Golfing in Aberdeen: Where the Mosquitoes Carry Your Clubs. by "Bad To The Bone" David Liem

Dean Shortridge Club Pro

Okay, thanks to my parents, I started playing golf in the 5th grade at the old Country Club in Aberdeen SD. I played through high school, mostly with my best friends, Ken Koch and Don Walters. To put it simply, I SUCKED at golf.   I should have taken lessons from Dean Shortridge, the club Pro.  Meanwhile, my friends Rich Vining, Doug Deibert, Guy Walkingstick and Rick Davies, all Shortridge disciples, were scoring in the 70's, I was scoring in the 90's (editor's comment: 90's, Likely in the 100's).

Remember golfing in "The Gloaming" where the mosquitoes literally lifted our golf clubs out of our hands. I remember hitting a golf ball out of the rough and nailing a pheasant on the fly. It was hot and humid and I was sweating like Al Sharpton at a Klan rally. The best golfing comment I ever heard was from Doug Deibert who said the 2 best balls he hit all day was when he stepped on a rake in a sand bunker.

The Old Aberdeen Country Club Clubhouse

Public Golf Course Aberdeen SD

 FYI, we described the old Aberdeen Country Club and Lee Park courses as goat ranches. I'm not saying, but you know what I'm saying, just saying.

Fearsome Foursome: L-R, Curly, Moe, Larry, David

In searching for knowledge and understanding about the game of golf, I turned to three close friends of mine, from whom I have received the guidance and direction that has made me the player I am today.  Incidentally, we happen to share the same sense of wit, humor, wisdom and esprit de corps.  Soitenly!

Golf Defined

• Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.
• "I wish I could play my normal game....just once."
• If you do find that you do not mind playing golf in the rain, the snow, even during a hurricane, here's a valuable tip: Your life is in trouble.
• The term "mulligan" is really a contraction of the phrase "maul-it-again."
• A "gimme" can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers...neither of whom can putt very well.
• An interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse.
• Golf's a hard game to figure. One day you'll go out and slice it and shank it, hit into all the traps and miss every green. The next day you go out and for no reason at all you really stink.
• If your best shots are the practice swing and the "gimme putt", you might want to reconsider this game.
• Golf is like marriage: If you take yourself too seriously it won't work....and both are expensive.
• To some golfers, the greatest handicap is the ability to add correctly.
• In golf, some people tend to get confused with all the numbers...they shoot a "six", yell "fore" and write "five".
• Golf! You hit down to make the ball go up. You swing left and the ball goes right. The lowest score wins. And on top of that, the winner buys the drinks. I'm not saying, but you know what I'm saying, just saying.