course and won’t slow anyone down. What they leave out of my biography is that we’re going to have fun. Engage in conversation. Tell stories. Know each other. Leave the world behind for the next two hours.

What tees are you playing, Corey. Well, I like the white (6,300 yards), but should be playing the silvers. Same here. Let’s do that. William is 79 and proud of it. He should be. He looks very fit. His brain works as well.

After the first tee, I determine that we going to play alternate tees. Mostly, it will be white. For three, one very long par 4 (412) and two very long par 5s (510), we will play silvers. (From the silver tees it’s still over 5,500 yards and plays longer than many a course of similar length.) Whatever you suggest, Corey. You have a watch and are keeping my time.

Executives, leaders, people who have given directions naturally fall into this default mode. They are not necessarily giving orders, but they are. They did it for a long time. I tease my former assistant school principal wife of this all the time! As a former business owner, municipal board President, and nonprofit organization President, I am guilty of exactly the same habit. Assume people won’t know the best next step to take. Or, can’t think for themselves. I am working on losing this habit.

For the round, I will be settling in as his assistant. We all need at least one. Ready golf, okay Corey. Yup. You play extra balls if you want, too. I am walking with my electronic robot. He’s riding an electric golf cart. Today, I won’t need extra shots. I won’t miss a fairway and strike 6 greens in regulation, aim chipping on the other 3. Honestly, it was a better day than normal.

By the second hole, we know each others’ families and grand children, in his case, and a lost family member in my case. We both had our kids later in life. Between holes, we know their professions and discover some overlap for Phil, private equity. Filmmaking for Corey, no.

Wonder of wonders, in the middle of hole three we discover that we swam in the same industrial sector, electric utility. Despite William not making or barely making the fairway on the opening three holes (inconsequential for his second shots which are very strong), we have two companies, in particular, in common. They planned to merge and the merger fell apart. Back then, I suspected it would not fly. Still early in the merger world for utilities and their Public Utilities Commissions (PUCs), as most are, was very political and this was an interstate deal.

William was set up for a plum position, Director of Strategic Investments for the merged company. One person gets these jobs. The other either takes a subservient position or retires with a package. Mergers of equals is tough business, especially in our era when women were being actively promoted into senior and executive level positions. In a formerly male-dominated, head of household world, this can be a tough thing to accept. But, it was a fact, a reality and you learn to deal with if you plan on working for a living and supporting your family. Many men left corporate ladder climbing to start businesses (I did.) You start something, you are independent, free, and have the illusion you are in charge. In reality, we all have a boss. Maybe several. A senior utility friend gave me some advice, “Remember, you are an independent dependent consultant.”

William’s company did fine. They merged with others. The other company, which I served as a consultant for over 10 years (unusual for me, but mutually beneficial for both of us) still remains solo and a decent investment, as utilities go. We both knew their CFO (to whom, with a fellow investor, I once pitched a spinoff of a business of the company) who would eventually become President. I had some credibility because the company won numerous awards as a result of my ghost-written work. (Consultants should always let their clients take the credit. Again, if they want to keep gainfully employed. My mentor Bill Ditman taught me this when I was 24.)

We’re on the silver tees for the par 5. While I offer up that CW’s visitation has been shrinking since 1977, because the historical appeal is not the same, but the golf courses have always been breadwinners for the foundation. Maybe they need a new major donor on a par with the Rockefeller family. Yes. Is this the one we’re cart path only? William remembers the starter’s admonition. No, that’s number 8, that par 5, where there has been a water sprinkler leak. How’s our time? Good. We’re going to make 9 easy peasy. Helped by passing a five-some at the snack shack on 4. Yes, while they are playing very quickly, clearly the starter/ranger has turned a blind eye to this rule violator. They claim to have called and waved us up. I explain, We’re old. Can’t see. Can’t hear. A line that spins off the tongue and makes these younger millennials laugh. We’re their grandparents. They know.

Golf is a game of rules that you either follow or consciously decide it’s not worth it. If we’re out there for peace, sunshine, and exercise, that’s the right approach to take. Playing 9 is plenty enough golf.

William sees that I play the ball as it lies. Waits until I make short but nervy par putts. Roots on my two birdie putts. He removes his ball from traps (which are clearly soggy), bumps his lie. He’s having a rough outer game day. This is golf. At 79, he’s playing!! Like me, he’s escaping for a brief moment in a life time period that shrinks daily. Even though he and his wife frequent Williamsburg, he had not played this course since it opened in 1995. Could not get on the Gold today. Everyone’s preference. He played Spotswood (an executive course), which was once impeccably maintained (40 years ago), and has been replaced by a new smaller, par 3 course called “The Shoe”. What can you tell me about it? Should be open by August …. and other fun details. But, he likes the course we’re on.

I share that I first broke 90 at the Green in 1995. A major barrier. Despite living in California and playing far easier courses (the Green Course is a 135 slope from the white tees). And, I did it with only irons. Drove with a Red Dot Ping Eye 2 two iron. (Loved that club.) I was 41 and had been actively playing golf for 9 ( 7 seriously) years. Yes, 9. It’s a difficult game, especially if you are working and did not learn it growing up. Even then …

By the 9th tee, William decides that I am athletic. Well, I rode horseback, ran track, played tennis, loved sports. I tell him that my legs since 70 have noticeably weakened. Did you find this when you crossed the precipice, Willam? William was tall. I would guess 6’ 4”. Many senior execs are tall. You wouldn’t believe it, I once had a 36 inch vertical and played D3 basketball. Was very athletically inclined. I learned to play in the rough parts of Philly, with three other white guys. Many of these guys could have beaten many college teams on their turf. Today, I can't even jump over my Wall Street Journal. What a great line of humility.

You? I ran the quarter mile in high school. What was your best time? 53.4 (52.8 in the mile relay). I don’t tell him that I ran some incredible relay splits in the 220 in college intra-murals that strained even my ego’s credulity. It was my favorite race. And, likely with a 36 inch vertical, William could taken two fast first steps. These can be the most important steps in a sprinting race. In the 220 and 440 (even the 100) you are always losing speed and it’s all about maintenance and endurance.

It’s 4:45 pm.

What a great time. Thank you, William says. You never know how a pairing will work out. Very pleasant time with you. Likewise. I wish I could have given you more of a game. It’s golf and it could have easily been me. I hope your wife feels better for Mother’s Day (Mary got food poisoning on the way down through the Eastern Shore (raw oysters)). We help each other in this game. I doubt that anyone, even the pros, actively wishes the other guy would miss a shot. We all know that such a little voice would boomer rang on us.