Farmington Resident golfs under his age - Empty Nest by Curt Swarm

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It happened on August 5th. 82-year old Dale Netherton, of rural Farmington, shot an 80 at Green Acres Country Club in Donnellson. Then again, the next day, he shot a 77. He was on a roll. Green Acres is nine holes, so he plays it twice. So excited was Dale about “shooting his age” that he rushed home and wrote a 20 page book about the feat. You can find it on Kindle under his name, Dale Netherton, and the title, “How I Shot 80 at Age 82.” $4.99.

Golfers in their fifties are likely not going to shoot their age. In their sixties, it's a great accomplishment. In their seventies they're real happy. Dale has been playing golf for forty years, so to shoot his age in his eighties, well, let's celebrate!

No, he has never shot a hole-in-one. He hit the stick once, on a long par 3, but it wasn't a hole-in-one. He was with a friend once who did hit a hole-in-one. Strangely, the friend put down his clubs and never played again. Go figure.

Dale and his golfing buddies play golf everyday at Donnellson at 9:00 am, weather permitting. There have been some years when they've been able to play every month of the year, even through winter. For Dale, it's a way of keeping fit and active. On the days he doesn't play, he exercises at home with weights and cardio equipment. He is doing something all the time.

In high school, Dale went to the driving range with his friends and couldn't even hit the ball. He was so embarrassed he stomped off, humiliated. But Dale Netherton is not a quitter. Over the years, he returned to golf again and again. One more thing about high school—Dale was “The class poet.” Keep reading.

He earned a degree in forestry from Iowa State University in 1963. Over the years he had various occupations and wound up in Cedar Rapids working for General Mills. He picked up his MBA and was introduced to a problem solving regimen called Kepner-Tregoe (KT) that uses logic and reason to solve problems, make decisions, appraise situations and analyze potential problems. Not only did Dale utilize KT at General Mills to solve industrial problems (quite successfully), he applied KT to his golf game. Voila! I won't tell you what secret he discovered, read his book. It's only 20 pages.

In fact, Dale has written 12 books. He was also the “Outlook” Columnist for seven years for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. He's a man of many talents. He and a buddy ran a lawnmower repair business in Norway, Iowa for several years. So, when the electric clutch on his zero-turn lawnmower went out, he replaced it himself—something most people, like me, wouldn't even attempt. Dale doesn't back down from challenges. If he can analyze it, he can fix it.

Dale lives at the end of pastoral Hawk Drive, on the banks of the Des Moines River. A sign as you're pulling in reads “Hodge Podge Lodge.” When I arrived, wondering if I was lost, Dale was standing on the front porch. “You scared off the groundhog I've been trying to trap,” he informed me.

Dale's wife, Donna, died a year ago, so Dale lives alone except for his cat. I wrote about his wife in 2016. She was a forensic genealogist and, like Dale, very interesting. On the wall of his living room is a drawing he commissioned an artist to draw of Ayn Rand and Aristotle standing in front of a bridge. Dale likes Ayn Rand because she believed she was “a bridge of that time.” Dale may be a bridge of his time, also.

As another example of his past endeavors, his wife and he traveled around the country pulling a trailer and selling poetry. Yep, I'm not jiving you. They had a little business called Poetry for Photographers. They recorded poetry with music and artwork. Some of the poetry and artwork were composed by Dale. Here is just one of the poems recorded with his son playing soft classical guitar music against a hand drawn snowscape: “Winter” The sting of chill, the bite of wind, intensifying the ambition for comfort. Glistening at night, barren by day, time creeps as the stores deplete. Life by the grace of reprieve lingers and suffers. Only the whimsy of youth smiles at the transient snow.

Dale Netherton has miles to go before he sleeps.

Have a good story?  Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, find him on Facebook, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com, or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com.

Column, Curt Swarm, editorial, Empty Nest, Mt. Pleasant, opinion, Pen City Current

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