Shooting Your Age

By Sue Keller

Art Lefelar hits a few practice balls out on the driving range before heading out to play a round of golf with fellow golfers.

Some golfers who live long enough may shoot their age some time during their golfing days, but 91-year-old Marco golfer Art Lefelar shot his age four times before he was 68 years old.

In the years that followed, Lefelar has scored his age or better 1,643 times. He carries a 14 handicap, which is unheard of for his age.

"My lowest handicap was a one, when I was in my late 40s," said the soft-spoken golfer.

Most good golfers don't begin to shoot their age and under until they reach 70. Art has shot his age and under an average of 75 times a year since he turned 70.

"The Florida Seniors Open took place about eight years ago at the Naples Beach Club," said fellow golfer Hans Hoenig. "Art played in the 80-plus age group and won the two-day tournament by 55 strokes. Comparing that to the game of football, it's like one team beating another by 120 to nothing."

Art Lefelar started playing golf at age 13 in New Jersey. Neither his mom nor dad played golf. Art got a job as a caddy at a local country club called Yountacah.

"I just watched the good golfers and tried to ape them," Lefelar said.

"In those days hardly anybody played golf in the morning. I would go to the practice range and hit balls until I was called to duty," he said.

Art believes that time on the range helped him a lot. When he was about 16, he got the job of assistant to the starter in the summertime when school was out.

He couldn't afford to play when he was first married. Lefelar finally joined the Glenridge Country Club in New Jersey when he was 37.

The round that thrilled him the most was when he shot a seven under par 64 for the first time.

"That was when I still had the one handicap," Lefelar said. Through the years, he has had nine holes in one.

Lefelar plays golf three times a week, arriving at the Island Country Club, his favorite course, around 9 a.m. He heads for the practice putting green, then hits a couple of balls out of the sand trap, and then it's on to the driving range, where he hits a pile of balls.

Hoenig is one of Lefelar's regular partners these days. As the foursome got ready to play the first hole the day I visited, Lefelar was up first. He knows the course well, and his drive was 200 yards right down the middle.

"Perfect shot," said Hoenig to his partner.

"We all weep and cry when we don't make good shots," said Lefelar as he drove his cart down the fairway. "This is the only game I know where you call yourself names when you don't get a good one."

He was playing with three other golfers young enough to be his sons ­ which is often the case.

Due to macular degeneration in both eyes, Lefelar had surgery a few years ago to correct the problem. Now, six years later, he admits his eyes are getting worse. Whoever is playing the course with Lefelar helps him estimate how many yards he is away from the green. Lefelar asked Hoenig if the pin was on the left or right side of the green.

"He processes the information I give him, selects his club and hits the ball," said Hoenig.

The Island Country Club starter, Larry Hocking, knows Lefelar.

"I'm in awe of Mr. Lefelar," said Hocking shaking his head. "He's a phenomenon."

Hocking believes there are no more than 10 golfers Art Lefelar's age in the world, if any, that can shoot the way he shoots.

Mike Zuppa was playing in the foursome the day I visited, and he estimates he's golfed with Lefelar at the Island Country Club over 250 times.

"In my opinion, there might not be anybody in the country at his age that's as good of a golfer as Art. I'll put $1,000 on the table for anyone who can beat him," said Zuppa.

"I'm not going to take any part of that bet," Lefelar said, overhearing the comment while waiting his turn to putt.

From the time he first started, Lefelar has been good at golf. Larry Hocking has watched him play golf for years. He says Lefelar is still vibrant and youthful and just has a great swing.

"Everybody loses distance as they age," Hocking said. "He hasn't lost that much. When Mr. Lefelar's out on the practice range, he'll say, 'Larry, tell me where this one stops,' and then he'll hit it 200 yards dead center straight and narrow."

His peers describe Lefelar as a fine gentleman.

"He has such a great disposition, everybody wants to play with him," said Hocking. "I've never seen Mr. Lefelar close to being upset about anything."

He believes that must be one of the secrets of his longevity.

Lefelar lived on Marco from 1969 to 1999 on the golf course now called the Island Country Club. He shared the home that looked out on the 10th hole with his wife, Marguerite, who passed away last year. He now lives at Bentley Village in North Naples and drives to Marco three times a week to play.

"Art's the first guy I ever played with when I came here," said golfer Larry Paladino. "They told me, 'You're going to play with a legend.' When we got to the last hole, Art asked me how old I was. I told him 57. He smiled and said, 'I have kids older than you.'"

Paladino, now 75, shot a 66 last week. Paladino has already shot his age and under 220 times and, health permitting, has the potential to close in on Lefelar's records when he reaches 90.