REDVERS — Can you set a watch by a golfer? At the Redvers Golf & Country Club, the answer is yes.
Seven days a week, come rain or shine during the season, at precisely 1 p.m., a foursome steps up to the first tee, consisting of Willard Boese, Omer Carriere, Elmer Doell and Will Johnson.
Their ages add up to 320. They are all retired.
Their careers were varied – Carriere was a battery operator, Johnson was a teacher and principal, Boese managed the local Co-op building materials and Doell worked in banking and real estate. Doell’s career took him away from Redvers for many years, but he couldn’t resist returning to Redvers upon leaving the workforce.
Their golfing experience is just as varied. Some started golfing early in life; others took a while to get going. Carriere is an excellent golfer; Boese not quite as good and Doell and Johnson are somewhere in between. Carriere, at 88, is still the guy to beat.
Their golfing prowess has produced a few holes-in-one. Doell has one and Johnson has two. Carriere has come within inches and Boese once landed an inch or two from the hole, only to have his ball hit the pin and bounce away rather than down.
Carriere, who oversaw the design of the greens back in 2000 and kept the project within budget, played a round of golf with Johnson shortly afterwards. They played the course twice, 18 holes, and they each shot identical scores of 36 on the front nine and 36 on the back nine for both rounds. That’s par golf.
Carriere boasts of the greatest accomplishment. This past June, he headed up to Prince Albert for the Saskatchewan Senior Fitness Association’s 55-plus Games to golf. He won the 85-plus age category and is now going to try to duplicate that in August when he goes to Kamloops, B.C., to compete against Canada’s best.
The men all knew each other, but a deeper friendship blossomed at the golf club. As they spent more and more time together, they entertained the possibility of golfing together. That became reality about four years ago.
Why do they play so much? There are many reasons. The love the game and the camaraderie. The exercise is good for them and what beats the smell of fresh grass? They play 18 holes daily, except for Will, whose wife has too much for him to do at home. And they meet so regularly that they can list the times and the reasons why one of them didn’t show up.
