Jeff sparks
Verified Member
Paul Burnitt was a car salesman at Katy Road Chrysler on I 10 in Houston, Texas when I first started selling cars.. Paul was a year or so younger than I was and he was new to the business like I was... We learned the trade together...
Paul loved to watch pro golf, but he liked playing it even more...One day we took off work and drove out to New Ulm, Texas.. New Ulm was about a 50 mile drive from Houston, a little far, but worth it...New Ulm was the home of a new championship caliber golf course called The Falls, and Paul was anxious to play it..
The Falls had Bentgrass greens and challenging length... The fairways were cut tight like a US Open course and the rough was murder... We couldn't wait to get there...
We arrived at the club and parked the car and we were headed into the clubhouse when we were approached by an older guy...he introduced himself simply as Babe... Babe asked if we were there to see property, if so, he was in charge of selling all the lots that were available... We told him we were just there to play the course and not buy anything... He said he could save us the price of the green fees if we agreed to look at some property after the round of golf.. I said "Sure, why not, no obligation to purchase, right?"
So the three of us go into the Clubhouse and he signs us up in a ledger the Pro provided and off we go... Babe said that he played a little golf and if we didn't mind, could he join us... I said by all means, please do... BTW, Paul and I play a $20.00 Nassau, would you like a bet also? He said sure, in fact he was used to playing for money, he did it all the time...
He was an old man... I told Paul, look at this, first we get our green fees covered by this old salesman, now he's gonna buy us dinner to boot...
I'm gonna see if he wants to play a little higher on the back nine, we might have a really good day...:lol
Paul and I rode together and Babe had his own cart.. Babe had a phone booth swing, no more than 3/4's full and he hit everything on a very low trajectory, but very straight, and sneaky long at times... The greens were lightning fast, and being on the low side of the flag was necessary to not three putt.. I didn't know the course and Babe obviously did, because he was always putting uphill and beating me on the greens...
Babe beat me 1 up on the front side, and I asked if he wanted to raise the bet on the back... He said sure, what do you have in mind? I said I owe you $20.00 from the front, and you're 1 up on the 18 hole bet and even on the back nine bet... How about we call off the $20.00 Nassau if I pay you $30.00 right now and we play by the hole on the back? Babe said that was fine, and accepted the $30.00. Then he said, How much do you want to play for on the back? I said $50.00 a hole OK with you? He said OK...
We teed off and Paul said to me, "It sure looks like we could make a nice commission on our day off." We both smiled...
Babe played a solid tee to green game, but I was longer off the tee and just as accurate, he only beat me on the back side because he knew where to put the ball on the greens... He knew which side off the green to play into... He beat me 3 bets on the back, but I had pressed to get even on the 18th hole being two down, so I actually lost 4 bets... ( $200.00 more )
It's early, around 3:00 PM, so I asked Babe if he would like to play another 9 holes and he said sure...
Now I've played the front nine before, and I'm more familiar with where I need to place the ball on the green, so I'm confident he can't win now..I won't 3 putt anymore... I asked if he'd like to raise it to $100.00 a hole, with automatic 1 down presses... He said OK.. Yum-Yum I thought...
Well, on the first tee, his swing lengthened out a little, his ball no longer looked like a line drive in the gap between 3rd and short, it had more elevation, and it carried out into the fairway much further than in the previous 18 holes we had played...
I felt my stomach turn over, that unmistakable churn that generates a big gaseous lump of air in the pit of the stomach and moves rapidly upwards into the throat and makes you swallow hard to keep it down... He could play, and now I knew it.. I had been hustled on the golf course... Again!!!!
I played hard, I didn't fold like a cheap suit, but it didn't do any good, he was just a better golfer... I lost another 5 bets... Down $730.00 for the day...But we didn't pay a green fee :lol
Turned out Mr. Babe Hart had played on the senior tour for a couple of years and I had no chance of winning... He didn't even try to sell me a lot...Good thing...I wasn't in the best of moods...
Paul loved to watch pro golf, but he liked playing it even more...One day we took off work and drove out to New Ulm, Texas.. New Ulm was about a 50 mile drive from Houston, a little far, but worth it...New Ulm was the home of a new championship caliber golf course called The Falls, and Paul was anxious to play it..
The Falls had Bentgrass greens and challenging length... The fairways were cut tight like a US Open course and the rough was murder... We couldn't wait to get there...
We arrived at the club and parked the car and we were headed into the clubhouse when we were approached by an older guy...he introduced himself simply as Babe... Babe asked if we were there to see property, if so, he was in charge of selling all the lots that were available... We told him we were just there to play the course and not buy anything... He said he could save us the price of the green fees if we agreed to look at some property after the round of golf.. I said "Sure, why not, no obligation to purchase, right?"
So the three of us go into the Clubhouse and he signs us up in a ledger the Pro provided and off we go... Babe said that he played a little golf and if we didn't mind, could he join us... I said by all means, please do... BTW, Paul and I play a $20.00 Nassau, would you like a bet also? He said sure, in fact he was used to playing for money, he did it all the time...
He was an old man... I told Paul, look at this, first we get our green fees covered by this old salesman, now he's gonna buy us dinner to boot...
I'm gonna see if he wants to play a little higher on the back nine, we might have a really good day...:lolPaul and I rode together and Babe had his own cart.. Babe had a phone booth swing, no more than 3/4's full and he hit everything on a very low trajectory, but very straight, and sneaky long at times... The greens were lightning fast, and being on the low side of the flag was necessary to not three putt.. I didn't know the course and Babe obviously did, because he was always putting uphill and beating me on the greens...
Babe beat me 1 up on the front side, and I asked if he wanted to raise the bet on the back... He said sure, what do you have in mind? I said I owe you $20.00 from the front, and you're 1 up on the 18 hole bet and even on the back nine bet... How about we call off the $20.00 Nassau if I pay you $30.00 right now and we play by the hole on the back? Babe said that was fine, and accepted the $30.00. Then he said, How much do you want to play for on the back? I said $50.00 a hole OK with you? He said OK...
We teed off and Paul said to me, "It sure looks like we could make a nice commission on our day off." We both smiled...
Babe played a solid tee to green game, but I was longer off the tee and just as accurate, he only beat me on the back side because he knew where to put the ball on the greens... He knew which side off the green to play into... He beat me 3 bets on the back, but I had pressed to get even on the 18th hole being two down, so I actually lost 4 bets... ( $200.00 more )
It's early, around 3:00 PM, so I asked Babe if he would like to play another 9 holes and he said sure...
Now I've played the front nine before, and I'm more familiar with where I need to place the ball on the green, so I'm confident he can't win now..I won't 3 putt anymore... I asked if he'd like to raise it to $100.00 a hole, with automatic 1 down presses... He said OK.. Yum-Yum I thought...
Well, on the first tee, his swing lengthened out a little, his ball no longer looked like a line drive in the gap between 3rd and short, it had more elevation, and it carried out into the fairway much further than in the previous 18 holes we had played...
I felt my stomach turn over, that unmistakable churn that generates a big gaseous lump of air in the pit of the stomach and moves rapidly upwards into the throat and makes you swallow hard to keep it down... He could play, and now I knew it.. I had been hustled on the golf course... Again!!!!
I played hard, I didn't fold like a cheap suit, but it didn't do any good, he was just a better golfer... I lost another 5 bets... Down $730.00 for the day...But we didn't pay a green fee :lol
Turned out Mr. Babe Hart had played on the senior tour for a couple of years and I had no chance of winning...
He didn't even try to sell me a lot...Good thing...I wasn't in the best of moods...
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