my gramps

i found out my grandpa hit a hole in one the other day while playing golf. he was two under par on four par threes. he shot eighty-two for the round. oh, did i mention he is eighty-nine years old? did i also mention this hole in one was his sixth in his lifetime? i would imagine that has to be some kind of record for someone who only plays golf in his spare time.

his sixth hole in one? i don't know why i felt such an overwhelming sense of pride, but i did. you see, my grandpa is sort of a legend at their local country club. he still holds the record for most club championships ever won, which i believe is sixteen. he is without a doubt the oldest man who plays regularly on the golf course. if you're ever looking for my grandpa and he isn't at home or tending to his roses in his garden, you can find him either on the driving range or the putting green practicing his game. this summer is the first summer in many years where he sat out on the country club's annual member/guest tournament. this tournament involves three consecutive days of golf, eighteen holes one day, twenty-seven holes the next, and eighteen holes the last day. all of this in usually ninety degree weather. the only reason he sat out this year was my grandmother fell ill a few days prior to the tournament and he had to back out of it.

once i heard the news of the hole in one i called him to congratulate him.
me: rumor has spread to new york you hit a hole in one the other day.
gramps: oh, you saw that in the new york times?
me: yes, it was on the front cover page!
gramps: how did my picture come out? i was a little worried because i wired it over to them.
gramps: did you tell your husband? what did he think of it?
me: yes! he couldn't believe it.
gramps: couldn't believe it? doesn't he know i've had six of them?
me: he does, and he's jealous because he would like to just have one in his lifetime, let alone six!
gramps: ha! tell him good luck with that.
me: what do you get these days for hitting a hole in one? they still can't give you a trophy, can they?
gramps: nope. they give you a $500 gift card to the golf shop. i need a $500 gift card to the golf shop like i need a hole in the head. i'll save it, and in ten years when you're little guy is ready for his first set of real golf clubs, his great grandpa will buy them for him.

and i have this strange feeling, that in ten years, my gramps will do just that.....