RIDGEDALE, MO. — Let me preface this with saying I’m new to the game of golf. New as in I’ve done it somewhat consistently for a year now. I find it therapeutic and a great excuse to take a stroll outside.
However, when I play with people I haven’t before, I get skittish, especially around those who’ve made their profession around the game. I played in a foursome at Highland Springs that included Rogersville Golf Coach Keith Spaulding and couldn’t muster a reasonable tee shot. I know he wasn’t laughing at or even judging me, but something about a seasoned eye near my lack of ability made me clam up.
So, you can imagine my enthusiasm when the opportunity for my first round of my second full season of golf came at Top of the Rock. It’s a course that literally the greatest to ever play the sport have gushed about. I came into the day with the intent of getting my legs back under me on the PGA Tour’s only Par 3 course.
My boss, along with one of the world’s premier club wielders, had something much different in mind.
Dan Boever is a former minor league baseball player and current long drive golf champion. He’s also a trick shot extraordinaire, renowned for his entertaining style. Unsurprisingly, his presence caused me to shoot an egregiously bad round, completely missing the ball on one tee box four, maybe five straight times while calling one sand trap a “pit” on the first hole.
My boss had told me stories of previous rounds in which Boever used only his drive. I saw it first hand on this day, as his primary club bested me and my entire set by 47 strokes.
FORTY. SEVEN. STROKES.
Now, some of my score included the various trick shots he had me perform, like the “chunker”, which allowed me to just sling the ball off a long rod. I did this close to 10 times… right into the drink.
I digress… it wasn’t pretty, but it was fun. It was a day to let our hair down, something that Boever encourages with his snappy one-liners and constant smile.
I will say I have never been prouder on a golf course than the two trick shots I managed to pull off: a simple drive from the knees and one from a waist-high tee, both of which left Boever with his jaw dropped.
They were the straightest, cleanest drives I’ve ever struck.
Of course, he informed me afterward that the folks who don’t play much tend to have better luck. He also said Bo Jackson failed this feat.
I choose to dwell on the latter.
What I’m ultimately left with is a reminder that an experience at Top of the Rock is what you make of it. It’s a one of a kind attraction in the Ozarks. The Legends of Golf Tournament is an exhausting event to cover, but the images you’re left with make it worth the return.
