The Beginning

by Ed Nelson

  “You’re welcome,” I managed to stutter. About that time an older woman came up and there was no doubt that she was Judy’s mother. This started a whole new round of questions and explanations.

  This whole incident happened in the space of less than a minute. Coach Stone who had been watching came over to make certain I was okay. He and Mr. King, Judy’s father introduced themselves.

  Judy’s Mom hovered over Judy until she heard a, “Mom” in that special teenage voice which said you are embarrassing me, and also told Mom that she was okay. At that point Mom joined Coach and Mr. King.

  I turned to Judy and said, “That was scary, I hope I didn’t hurt you when I hit your back, I just didn’t know what else to try.”

  “That’s okay; my name is Judy King, what’s yours?”

  Rick or Ricky Jackson, I am here for the golf tournament.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Bellefontaine.”

  “Oh that is too bad, I live in Clintonville. That is really Columbus next to Ohio State.”

  I asked her, “What grade are you in?”

  “The ninth; and I’m fifteen.”

  “So am I!”

  “When is your birthday?”

  “October 11; when is yours?”

  “May 28.”

  “That’s okay, I like older women.” That got me a light slug on the arm. At least she didn’t knock me off the bench.

  “I see you are going to be a handful,” she said.

  Wait, Whoa, Hold up; what was going on here?

  About that time Coach came up and said, “Rick it is almost our tee time we have to go.”

  Judy pulled out a ball point pen and a slip of paper.

  She scribbled quickly, “Here is my address, write me. Oh yes, and win this tournament so I can see you next week.”

  “Yes Ma’am,” I replied.

  Mum hadn’t raised any fools.

  As we walked towards the first tee for our practice round I got a lot of ‘way to goes’ from my team mates.

  Gary Matthews said, “Leave it to Rick, he not only saves the girl, she is a pretty girl, and what is that note I saw her hand you.”

  “Her address, she wants me to write.”

  Of course that got me a lot of grief.

  As the other boys limbered up on the tee, Coach took me aside.

  “Rick several things, you were ill earlier in the week, how do you feel now?”

  “Fine Coach, I felt a little weak yesterday, but I am back to normal now.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, now the other thing is, Mr. King and his wife Sandra have invited you to have dinner with them and Judy in the clubhouse tonight as their guest. Do you feel comfortable with that?”

  “Yes I do Coach, though I don’t have a coat and tie with me.”

  “Did you bring any money with you and if so how much?”

  Coach didn’t even blink when I told him I had about two hundred and fifty dollars on me. I was running low from last summer’s money but still had five hundred left. I sure hoped that reward money came soon; I was living an expensive life.

  “They sell sports coats, ties and slacks in the pro shop. We will stop there after your round.”

  “Rick you should also know that Mr. Robert King is the President of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. That is a volunteer position. His work job is the President of the Western Electric Plant in Columbus.

  He has over five thousand employees. His wife Sandra is a Vice President of Ohio National Bank. She is old Ohio Money, she is from one of the founding families, she is descended from Nathan Kelly, one of Washington’s officers.”

  “They told you this?”

  “No Coach Benton from the Toledo Bowsher team did, after he saw me talking to them. Right now you are the talk of the clubhouse.”

  “Great what I need is more fame, oh well it will pass.”

  “Right, let’s go get you famous for your golf.”

  Chapter 45

  During practice I learned several important lessons about the course, the first was on the eighth hole, you had better be on the right side of the green or you were looking at a bogey.

  I came in to the left of the pin and when I putted, the ball which was supposed to gently roll into the cup kept picking up speed as it went, causing it to drift away from the cup and roll right off the green.

  The wind on fifteen was blowing across the course and what would’ve been a drive to the middle of the fairway ended up in the rough to the right. I recovered for the par, but this hole if played correctly would be a chance for a birdie.

  I would have to watch the wind closely on fourteen and fifteen and which ever had the cross wind, hit a low shot, sacrificing distance for accuracy.

  The last five holes were known as “Murderers Row,” they would destroy an otherwise good score. The eighteenth had a little valley or swale to the right of the green known as, ‘Death Valley.’ It was where many good golf rounds went to die. I kept out of it on the practice round, but it seemed to be lurking there waiting to grab a careless shot.

  After practice I dropped my gear off at the tent and went in search of Mr. King. He wasn’t hard to find as he was at the tournament officials pavilion. They had a pavilion as opposed to our tents. It was much fancier, white with doors and windows.

  I waited until he was finished talking to someone and approached him. He stood up quickly and offered his hand.

  After shaking hands I told him I would be delighted to join his family for dinner this evening.

  He asked me, “Rick do you have a coat and tie with you?”

  “No sir I don’t, I was planning to buy what I need at the pro shop.”

  “Rick now I feel like a fool again. It will cost you over one hundred dollars to buy your clothes in the pro shop. I wanted to reward you in a nice way for saving my daughter and here I’m going to cost you a lot of money.”

  “Sir that is okay, I have the money on me and can afford it, besides I need a new jacket and pants, I have out grown all my clothes recently.”

