| Thanks Pro © 2005 by Bob Miller As I
remember it, the morning sky was overcast and it was unseasonably cool for the month of
May, but then, north Alabama’s weather can be that way. I seldom get a close-up parking space and
that’s probably a good thing. The long way around helps keep the weight off since I
gorge myself on blackberry cobbler when I get the chance. Today would be different; there
was a space right next to the one marked ‘Handicapped’. I had played this golf course many
times just because it was close to my home. Compared to Turtle Point, a
country club a few miles east, this course wasn’t much of a challenge. Sky Park was a
nine-hole course with eighteen tee boxes. But the golf pro at Sky Park
was just about as special as they come. As I pulled my golf bag out of the trunk, I heard, "Miller,
if you don’t play better today than you did yesterday, and these two golf
morons beat us, I’m sticking you with the bill." It was the pro, and I
knew he meant every word. Our opponents this day were two Sky Park regulars and both were
pretty good golfers. One was a large man named Bill Gough. Even though
the pro had used the term 'moron', he had done so tongue in cheek, because Bill was no
moron. But he would have gladly allowed you to think so. Every time I had played against
Bill, I had ended up with less money in my pocket than I had started with regardless
of the out come of the golf match. The very last time we had played, Bill says to me,
"Miller, bet you $5 that the bird on the right on that power line flies off before
the one on the left." I took the bet; I didn’t know that the male always flies
off first. Did you know that? Our other opponent was to be Sam Edwards. What a
nice guy. Sam just never seemed to get upset; if he did, he didn’t let you know it. I didn't play that bad, but I was the weak link in the chain that day. This golf pro had had his golfing career put on hold when he was shipped off to an island paradise known as Iwo Jima. Bullets from a machine gun had just about ripped off his left arm and leg. Nevertheless, after returning home, he went right back to playing the game he loved. We had to tie what was left of his left arm to his belt so the arm wouldn’t get in the way while he was playing. This most courageous golf pro was George Allen. When I'm on the course or giving a lesson and a golfer starts complaining about getting a bad bounce or the cost of playing golf, I tell them about George. Thanks, Pro. |
Thanks Pro, by Bob Miller, author of Angel Named Zabar, Taciturn, Toto Coelo - Bob Miller is one of America's most controversial writers. He has traveled the world over as a golf instructor and golf ambassador and worked as the golf professional on Holland America’s ms Westerdam. Bob served as a pilot in Vietnam in 1969. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. He challenged Richard Shelby for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1992.