League play gives older golfers a chance to stay active and competitive

After 11 weeks of Good Old Boys league play at the Powell Golf Club, participation numbers are still healthy.

Which is fitting, seeing as how many of the 50-plus-year-old golfers are using the sport to stay that way themselves.

The PGC, located at 600 WY-114 in Powell, offers organized league play every week, and one of its more popular and populated leagues is the Good Old Boys, which welcomes players who are 50 years of age and older and offers a unique game of the week every Tuesday during the summer.

The league has been populated with 20 or more players each week this season, and provides players a fun and active alternative to staying inside.

Most of the golfers who make up the Good Old Boys league are retirees residing in Powell, and have made the local golf course their home. That’s good news for Kevin Lineback, 57, of Powell, who says the chance to enjoy golf with friends makes the game more enjoyable.

“I love these guys, they’re great guys ... they’re fun to play with,” said Lineback, who has been playing in the league for five years. “The competition is fun; there’s no dog-eat-dog out here. It’s just a great bunch of guys.”

Steve Rickert, 62, also of Powell, started playing with the Good Old Boys with his father, Ron Rickert, 10 years ago, and has found success. His name is usually among the top scoring teams each week, and his reasons for continuing to play, even in his older years, are probably on par with most — if not all — of his fellow golfers.

“The love of the game. I enjoy the game ... I love competition,” Rickert explained. “It’s fun to be out here with the guys.”

Rickert said the big appeal of golf to older players is the game’s accessibility to those who may not be as mobile or physically fit as they once were. That applies to Rickert, who continues to play despite previous health issues.

“I mean, we’re getting older, things are harder for us to do,” Rickert said. “I went through two hip surgeries last year and I can actually swing a golf club again. So, the older you get, the harder it is to stay fit, but you come out here and you can forget about your worries and get some exercise and just play the game.”

Doug Conner, the club’s PGA golf professional, said it’s good to see so many players attending the weekly games, and said the positive turnout speaks loudly about how easy golf is to pick up and continue playing into your elder years.

“Golf is just that kind of sport, you can play it for so long,” Conner said. “If you took up golf, you could play for basically as long as you can still walk.”

Conner added that the turnout for the league play is also good for the Powell community, since several of the players are retired and have made a home in Powell due in part to the golf course.

“A lot of these guys, they’re retired and could afford to live wherever they wanted, but they want to be here,” Conner said. “If they’re golfers, and we don’t have a golf course, they’re probably not going to live here. But we have something great to offer them, and of course other people too, and I think that’s why they stay.”

POWELL GOLF LEAGUE: Good Old Boys

GAME OF THE WEEK: Yellow Ball.  Each player has to play with the yellow ball four times and the last two holes anyone can play the yellow ball.  The team score is the yellow ball net score plus two other low net scores.

DATE: June 23

Week 11 of Good Old Boys league play at the Powell Golf Club saw Steve Rickert, Bud Linton, Bob Gallagher and Ken Rochlitz claim first place in a game of yellow ball on Tuesday.

The quartet posted a score of 191, good enough to get by second place finishers Greg Evans, Mike Hernandez, Tom Bibbey and Gerry Johns, who combined for a 196.

Larry Hedderman, Dave Frost, Jerry Scheafer and Dave Bonner took third with a 201. In fourth, Howard Whitlock, Jerry Linsdau, Jim Woodie and Ron Lytle scored a 203. A 205 was good for fifth for Dennis McCollum, Judge Gambill, Bob Mason and Lloyd Snyder.

Sixth place saw Paul Devoss, Kevin Lineback, Manuel Briseno and Joe Bailey register a 209 and in seventh, Dave Evans, Jim Turk, Tim Eicher and Tony Waller notched a 215.

The low gross of the day went to Rickert, who fired a 71. Hernandez’ 63 was good for the low net. Rickert also recorded the lone deuce of the day on hole No. 8.