  “You certainly are tall,” replied the six-footer.

  “I have just got my growth this summer and then again in the last couple of weeks. I don’t even know if I’ve finished growing yet.”

  “Time will tell, in the meantime let me go shopping with you, I can get a discount as the club I belong to is reciprocal with Inverness.”

  “I would appreciate that.”

  He helped me pick out a pair of grey slacks and a dark blue blazer. He assured me that they would be appropriate for almost any occasion. These with a button down collar white shirt and a tie with red and black regimental stripes made me look sharp.

  When it came time to pay Mr. King took the clerk aside and talked to him. He came back to me and told me he had got a seventy five percent discount for me.

  I knew that he told the clerk he would pay the difference, but I didn’t want to argue about it. The clothes still cost me twenty seven dollars.

  I was wearing my ostrich cowboy boots. Mr. King asked me about them. I told him that I had bought them on a trip out west last year. He suggested that I have them cleaned by one of the valets in the clubhouse. “

  We aren’t allowed in there.”

  “Come with me young man.”

  I dutifully followed him into the men’s locker room. They had a regular shoe shine chair there. He had “Thomas” polish my boots. Thomas told me he hadn’t seen as nice a pair of boots as mine for a long time.

  I told him I had bought them at Sheplers in Dallas.

  Thomas asked, “What were you doing in Dallas.”

  Now I hadn’t told Mr. King the whole story about why I had my boots, but I figured I had better come clean, because it would come out anyway.

  “I was there for a rodeo.”

  “Were you in the rodeo, or watching it?’

  “Okay you are not going to quit till I tell all; I was in the rodeo, riding Brahma bulls. Last year I was the National Champi
on bull rider for my age group.”

  “Whoa, young man that is pretty impressive.”

  I replied, “Thank you.”

  I was really watching to see what Mr. Kings reaction would be. You could see that he was trying to remember something but couldn’t quite bring it to mind. You also could see when he did remember.

  “Rick was it you and your family I read about in the Sunday supplement a few weeks ago.”

  “Probably sir,” I replied.

  “Oh lord I’m in for it now.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I jokingly told Judy that you were the sort of guy she should marry.”

  “How did she respond?”

  “You are in trouble; she told me she would marry you in a heartbeat.”

  “But I’m only fifteen.”

  “I met her mother when she was fifteen. I never had a chance.”

  I started to say something smart mouthed, but stopped.

  “You know there could be worse ways to go, but I think this is getting way ahead of ourselves; probably five or ten years.”

  You could see the relief in the young ladies father’s face.

  He muttered, “Now if only she looks at it that way.”

  Mr. King paid and tipped for my shine, and I left to change into my new duds.

  I took a very cold shower as the heater was off, that may have been a good thing. I got dressed and slicked down my hair with a little dab of Brylcream. I noticed from the gunk in my comb it was about time to change the oil, which meant to wash my hair. As I got older it needed washing at least once a week sometimes even twice.

  Of course the guys all gave me a hard time, in a fun way. Even the National Guard guys going by jumped in. One said I was bucking to be an officer. He said it nicely, but somehow I don’t think it was a compliment.

  I went to the restaurant entrance to the club house precisely on time. The King family was waiting for me. Judy jumped up and gave me a hug, she also whispered, “Play along.”

  First there were thanks again from her parents.

  I gave a cowboy, “Ah shucks weren’t nothing;” response.

  Then the grilling started, they obviously somehow got a chance to reread that article on our family and my summer vacation since I had left Mr. King in the pro shop. They wanted the details filled in. It was normal curiosity, nothing hostile.

  Then Judy dropped her bombshell.

  “Daddy you were right, this is the man I am going to marry.”

  Daddies, mouth started to hang open but before he could say anything she continued.

  Turning to me, she said, “Dear do you want to wait till we graduate High School or get married in the spring?”

  Not knowing where this was going I replied, “We probably should wait till we graduate, it is so hard to go to high school while you have children at home.”

  “Yes dear, I suspect you are right.”

  You should have seen Mr. Kings face, his mouth kept bobbing up and down. He wanted to say something but nothing would come out.

  All of a sudden Judy and her mother burst out into laughter.

  “We got you Daddy.”

  He took a deep breath and said, “Yes you did.”

  Turning to me; “You will pay for this, I expect it from them, but I thought it was us men in it together.”

  “Sir, discretion is the better part of valor, and I had my marching orders.”

  I’m not certain what discretion had to do with marching orders, but it worked, at least for now.

  From that moment on it was a delightful dinner. Mr. and Mrs. King told me a little about their family. There really wasn’t any new information, but it was nice to have it confirmed. At the same time they wanted to know about my parents and what they did. The questions were not rude or to invasive.

  One thing that really interested them was my Dad buying houses, fixing them up and renting them out.

  Mr. King remarked, “Usually you hear of people buying houses and renting them, but nothing about fixing them up first.”

