The Oak View Country Club in Aledo has been an integral part of the Blythe family since we boys were born. It was where one of us got married (Mark), one of us had our wedding reception (Mike), three of us had hole-in-one's (Herb, Holly and Mark), and one of us even died there...kinda (Herb). And in times before and after, the Club has been there to provide entertainment, laughs and sport with friends and family.
The Club was also the place my mother played the organ to entertain patrons in the 60's and 70's. She was a pretty good player and they paid her to play the current hits in the bar area. My earliest recollection was of a dark place where people were sitting around a horseshoe bar laughing and having fun. We boys would be paraded in after going to the movies and the people would ogle us and make compliments to the folks. It was decorated in a thatched hut kind of tiki-Tahiti motif. I was awed by the adultness of it, and the joy people were having. Crowded, noisy and very mysterious. It was a place where I saw neighbors like banker John Seaton, and veterinarian Doc Kingry act in a way I never saw them act in Seaton.
When we got old enough to start playing, Mark and Phil were naturals. I, however, found golf to be a bit of a drag. Long days chasing the ball, mine never going very far, and I probably began to sense that it just wouldn't be my sport. I enjoyed it when I was with family, but strangers joining us threw me off. I was just too damned self-conscious, and with my families' expert skills, who could blame me?
Here are some old score cards I found and, apparently, they meant something at the time. Although what it was has escaped me.
The winner today was older bro, Phil, who hit a scorching 39. This was 20 years ago and, as usual, I came in last. Chesty was a great friend of Dad's and his presence in the group was always welcome. One of the few people I never got all introverted around. Herb and Chesty are all gone now, but, man, did they enjoy golfing.
Dated September 1990, this was obviously a keeper due to the scores. Look at my 41, and how, according to this card I beat everyone there. I don't remember who John was, but could it be I beat EVERYONE? I don't know what all the other marks are, but in my book, this was a day I was the Champ. All bow to me.
Securely back in last place, look at those ugly scores of 8 and 9 on holes 5 and 6. There is a n unwritten rule that if you surpass 8 on any hole, you just pick up the ball and move on. My ethics wouldn't allow for that kind of cheating, so I swallowed the 9 and suffered for it. Damn ethics.
I placed last again, but here we played 18 holes, and look at that "2" on the 17th hole. I remember the shots clearly: It is the 8th hole (OVCC is a 9 hole course so you play twice for 18) and I hit the ball with a driver. The tee is below a knoll and wooded so you have to drive it over the hill, through many trees and hopefully get it over ANOTHER ravine and over to the green. It is an extremely difficult hole, and somehow I hit that ball as well as I have any and it cleared both knolls and ravine to land on the green, not more than a couple of feet from the hole. I sank the putt for an eagle. My best hole ever.
And about my Dad dying there. Well, not exactly. He was on the 7th tee-off and shanked a shot that went over to the 6th hole fairway. Then he went down with a heart attack. He died a few days later at a hospital in Peoria. He never regained consciousness.
The bar area has been re-done since the Tahiti days, and people come and go. Mark is still a member there, but Phil, has dropped out. I was just there a week ago, twice, and was greeted with gusto by old friends. I walked into the bar and several members got up and came over and shook my hand and seemed genuinely happy to see me. Maybe it was for Mark, I don't know, but it was nice, anyway. The Club, embraced by my family for decades, embraces back.
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