Interesting People you have played golf with ....

NoLine

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Played with a really cool guy today that had one of the most interesting stories to share that played out over 18 holes. He was retired LAPD SWAT Team. We shared a bond there as my departed FIL was PPD SWAT. What was beyond cool was that he was part of the team that was dispatched to OJ's house on the night of the Bronco chase. He was positioned inside the house trained on the family while OJ was carrying on in the Bronco in the driveway. The level of detail he went into was incredible, you could see he relives that night every day of his life. Just a solid dude with a helluva story to tell.

He told me he never tells it but after talking about my FIL and the respect I had for him and his service he decided to open up.

We could have played on a goat track and I would have had a blast.


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Many years ago, I walked on as a single at Longview Golf Course in Lee's Summit, MO. The starter asked me if I minded joining Fred Arbanas who was already on the first tee. For those that do not know who he is, Fred Arbanas was a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and played in the very first Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers and then again in Super Bowl IV, which they won. He later became a local politician. The golf course is now named after him.

Of course, I jumped at the chance. I walked the 18 holes with him and had a fantastic round. I'm not talking about my play, I was horrible. But he was a super nice guy, the most enjoyable round I've ever played.
 
Played a round with Corey Redding and two friends of his.

played a round with wounded warriors in my group and numerous others in the tournament
 
About 6 months ago I played with a rocket scientist well into his 80s. Me and my buddy were playing alone and he was due to tee off before us so we invited him to play with us. He worked on the Apollo program. He had some great stories and was funny as all get out. Things like this make playing golf so much fun.
 
I once played a round with a former Prime Minister. His name was Fred. We found out about Fred later; but it was interesting for a while.
 
Played golf with a Catholic priest and an excommunicated Catholic priest in consecutive days.

Both were unknown to me, the first was a the priest in good standing, he asked me about religion when I said "God Damnit"... Sparked a great conversation, and lasted the whole round and into lunch afterward.

The next day got paired with a single who I told the story about the day before, when he told me he was kicked out of priesthood...
He didn't paint a good picture of the Catholics, even though he remained a highly religious man.
 
Dunno about interesting, but last year when I worked back at the FBO, we found a Titleist golf club on the ramp. It was next to the owner of the Colts' private jet. It was obvious someone had chucked the club at the plane from the golf course next door. Today I played with the guy that chucked the club. What are the chances!
 
last round I played with a guy that started his setup with his driver about 12 inches above the ball and 6 inches behind it and he actually hit pretty good that way, was kind of a strange fellow, but we had some god conversation. yep he was a golfer, talked about the tournaments, olympics and pros. he was up on that information too. He also chipped one handed and was knocking them really close and with good aim too. He also putted one handed, and had a random putter he had cut up and modified himself, made the head width smaller, added some of his own back weighting with two rods that he could reposition, and he was pretty good with it too. it looked very strange, but it was working for him. had a blast playing with him. He was using a cobra bio cell driver and ping s55 irons.

He was just happy to get out and play a round, oh and he did not keep his score, but I can tell you, he had a couple of birdies for sure and a few pars.

Would be cool to play with him again.
 
In 2002, my buddy and I were lucky enough to be paired with Mark and an older gentleman named Gary.

Chris and I were both mid-single cappers and Chris' ego always far surpassed his game by too many strokes to count. With Gary and Mark a safe distance behind us at the first tee, Chris taps my chest to say, "how about we take them for all they have?"

"There you go again," I say. "Judging a book by its cover."

We hit our tee shots, all are good but Gary's is of extraordinary caliber. As Mark and Gary drive by us in their cart, plain to see is the Canadian flag above the embroidered name of "Gary Cowan" upon his black bag.

I tell Chris, "either he's the real deal or he's just another narcissistic @$&*#% like you. My vote's for 'player' as you're the only narcissisti. a....." Ahem, I digress...

Gary is hammering the ball. Such a classic and incredibly compact swing. We learn that he's 63 yrs old yet completely annihilating the ball. Has to be averaging over 300 yards.

Chris swings 135 mph and is outpacing us all on average but Gary is consistently closer to Chris than he's ever routinely experienced and far more consistent than us all.

It's plain to see early in the round that Gary is conducting a playing lesson for Mark. Chris and I give them their necessary space but when the opportunity arises, I simply whisper to Mark, "who is this guy?" He tells me to look him up on the internet when I get home (hey, it was 2002 and 'Google it' wasn't accepted verbiage yet!)

Following fantastic shot after shot, precise chip and putt after the next, when the round is over and Chris and I return to my condo I do just that and research the man who is Gary Cowen.

It's then, to no surprise at all as one who witnessed his amazing talent, we learned that he was Canada's most accomplished amateur golfer and a member of their hall of fame. He was low amateur in the '64 Masters and the legendary Ben Hogan requested a practice round with him at that Masters to see what golf game this young Canadian really had. Word has it, he was very impressed.

I learned that he chose to raise a family over the gamble that was professional golf salaries of the era. I learned he survived a stroke and battled back.

I learned that the man of so very few words possessed a glossary of life's experiences and that who he was as a man and a player rendered us all as students to he as the learned professor.

But the man of few words complimented me upon some facets of my game and offered a hint of surprise in that I'd never received a lesson.

"Keep doing what you're doing," he said. "Works."

I never offered to him the truth, in that is was just a very good day for me, beyond my norm. I never offered that I knew that day, 14 years ago, would be one of my most treasured memories moving forward forever in my life. I shook his hand and I paid respect post-round as any golfer would, but I never thanked him for the impact that he would have upon me.

Gary Cowan. Great golfer in the truest definition of the word, yet an even better man. I was honored, privileged, to play a round with a man who stood shoulder to shoulder with some of golf's greats.

And for a day, I stood shoulder to shoulder, at one side or another, where greatness once resided.

A man who managed to equal who he 'might have been,' only on a different plane. Greatness isn't only realized from tee to green. Gary Cowan the man, the husband and father was indeed great. I'm so very thankful to have shared a few hours with him in his very element.

Of course, he shot low round. Easily. But I won. Forever, I won.
 
One of the on-post course employees here was a POW in 'Nam.

Aside from that, Trout Bum is the most interesting person I've teed it up with.
 
Technically didn't play golf with him but when I was in the military me and my buddies would take weekend trips to other military bases to golf.

So one Sunday we head down to Andrew's AFB. About 15 minutes after we finish our round we see about 4 guys in suits enter the pub / pro shop as we're having drinks. About 5 minutes later George W Bush walked in and took about 10 minutes talking to everyone about golf and how they played that day. Then he left to go play.
 
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