Editor's Note: This is part three in a three-part series.
In case you missed either of the last two weeks, here’s the world’s fastest recap; Bartow’s Herb Dixon, at 101 years young, is one of my new heroes. Universally admired in the golf community, and still a 13 handicap, Mr. Dixon hits the ball straight as an arrow, gets frustrated if he doesn’t play up to his standards, and revels any opportunity to compete.
So, we’re competing.
More specifically, I’m playing a match with my friend Brandon Eady, a 27 handicap, against Dixon and an equally competitive player 92 years his junior – a third-grader named Jackson. Last week, we covered the second 3 holes of our 9-hole match at Bartow Golf Course. Today, we begin on hole 7, in a dogfight of a match. Through 6, Joel and Brandon are 1up.
More: Joel Helm: At 101, Herb Dixon is still a 13 handicap
More: Joel Helm: A quick nine with Herb Dixon
HOLE 7 – Par 3. Format: Fourball
Coming off our first birdie of the round, I make the best swing I’ve made in a month. It looks like it’s going in, sliding just by the hole, leaving under 3 feet for birdie.
Mr. Dixon makes another smooth iron swing, but comes up slightly short of the green. I can’t help but marvel at how consistently straight he hits the ball on every shot, unlike my partner, who misses well right of the green. Jackson misses left, leaving himself short-sided with a very tough chip.
While they prepare to chip, I ask head golf professional Chris Banks about Dixon’s legacy at Bartow.
“This golf course right here, not only did he help me, but he’s helped so many of the kids who have gone through here," Banks said. "First of all, he taught me how to be competitive, never give up. Find a way. Grind it out. And boy, is (Dixon) a grinder. I built my whole program here around his influence, and it’s amazing the talent that has come through (Bartow.)”
Of the three chips, Mr. Dixon is the closest, but he still has a tough, sliding 15-footer for par. After Jackson and Brandon both miss their attempts at 3’s, Dixon puts a great roll on his par attempt. It slides by, and Dixon cards a 4.
I settle over my short birdie putt, and quick pull it straight left. It doesn’t even touch the hole.
“Joel!” exclaims my partner in frustration, as if that was in any way helpful. I hang my head in disbelief. With our opponents receiving a stroke here, we halve the hole.
“You just came over it a little,” says Dixon, kindly trying to be comforting. “I do that too.”
I smile back. “I don’t believe you. I’ve seen you putt.”
Helm/Eady 1Up through 7
HOLE 8 – Par 4. Format: Modified Alternate Shot
For those who have played Bartow, everyone knows you can’t hit this tee shot to the right. There are train tracks, out of bounds, homes, all sorts of trouble. To your left, however, you can literally hit it about a mile and a half offline and stay in play. Somehow though, my partner hit it so far left we never find it.
Fortunately, I hit a good drive, because Dixon hits a great drive down the middle, surprising no one. Jackson misses the fairway to the left, and while we unsuccessfully search for Brandon’s drive, Banks tells me more about Dixon’s impact on Bartow golf.
“It’s really amazing the amount of talent that has come through (Bartow)," he said. "If we look at Florida Southern alone, think about this; Bartow has two guys and a girl playing there, plus a head coach (Men’s coach Lee White.) Let’s say they’ve got 8 girls, 8 guys and two coaches. Bartow represents 4 of them. Pretty amazing.”
From Dixon’s drive, Jackson hits a nice three-wood approach just short of the green. Brandon decides to putt our remaining ball from the upslope of the green and leaves about 12 feet for birdie. Team Dixon isn’t fazed. From a tricky side-hill spot, Mr. Dixon calmly pitches it to four feet.
Because team Dixon gets a shot advantage on this par-4, I know I probably need to make this to tie. For the first time all day, I make a good stroke, barely converting the birdie as the ball trickles over the front edge of the hole.
Jackson will have to make the putt to continue the match, and I try to get in his head.
“You need help reading that one?”
He ignores me and drills it right in the middle of the hole and smiles at me.
“Nope,” he says.
Helm/Eady 1Up through 8.
HOLE 9 – Par 5. Format: Scramble
By far the longest hole on the course and the toughest par-5, Team Dixon will get a shot advantage on our final hole.
After Brandon hits his drive 100 yards left, I play my drive a little more conservative into a strong headwind. I find the fairway with a slight fade, but probably too far back to go for the green in two.
As expected, Dixon splits the fairway again, as does Jackson. While Brandon searches for his ball, I quiz Dixon.
“I’m sure people ask you all the time about how you’ve done it – how are you still doing this (playing golf at 101?)”
Dixon smiles.
“I live a clean life… I don’t smoke or drink. And I’m active. I still live by myself, drive, play golf two to three times per week. It’s been a long life … it’s been an up and down life. But I always say, you can make it if you try. Sometimes I’ve had to yield the right of way, give up my rights for this or that, but I’m still here ... Sometimes, you have to yield in order to survive.”
I try to refocus on my golf swing, finding that to be a struggle, thinking about how incredible it is to be playing with Mr. Dixon, almost 70 years after his greatest professional victory in 1951.
I snap out of my trance when my partner hit the best shot of his day, and probably his life. He smashes a 3-wood high and soft, landing just short of the green, our length ultimately the only decisive advantage for Team Helm/Eady.
Despite a nice chip from Mr. Dixon, Brandon chips to tap in distance, closing out the match.
We encourage Team Dixon to finish out however, because who knows if we’ll ever get this opportunity again. How often do you get the chance to watch a real-life legend putt out on the final hole?
Just as he has all day, and for much of the last century, Mr. Dixon deliberately settles over the putt. He eyes the tricky, 8-foot breaker, his 9-year-old partner looking on in admiration, and rolls it beautifully.
As he watches the putt roll, I watch Dixon; intense as ever, it’s as though he wills it in, the ball curling into the side of the hole at the last moment, another made putt in a career filled with them.
He fist-pumps. Then, turns to his young partner, smiles, and celebrates with a fist bump.
Sure, we may have managed to squeak out a victory today, competing against a team 92 years apart. But years from now, it’ll be Dixon’s words that will resonate with me, and hopefully for my son Jackson, Dixon’s 9-year-old partner.
“I always say, you can make it if you try.”
Thank you, Mr. Dixon. You have brightened the toughest of years, with the sweetest of endings.
The Link LonkDecember 30, 2020 at 12:32AM
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A quick 9 with Herb Dixon - The Ledger
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