Peter Holthe, whose idea it was to create FOCM had a great sense of humor and loved to play practical jokes. He especially liked to play them on people who were taking themselves or a situation far too seriously. He also got himself into some funny situations and his lovely wife, Kara is allowing me to share this story and a couple others.
This story is true, told to me by Peter in 2007.
One day in November, Peter Holthe went out golfing and got matched up with another solo player and as they played, they got to talking. The other man explained that he was from out of town and was using rented clubs. No doubt feeling intimidated by Peter’s crushing drives and better play, the guy began a steady and unrelenting complaint session hole after hole after hole. How inferior the clubs were, how he was going to sue the golf course for renting such inferior equipment, how much better he is with his own clubs, how he would have made a 70 foot putt if he’d had his putter instead of the piece of junk he got as a rental.
So after the 18th hole when the scores were tallied up, Peter’s score was a 77. The out of towner commented how that’s what he would have shot if he’d had his clubs. To which Peter, now faced with a choice of buoying the man’s spirits or saying nothing (following the adage of “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything”) did the humorous thing by taking the road less traveled and he replied: “Actually, I am also from out of town, and these are my brother’s clubs, I usually play left-handed.
Beautifully done!
A classic for sure
Brilliant!
You can never read too many “golf” stories! Thanks for bringing that one to the table, Chris.
And you can’t read too many Peter Holthe stories. Great golfer, terrific guy.