Golf's Big Three

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player. 79th Masters, (04 APR 2015)

Earlier today, golf's "Big Three", Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack "Golden Bear" Nicklaus, officially opened the 79th Masters Tournament.

I, like many others, from the curious to duffers to "pros" will watch the television coverage. Once again, I will make a promise to myself to 'one day' watch from the gallery at Amen Corner. During commercials, I will remember the courses I have played from California to Texas, from Ohio to Florida. Unconsciously, I will smile when I think of a 300-yard drive in front of "C" wing executives from my Fortune 50 employer. Then, my second shot was on a Par 5 when I used a slight fade to place me within chipping distance on a blind green. Or, the chip-in for an Eagle on that same hole. I no longer remember where I broke 90, but I know my best round was a 79. So many things, events, places--all forgotten. Regardless of the courses, the shots, the scores, I will always remember Saturday afternoons in the 1970s.

Like most people of my age, we had busy Saturdays during the Spring and Summer. Working in the yard. Performing repairs or maintenance on a vehicle. Often, just going 'to work'. After all the "To-dos" were finished, we made our way into the air-conditioned rooms of our homes. On Saturdays, the TV was always on channel 3 (WEAR), the Pensacola ABC station.

Many Saturdays, ABC aired a golf tournament; we watched Tom Weiskoph, Hubie Green, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and, of course, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus. However, it was not a course or player that first turned my head towards the TV. Instead, it was a song.

Palmer, Player, and Nicklaus on the tee at
Firestone Country Club, Akron, OH, (OCT 1965)

More specifically, it was an instrumental theme: "Love's Theme" by Barry White and The Love Unlimited Orchestra. All my golf memories from the mid-70s to the "79th" are woven together with "Love's Theme" serving as the thread. Anytime I hear this song, I am taken back 40 years to Saturdays in Milton, FL.

Enjoy this song, and maybe it will take you back to a happy time and place. If I ever get to the Masters and meet the "Big Three", look for me in Amen Corner.  I will be the guy with his eyes closed, earbuds in, and a huge smile on his face, listening to this song.