  “Dad felt he could get a better monthly rent, and a nicer house would rent out first. Plus in a small town like ours, word gets out which landlord has the better houses.”

  “Your Dad has a good head on his shoulders.”

  When we were finished eating I paid my respects and got ready to leave.

  Judy got up and said, “I will see you back to the camping area.”

  Her parents didn’t object. Actually she only went as far as the picnic tables outside where we sat down across from each other.

  We sat and talked for over an hour. It was a getting to know you type of conversation. We covered a lot of likes and dislikes. Surprising enough we had more in common than I thought we would.

  We were both straight A students. We weren’t in the inner social circles of our class and didn’t care. We both were avid readers. She had read everything Heinlein had ever written and could discuss the stories.

  She was an only child so she didn’t know the joys of the pests. Her Mom and Dad both worked hard. She had tried cigarettes but didn’t care for them, she had a sip of beer and it was terrible. She played field hockey for Clintonville High School.

  She asked me many questions, what I liked, was when I talked about my summer vacation she wanted to hear about me, not John Wayne or Elvis Presley. She did express the desire to hear me sing. I told her that wasn’t going to happen.

  It was starting to get too cool to sit outside without a heavier coat. We had been sitting on opposite sides of the picnic table so we were never close enough for me to try to kiss her. As she walked away I realized that we had been sitting in front of a window in the restaurant and that her parents were still there and had been able to see us the whole time. I think I had dodged a bullet.

  I floated back to the tent area. The guys from the team all wanted to know if I got her alone, and if so how far did I get.

  “No, I didn’t get her alone and if we had done anything they would be the last to know.”

  I remembered Bill’s big mouth and the problems it caused him.

  That night I started a book from Aunt Merle’s library. It was about ten young adults who went on a retreat and each had to tell a story a day. Those stories were pretty bawdy. Those old guys knew how to have a good time. They also could get in big trouble, at least in their stories.

  Chapter 46

  Saturday I woke up feeling like a new person, I was completely recovered from the flu. I did my morning exercises and run. The National Guard guys who were up and around thought I was crazy. They did a daily run, but only for two miles and not full out. I showered got dressed for the day and went to breakfast.

  After French toast with bacon and eggs for breakfast along with a large glass of orange juice I was ready to start my day. The rest of the team had come out for breakfast, but hadn’t cleaned up yet. Coach Stone was sitting with several other Coaches having coffee so I grabbed my putter and some balls and headed out to the practice green.

  It was early enough there were only a couple of other people there, and none of the players in the tournament. While putting I noticed something a little off. The sun was not up high enough yet to remove all shadows from the surface of the practice green.

  When I putted from the sun, into the shadow the ball would slow down, not a lot but enough to make a difference. When I putted from the shadow into the sun the ball would speed up, again not a lot, but enough to cause the ball to drift off its line.

  I was lining up putts to take advantage of this effect when a gentleman said, “You have noticed the shadow effect here. It is the most pronounced in the spring and fall. In high summer the greens are hard enough it doesn’t make a difference. Knowing this might save you two strokes.”

  “Thank you Mr. Palmer.”

  “You’re welcome and good luck on your round today, I hope to see more of you Rick.”

  Now how did Arnold Palmer know my name?

  I packed up and went back to the zoo,
as we had started calling our area. When I got back Scott and Gary were drinking coffee, Tim wasn’t around. I asked about him, he still was asleep last time they looked. They asked where I had been.

  “Over at the practice green, putting and talking to Arnold Palmer about the course.”

  “Yeah, right, pull the other one,” was Gary’s response.

  Scott just shook his head.

  Tim came rushing out looking like he had slept in his clothes.

  He grabbed a cup of coffee and said, “Coach wants us to leave now.”

  Our tee time was not till eleven o’clock, but there was an opening ceremony we had to attend.

  There were the usual opening remarks by tournament officials. Then a very nice talk by Mr. Palmer about the game of golf and how if you played it well and followed the rules, not the official rules, but the unwritten rules of etiquette in your everyday life they would do well by you.

  While Mr. Palmer was talking I turned to Gary and winked, and mouthed, “Way.”

  After the opening ceremony we went back to the zoo, Tim at Coaches insistence went to clean up and change clothes. The other guys and I sat and talked. We all had seen a neat movie that was just out, ‘Bridge over the River Kwai.’ We all agreed that the movie was great and the music better, but that we didn’t like the ending.

  We also agreed that just because we didn’t like the ending that was the way of war. We all had heard enough stories from our families to know that fairness and sanity had nothing to do with war. We hoped our generation would never have to fight.

  By the time Tim got his act together it was time to head over the club house for our start. As usual I had butterflies until I stepped onto the tee box. Then it was time to play, not worry.

  The first hole was a 395 yard straight away hole. There was a slope 285 yards out. If you hit further you would be in the rough. I hit a three wood which had a nice arc, landing about 250 yards down the fairway; rolling another 30. It was perfect placement. I had learned to ignore the other players, I was aware of them being there and taking turns, I just didn’t pay attention to their game or get emotionally involved with it.