(Blogger’s Note: The great Lewis Grizzard always has been, always will be, my favorite writer. Nobody tops Grizzard, long-time sports editor and columnist for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. And this column, published Monday, Nov. 20, 1989, is my favorite all-time column. I’m re-printing it, word-for-word. It’s his work. Not mine. And I dedicate it to my best buddy and golfing pal and partner, Brady Cornish, a.k.a., “The Fonz,” when we’re on the links. He and I share many good times, and often quote Grizzard’s description of the tee shot so memorably written in this column. Thanks, Lewis, for all the reading joy you’ve given me over the years. You’re still the best.)
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From left: Cody Smith, Danny Smith, me, Brady Cornish
Honest, I did. This isn’t some sort of make-believe column like I often write. For instance, I recently wrote a make-believe column about Jim Bakker meeting his new cellmate, Mad Dog.
But this isn’t anything like that.
I mean that I hit the golf ball on a par 3 and it went in the hole for a “1.”
Do you know the thrill of writing a “1” on a golf scorecard next to your name?
Lewis Grizzard
I’ve had my thrills in sports before. Playing for dear old Newnan High School back in ’63, I hit a jump shot at the buzzer to defeat the top-seeded team in the regional tournament.
That got my name and picture in the paper. (I wanted a kiss from a certain red-headed cheerleader, but she remarked how she detested kissing anybody covered in sweat.)
I also pitched a no-hitter in Pony League, finished second in a tennis tournament, hit a hard-way six on a crap table in Vegas, made back-to-back net eagles playing with Greg Norman in a pro-am tournament in Hilton Head and once had dinner with the girl who used to say, “Take it off. Take it all off,” in the old shaving cream commercial.
(I realize having dinner with a girl who made a shaving cream commercial has nothing to do with sports, but she made the commercial with Joe Namath, so there.)
But none of that compares with my hole-in-one.
Get the picture:
I’m on the par- three 12th hole at the lovely Island Club here in coastal Georgia. I admit No. 12 isn’t that long a hole, but I didn’t design the course, so it’s not my fault.
The hole is 128 yards over a small pond.
It was Saturday morning, November 4. I was playing in a threesome, comprised of myself, Tim Jarvis and Mike Matthews, two players of lesser talent with whom I often hang out.
It was a lovely morning, having warmed to the low 70s as I approached the tee. I was wearing an orange golf shirt, pair of Duckhead khaki slacks and my black and white golf shoes, the ones my dogs have not chewed up yet.
I was first on the tee.
“What are you going to hit?” asked Matthews.
“None of your business,” I said.
We were playing for a lot of money.
O.K., so we weren’t playing for a lot of money, but you never tell your opponent what club you’re hitting.
“Tell us,” said Jarvis, “or we’ll tell everybody how you move the ball in the rough when nobody’s looking.”
“Nine-iron,” I said.
The green sloped to the right. I said to myself, “Keep the ball to the left of the hole.”
(Actually I said, “Please, God, let me get this thing over the water.”)
I hit a high, arching shot. The ball cut through the still morning air, a white missile against the azure sky. (That’s the way Dan Jenkins or Herbert Warren Wind would have described it.”
The ball hit eight feet left of the pin. It hopped once. It hopped again. It was rolling directly toward the hole.
An eternity passed.
It has a chance to go in, I thought. But that’s not going to happen, of course, because I’m terribly unlucky and I’ve done some lousy things in my life and I don’t deserve it to go into the hole.
It went into the hole.
A “1.”
It was a joyous moment when my first hole-in-one fell snugly into the hole. But the best moment came at the next tee, the par four, 13th.
For those non-golfers, the person with the lowest score on the previous hole gets to hit first on the next hole.
I strode to the tee with my driver, teed up my ball and then said to my opponents, “I think I’m up, but did anybody have a zero?”
Jarvis and Matthews were good friends. I shall miss them.
Yes, Tony. I ready it MANY years ago and have always loved the phrase “it sailed through the still morning air as a white missile against the azure sky.” My partner and I usually say it on every Par 3. Ha!
Good thing he didn’t say what club he was using. That’s a two stroke penalty. Great article!
Yes, Tony. I ready it MANY years ago and have always loved the phrase “it sailed through the still morning air as a white missile against the azure sky.” My partner and I usually say it on every Par 3. Ha!