My Almost Famous Golf Moment

This past Sunday morning our golfing foursome was scheduled to play Scotland Run, one of my favorite local golf courses. 

It was about 9 a.m. when Dave called and said he would need to take a rain check. He was feeling horrible, as he’d been fighting a wicked cold virus the entire work week. We chatted briefly, our phone call ending with my promise to let him know when we were playing next.

Ziggy and I arrived promptly at the course around 11:30 and located Mike working on his short game on the putting green. After some brief pleasantries, we paid our greens fees at the pro shop and headed over to the first tee box. We couldn’t help but notice the weather was unseasonably mild today given the typically hot and humid temperature—well in excess of 95 degrees—often present when we play this course. Could this be a sign from the golf gods?

Mike, the last to hit, landed his tee shot in the fairway as we headed to our carts eager to start our round. The starter quickly called us back. He informed us there was a “single” delayed from his original tee time. He asked us if we would mind if he joined our threesome? No problem, we replied in unison.

Golf is a funny sport. Some golf foursomes are more loyal and have more secrets than most married couples I know. It’s always a little awkward when someone joins your golf group or you’re asked to join another’s party’s foursome. Often a golfing foursome is viewed as a sacred fraternity of friends, neighbors, family members, etc. There’s always an implied understanding among golfers that the original members will entertain this “stranger” and make them feel welcome—that is until they duff their first shot or sink their first long putt. Then anything and everything is fair game!

Our new friend introduced himself to us simply as Dave and after a few minutes, we all went in search of our initial tee shots. Dave was in his early 70s and had a striking resemblance to my father, who is also in that same age demographic. In fact, watching him hit his tee shot on hole 2 reminded me of playing with my father last week down in Cape May for his 71st birthday. 

As guys are known to do, we inquired as to what Dave did for a living. He politely informed us he was from out of town working in the entertainment business, in Philadelphia for the next 10 days. By the par 3, number 4 hole, possibly feeling more at ease with me and my two buddies, as well as sinking a bogey-saving putt, Dave further disclosed he was from Los Angeles working in Center City on the set of the new Harrison Ford movie as a sound engineer.

Really? Well, suddenly my round of golf just got slightly more interesting.

It was then that Ziggy blurted out, "Scott just visited California." Our new friend just smiled and politely inquired where I had visited. I casually told him my family and I had traveled to Southern California for one week and Northern California for the second week, celebrating a few recent milestones. It was our first trip to the Golden State.

Dave couldn’t help but notice me taking multiple photographs in between golf shots. I explained to him photography has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I asked if I could indulge him (a fellow golfer) to view a photo of me in front of the legendary Lone Cypress Tree at Pebble Peach. He smiled. In between photos, he provided some “I’ve been there” stories of his life in and around L.A. He was never once boastful. We talked hockey when he saw my photos of the L.A. Live sports complex and the Kings Stanley Cup sand sculpture some hardcore fans had created during the team’s playoff run. He personally thanked me for the trades that sent some former Flyers players to L.A., which helped them win the Cup.

By the back nine, we had both taken a shine to each other. He referred to me as “Scotty” for the remainder of the round, in part (I think) because I was the youngest of our over-50 golf foursome. This made me smile since my dad will sometimes (not often) call me by the same nickname.

We talked about our kids. He has three, all working toward a career in the arts and entertainment field. I told him of my daughter and her educational pursuits. He told me a funny story about his one daughter who was an extra on the set of Natural Born Killers. We were just two parents talking about kids and life experiences in between often erratic and sometimes lucky golf shots. It was easy to see his kids were his proudest moments, even more than his three Oscar wins for Best Sound for the movies Apollo 13, Speed and The Right Stuff, which I had to coax out of him.    

He told me stories about working with a young Francis Ford Coppolla on a film called The Rain People only a few years before Coppolla started work on The Godfather, as well as some of the details of this new Harrison Ford movie called Paranoia. I asked him if he had a chance to visit the Jersey Shore or make it to Atlantic City during his trip. He said he had not, but a long time ago his crew shot some movie scenes in Wildwood for a movie entitled Birdy. I laughed as I told him that was my beach town growing up and related stories of our family trips there when I was youngster. I asked him if he ever had the chance to work with Alan Parker on any other movies, specifically The Commitments, one my favorite music-themed movies. Regrettably, they were not able to make their schedules agree and he missed out on that opportunity. We continued with a brief discussion on our favorite types of music and music’s involvement in moviemaking over the years.

This is pretty much how we spent our time on the back nine.

At the conclusion of our round, we walked off the 18th hole with three pars and a lone bogey. We informed Dave we were going to have a few beers on the deck and hoped he would join us. He gladly accepted our invitation. 

We quickly secured a table near the edge of the finishing hole, which offered us generous views of the rolling hills, fescue grass and yellow sand bunkers. We ordered a round of Belhaven Scottish Ale and watched as party guests dressed to the nines walked by heading to the upstairs catering room for a wedding reception.

Dave continued to entertain us with stories of his life rubbing elbows with the stars. True to his character, he was never once caught bragging or acting boastful, but more just like the "guy next door" who just happens to have to go to work tomorrow with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. We suggested some local golf courses he should consider playing while he was still in the Philly region.

The cold beer and lively conversation was a welcome treat after four-plus hours of golf. We sat and gazed out over the course now almost free of golfers. The arcing yellow sun was starting to set overhead, bringing into clarity the true beauty of this golf course created on acres of a one-time old quarry pit. 

When the waitress arrived to inquire if we all needed a refill, Dave politely informed us he had a dinner reservation with members of his crew and he would need to leave. 

We all stood and shook hands, wishing him well on his remaining stay in our area.  He told us he’d be back in December when they plan to shoot some more "exteriors."

He turned to me, winked and said, “If you ever make it out to California again, we’ll play that course I told you about in Malibu and afterwards have a beer at Neptune’s Net on PCH.”

Maybe that’s just one more reason why I need to start planning that PCH trip (birthday #55) I was telling Marie and Lauren about a week ago.