I was once a mean golfer.
Once.
For a guy who gets visibly frustrated when he fails to win a Powerball drawing, my sole golfing experience was not overly pleasant. I peppered that forgettable course in Florida nearly a score ago with innumerable dubs, divots and dadgumits. Since, I’ve swung nary an imaginary club.
Brian Sparks, on the other hand, was born with a in his mouth. Creatively known as “Sparky,” the Colorado native plays golf at every conceivable chance. When Sparky isn’t playing golf, he’s talking golf at the … um … various art galleries, church services and conservatories that we frequent together. And when Sparky is not talking golf, his wardrobe does the talking for him; his effortless fusion of plaid, pastel and Polo is a walking bumper sticker that reads: I’D RATHER BE GOLFING.
In the decade that Sparky and I have been friends, he’s espoused golf’s virtues to ears of mine that were never entirely reluctant. With unspeakable envy, I have missed one too many of the ritual kickoffs to any self-respecting bachelor party: a day on the links. So on Tuesday, with dogged determination to fully attend my … um … first-ever bachelor party, I resolved to golf again.
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| Post / Bryan Boyle |
| Sparky sizes up Tuesday the second-longest hole on Harvard Gulch’s par-3 course — the 128-yard No. 2. Total yardage for the nine-hole course: 886. |
Sparky knew just the place.
is one of seven public courses run by the Denver Parks and Recreation Department. Located in a residential area roughly six miles south of downtown, the course occupies seven acres in Harvard Gulch Park, where Colorado once operated the State Home for Dependant and Neglected Children from 1902-1971 (old black-and-white photos from those orphanage days adorn the clubhouse).
Along with John F. Kennedy Golf Course, Harvard Gulch offers one of the city’s pair of par-3, nine-hole courses, which are ideally suited to the novice golfer. Since 1982, Harvard Gulch Golf Course has stood as a haven for beginners, juniors and seniors who want to play the game without any pressure of any kind.
Jerry Davis has been there since Day One. Well, since Day Two, to be precise. The course opened July 15, 1982. Davis, the course’s operator in charge of “everything on the golf course, inside and out, the whole facility,” came on the scene the very next day.
“I’ve been here ever since,” said Davis.
In those 23 years, Davis has overseen an oasis for golfers preferring a good time to a good score. Along a course that takes little over an hour to complete — even at double-par, trust me — the water hazards are more scenic than scary, the greens and fairways are more reachable than rough (of which there’s none), and the views between the stately trees and the mountain sugar bowl to the west are more spoiling than distracting. (In the parking lot, there’s even a legend that points out the peaks.)
Best of all, at least for this golfer who didn’t know a tee box from a Crayola box, is the decompressed atmosphere at the Harvard Gulch course.
“Everybody above 17 years old, they have here and at Kennedy on the par-3 a place to basically learn the game,” said Davis. “You have time limits and all that stuff on the big courses. But here, we don’t.
“The only thing we’ll tell you is, ‘If you go real slow, let the people (behind you) play through. And don’t get flustered because this is your place to play.'”
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“THE GULCH”
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Beginners aren’t the only golfers who have found refuge at Harvard Gulch. Davis said he sees a regular batch of seniors, who find the relaxed pace and shorter distances to their liking.
“Also, we have a strong contingent from DU — the kids,” said Davis. “And the guys who get off work — the blue-collar workers — they get off at 5 o’clock or 4 o’clock, and they can come over and get nine (holes) in without a problem. It doesn’t take two or three hours to play.”
Beginners. Juniors. Seniors. Students. Blue-collar workers. The only golfers who would think “The Gulch” a drag would be good golfers, right? Not unless his guise deceived me, for the guy I saw Wednesday would not dare emerge from his pimped Jaguar and stroll to the Harvard Gulch putting green with a cigar in his mouth unless he was good.
I suppose I can’t answer for him, but I can for another splendid golfer — Sparky. Over 27 holes Tuesday and Wednesday, Sparky worked on his “short game” and taught me the whole game.
“Golf is more than just a game — by far,” said Sparky. “It’s taught me so much about life. Consideration. Anticipation. Etiquette. Conduct. Ladies first. That kind o’ stuff.”
What I learned is that you’re never too old — or too lousy — to do just that. Learn.
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An online exclusive that runs each Friday, Wide State of Sports examines the memorable, less visible and lighthearted aspects from the High Plains to the Western Slope. DenverPost.com sports producer Bryan Boyle can be reached at bboyle@denverpost.com.
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A look back
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| Post / Lyn Alweis |
| In this photo shot Aug. 8, 2003, a 96-year-old Harlon “Bud” Bond sinks a putt at Harvard Gulch Golf Course in Denver. From a report by Joseph Sanchez that ran in The Denver Post six days later: “Bond, 5-feet-11 and 125 pounds, plays like Ben Hogan, down the middle and below the hole. Hogan never had a hole-in-one with that conservative approach and Bond didn’t have one until he was 85. He now has six, all at Harvard Gulch, on five holes.” |
