Golf is a salvation for Mount Tremper's Tiso
It’s hard to believe, that my favorite restaurant in all of the Catskills has been gone now for two years. I’m talking about Tiso’s in Mount Tremper. That’s the bad news.
It’s hard to believe, that my favorite restaurant in all of the Catskills has been gone now for two years.
I’m talking about Tiso’s in Mount Tremper. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Chief-cook-and-bottlewasher as well as the greeter, maitre d’ and occasional waitress are still hanging out in our mountains.
No escaping to Barbados, Monte Carlo, or Tasmania for them. They love the Catskills.
That would be Mount Tremper’s husband-andwife team, Joe and Marge Tiso, who, belong in this sports column because they’re good sports.
Plus Joe happens to be an extraordinary golfer — assuming you consider golf a sport.
And Joe does — emphatically.
Me? I’m not so sure, so I invited my golf-loving aide, Matthew Blittner, to grill Joe all about Tiso’s and the tees.
Pal Joey’s first admission is that restaurant retirement has not changed his golf routine one bit.
“I’ve played a couple of more rounds in the last year,” he confessed, “but I haven’t gotten into a groove where I can play two-or-three times a week yet. Just one or two.”
Which brings to the “Golf Lie Detector” question. How good a golfer is Joe?
“Playing once-a-week. I’m in the 80s” Joe admitted, sounding somewhat truthful. “Every once and awhile I’ll break a 90 or break 80. Once in a while I can shoot a 78 or 79. But playing once-a-week is tough.”
Tiso’s favorite courses include Apple Greens in New Paltz, The Lazy Swan in Saugerties and the Red Hook Country Club in Red Hook.
Tiso: “My goal this summer is to break 80. Once I get the yard cleaned up, I can practice, I want to get down into a good rhythm, to break 80.”
Joe’s favorite partner Danny Payet of Mount Tremper, has been swinging with Tiso for 40 years, which is a tribute to Payet’s patience — and Tiso’s honesty.
Completing the foursome are Gary Armstrong of Saugerties and Mike Ricciardello, from Phoenicia.
“There’s no big money involved; we just play for a pitcher of beer. We give a Mulligan on the first hole. We call it a ‘Breakfast Ball.’”
Tiso, who turns 75 on June 14, has been golfing since he was 10-years old. Now he calls himself and “Old caddy hacker.”
When he started as a 10-year-old, it was at the Inwood Country Club on Long Island where Bobby Jones won his first U.S. Open, and made $1.50 for 9 holes and thought he was rich.
Tiso came close to a hole-in-one many times, but he’s still looking. His two near misses were at Hilton Head (South Carolina) this past year, so the motivation remains keen.
So is his philosophy about his favorite game. “Love it!” “To me,” Joe explained, “18 holes of golf is a lifecycle. You have your ups, yours downs, that’s what golf and life are all about. You forget about what’s going on in the world.
“All your focus is on one thing, ‘can I make this putt? Can I make this shot I need?’ I say a prayer, — ‘Ok help me out here, gotta make this shot,’ right before I actually take the shot.”
Then there’s the not-sobeauty part, that, I suspect, my golfing pal, Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld, experiences.
Tiso: “When I’m out there, it’s aggravation. I call myself dumb, or a dumb-ass. It’s just all aggravation. But when it’s all over and we’re having the beers, I say, ‘what a great day.’”
Frankly, I best relate to the beer part.
And when I claim that golf is not a sport, Joe knows why — and doesn’t mind saying so.
(Personal Confession: The Maven is allergic to golf. I tried it twice. Both unmitigated disasters. That’s why I can relate to what Joe said next:
“Stan, says golf is not a sport because he can’t hit a golf ball!”
My beloved buddy isn’t lying either! And I’ll drink to that.
Onebeer—liteand without golf talk, which annoys me to no end.
(P.S. Next week, I’ll be chatting with the No. 1 Golf-Wife in Mount Tremper, Marge Tiso, with her comments about Joe’s putting and how she puts up with his adorable game. She may toss in a recipe or two from her grand kitchen.)
Author-columnistcommentator Stan “The Maven” Fischler resides in Boiceville and New York City. His column appears each week in the Sunday Freeman.