I am an avid golfer. I try to play at least two times a week. Having a job that causes me to work seven days a week, I do everything possible to keep Wednesday afternoons for myself. No, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on the radio, although I do play host of a new Hockey Show on Live 105.3FM with Stars great Craig Ludwig; it’s just that my friends are all doctors, so that is when we play. It’s a great group of guys- a perfect group of personalities that everyone should be as fortunate as I to have as friends. They are way more than golfing buddies; they are the sounding board for my life. They understand my quirks; my little habits that would drive anyone else totally crazy. They put up with me… maybe because they know they’re going to get lots of cool stuff from every tournament I go to; maybe because they think I am the kind of sad comic relief in their worlds of saving lives, saving eyes and keeping people well, or maybe because we are all so supportive of each other… it just works. So let me introduce you to my group…
- There is Doctor E. Everyone needs a Dr. E in their life. Dr. E will do anything to help a friend. Unlike that kind of MALE Doctrine in the South, E actually calls me every day, he is not afraid of his feminine side. I actually get nervous if I have not heard from him be 6 p.m. each day. I think there are very few guys that can say they have a friend like Doctor E.
The doc is all of 130 lbs; when he slams a drive, he will hit it 245, yet there he is every week playing with the rest of us from the 7100 yard back tees… and never complaining. Dr. E has the best short game I have ever seen. Yesterday on our 16th hole, a 580 yard par 5, Dr. E slam dunked his fourth shot from a bunker. That’s the kind of things he does to get under your skin.
Doctor E, is also our scorekeeper. Now this can be good, unless you want your handicap to jump a couple of shots. Since we always play team games, Dr. E has a unique way of scoring those players that might be out of the hole. Remember a few months back when I wrote about what are handicap would actually be if we counted everything? I give you Doctor E: a man who has never written a triple bogey on a scorecard.
But I love him and know he will be my best friend for the rest of my life.
- Dr. Dick - He is the teddy bear of our group. Dr. Dick is 6ft and about 230 of pure muscle. When you first meet the guy, you tend to take a step back for fear his hand shake might break your hand. As you get to know him you realize that this guy’s love of life is totally contagious and something you always want to be around.
A most amazing aspect of this guy is the quickness with which he plays. Dr. Dick is a 5 handicap who has never squatted behind a putt in his life. The man does not believe in a practice stroke before he putts, yet seems to make everything.
Like most Doctors, Dick gets inundated with 100’s of questions from everyone at our club about the silliest of things. Why does my nose run? I have this little twitch… And he never seems to mind. I am the worst of these culprits. Yours truly is a hypochondriac. The stupidest thing and Dick knows there will be a call from me. He always takes the call and answers the questions without making me feel the like horse’s butt that he knows I am.
Every group needs a Dr. Dick.
- Dr. Ron – Of all the guys in our group, Dr. Ron has the quick witted sense of humor. Or should I say, “the put that guy in his place” sense of humor. Dr. Ron is the one that always makes sure that my ego never gets too large. You can be sure that if I start to get any of that, “I’m on the radio” stuff, he will be more than happy to put me in my place.
See Dr. Ron is a USC Trojan; yours truly is a UCLA Bruin. Imagine a Longhorn and an Aggie and multiply by 10.
(Do you know the one thing that UCLA and USC have in common when a football player transfers from UCLA to USC? Both schools’ grade point averages go up.) Just a quickie.
Dr. Ron is one of the best eye surgeons on the planet. Dr. Ron has found auto racing. Let me say that again… This small in stature, Jewish guy (same as me and Dr. E) has found racing cars. That’s like a Texan without a shotgun coming out of the back of his truck. It’s so much fun to play golf with Dr. Ron. Between the biting one liners and the updates on putting new chrome door handles on his BMW Racing vehicle, Dr. Ron brings comic relief to our Wednesday golf.
- The Murph – The Murph takes his golf serious; the Murph takes everything serious. The Murph is the alter-ego of our group. A real estate tycoon that never talks real estate, a conservative Christian that never preaches. The Murph is an ex professional football player, but you would never know it. The Murph is just a guy that likes to compete. More than any other in our group, he takes our $2 and $4 bets very seriously. It’s not the money; The Murph just wants to win.
I love watching The Murph. I tend not to take my golf as serious as I should. I spend too much time on the phone and too much time having fun or screaming at myself. If I am the guy wearing his emotions on his sleeve, The Murph is the guy who shows none. When the Murph gets going…it is fun to watch. A very streaky player, The Murph never seems to get down when he is going bad. I hate that about him.
So this is my game. I wish each of you had friends like these. There is nothing better than guy time on a golf course and I am lucky to share it each week with my special, totally diverse group of guys.
