Forrest Richardson,
The unusual occurences had to do with the people I met and the circumstances of our meeting.
On the practice tee I was talking with Joe DiMaggio, who was quite loquacious when it came to golf. I never once mentioned anything about baseball and evidently that put him at ease. He liked the woods my dad and I were playing with and asked if he could try them. After he hit them, he inquired about where he could get a set. We told him that they were custom made by a local clubmaker in NJ. We could see that he genuinely liked them, so subsequently, we sent him a set.
On the first tee a group asked to go through us,
Lou Rassonova (sp?) and some other celebrity golfers who were obviously playing for a few quid were very appreciative of the fact that we told them to go ahead and play in front of us.
After they were away, I was told to tee off, and, they had hit their second shots and looked well beyond the driving zone, but, I hit one of those dream drives, perfectly flush and it rolled up and past them.
I went up an apologized, but they were very nice about it, complimented me about my drive and asked if I was going to be around for a few days and available for golf. I told them that I was attending a client Board meeting and as much as I would like to play with them, I was commited to playing golf with my clients and Board members.
Later in the round, Dick Martin, from Rowan & Martin, who did "Laugh In" approached our group, we were on the tee of a par 3, and he had just finished playing the hole behind us, and obviously wanted to play through. He was in a cart with a stunning, absolutely gorgeous, statuesque young woman, dressed rather provocatively. He drove up to the tee just as we were teeing off. I hit a 5-iron about a foot from the hole, just missing a hole in one. He said something to the effect of,
"Boy, would I give anything to hit a shot like that" to which I responded, "How about your caddy". We both looked at her, then he looked at my ball on the green, and he said,
"can you get me to hit the ball like that all the time ?".
To which I responded, "If you'll spend as much time on the practice tee as I'm going to spend with her, the answer is yes !"
We all had a good laugh and he played through, not hitting a particularly good shot. As he was about to drive off, I said,
"It's your last chance." and we laughed again.
I played well, was in great company, and had a lot of fun that day, which I will never forget.
When you consider who I met, and got to talk to, during that one round of golf, it's rather remarkable. And, I was playing with my Dad and two really nice fellows, one from Michigan, a former quarterback at Michigan State, now a successful businrss man, and the other, the CEO from New York.
Joe DiMaggio, an idol for years
Lou Rassonova (sp?) who I didn't know, but my dad did.
He told me of Lou's very unique backround and penchant for teeing it up for a few quid. TEPaul knows of the legendary Lou
The celebrities in his foursome,
Dick Martin, who I had watched a zillion times on TV, and...
His CADDY, who I fantasized about for years.
It was a great day, including the weather.