Golf a 'game you can grow old with'

DESERT AIRE - Jean Farrington took a hard swing and sailed the ball 150 yards down the middle toward the 436-yard, par-5 No. 1 hole at Desert Aire Golf Course.

"Larry and I have been playing golf together for 20 years," she said as she walked down the fairway. "It's a game you can grow old with."

Jean hit her second shot short, topping it some. Her third went a little left but stayed in the fairway. It was not as crisp as the tee shot, but it was fair none-the-less.

"Yeah, I enjoy playing golf with her," Larry said. "She hits it very well.

"But that's not the whole story. When I met her, she didn't even know what bowling was. She didn't know how to play anything."

Jean hit her fourth shot from about 130 yards, landed it short of the green and bounced it on. She putted twice for a bogey-6, just one stroke back of Larry, who parred.

"Yeah, that's right," Jean said. "I grew up on a dairy in Kent. I didn't do anything except chores."

Jean was still a high school senior when she met Larry. He had moved to Auburn from Moses Lake, where his father had worked for the Boeing Company.

"Dad was the last to leave Boeing Moses Lake," he said.

Larry's father moved to Auburn to continue with Boeing. Now Larry has the same job but in a different building.

One thing led to another, and Larry and Jean married 35 years ago. They have two grown children now.

The Farringtons' son Mike is a .8-handicapper in Reno. He qualified for the Washington high school tournament as a freshman.

The Farringtons take credit only for starting him at the age of about 10. They say he really learned from his high school coach.

"He's been beating us ever since high school," Larry said. "After the first time he beat me, I never beat him again."

The Farringtons' daughter Julie also plays golf, but she's busy raising two kids in Puyallup with a third on the way.

"She plays with us when she can. It seems she plays best when she's pregnant," Jean said.

Jean didn't play golf, or anything else, early in her marriage. While she was raising the children, Larry was involved with Boeing League golf and golf in general.

"My girlfriend and I were home while the guys were playing golf," Jean said. "We both decided something was wrong with that picture. She went out and bought two starter sets for us, and we started to play golf."

Larry was never averse to that. He noted that he and his wife have played hundreds of rounds since then. She noted that he has never canceled a golf date with her to play with the boys.

Jean is a journeyman golfer, better than a lot of women and many men. She keeps the ball in the fairway and moving forward. She moves the game along. Her worst score on this day was an 8 on a par-5.

Jean birdied the 295-yard par-4 No. 5 hole with a drive, an approach from 140 yards and 12-foot putt. She did a little jig on the green.

On the next hole, the par-3 No. 6, she had a chance for par with another 12-footer. She knew it was going to curl to the right but failed to give it enough pace.

The putt slipped by the hole on the right, and Jean's face registered a disgust that would have made a man's face proud.

"Golf is the only game you talk to yourself about what you're going to do before a shot and talk to yourself about what you did after the shot," she said.

One of the reasons the Farringtons have been able to enjoy golf together is that Larry can't really teach Jean. She's right-handed. He's left-handed.

"About all he can do is say my swing wasn't smooth," she said. "And that's about all I can say to him."

It's just as well. Larry could never teach Jean to play at his level. There was a day he eagled an uphill 327-yard par 4 at Auburn Golf Course by landing his tee shot six inches from the hole.

The Farringtons live in Buckley but play most of their golf at Desert Aire. They bought a property here about 20 years ago near a property owned by Jean's parents.

Larry continues to work for Boeing at Auburn. Jean works for Sterling Savings Bank. They hope to retire in three years and grow old together on the golf course.

Why not? They are a good match.

On this day, Larry finished with 86, and Jean shot 93.