Inspired by the grand lady of Crescent Bar golf

Editorial

It seemed that Mavis Bennett's name was appearing at the top of the leader board every week in women's golf at Crescent Bar, and I needed to know why.

So I invited Mavis to play a game last Saturday. She agreed. My first surprise when we met was that she's 74 years old.

"It's nice to see all the young girls coming out," she said of the 50-somethings.

My second surprise was that Mavis didn't pick up a club until she was 57. She and her golf-playing husband Dick had purchased a place on the island, and there wasn't much more to do than golf.

"Dick handed me a pink putter one day and said I should try golf," Mavis said.

Mavis did just that on the CB practice green. The more she did it, the more she liked it.

"I love it now," she said. "I love the game, and I love being out here with the girls."

Mavis never set a goal to be good at golf. She just wanted to play well enough not to embarrass herself.

Mavis doesn't know if she's an athlete. She was a "good guard" briefly at Tacoma's Stadium High School back in the days of old-school girls basketball. Other than that, she never did sports.

"I started working for the telephone company before I graduated," she said.

Mavis had a 10-year career with Pacific Northwest Bell. She quit when she and Dick started a family of two boys. She never went back, happy to be a stay-at-home mom.

But Mavis has to be an athlete. She picked up the game late in life and, at 74, dominates the younger girls.

Mavis consistently shoots in the 90s and has scored 94 twice this  year. Those are scores many men in their 60s (and 50s, and 40s and...) struggle to make. Her lone lament is that she's never gone below 90.

"My best ever was 92," she said. "At my age I don't think I'll ever see 89."

I wouldn't bet against it.

What's really cool about Mavis is that she's really cool. She knew I was watching with a critical eye and that so was my usual playing partner John Jessup.

Mavis was unaffected. She never paid attention to our games. She zoned in on hers. Seemed as if she knew we'd all get to the hole at the same time.

The secret to Mavis's game is her eye. She may not always hit the ball perfectly, but she never misses it, and she's always down the middle.

Her first shot Saturday went about 130 yards down the middle. Her second shot went only about 100 yards, but it was down the middle.

Then Mavis had a couple of 110-yarders that left her in front of the green. She chipped to five feet and dropped the putt.

"Bogey is good," she said quietly as she walked by my waiting  par putt.

Yes it is. That's exactly what I got even though my first two shots left me only 80 yards from the hole.

An aspect of Mavis's game that shines is her putting. She never takes a putt lightly. She studies every opportunity thoroughly for line and speed.

On No. 9, Mavis struggled some. She hit her third shot off line into the sand. She looked at the high front lip of the trap and apologetically said: "I'm going to play it sideways."

Mavis placed the ball in front of the green, chipped to 16 feet, studied the putt and dropped it.

"Thanks," she said as we shook hands.

No, Mavis. Thank you.

I re-learned a few things on Saturday. I took all of my putts seriously and shot my best round of the year.