Shoot for the shadows

And just like that, it’s 2023. And as usual, the Brooks Brothers Zack and Paul closed the curtain on the 2022 Little River Golf Course season. Father Paul and son Zack are regularly later afternoon golfers and are usually the pair that close the yearly golf season. This year was no exception. Paul and Zach had the last 2022 tee time. And the pair that this year opened the curtain on the 2023 golf year was John “The Patch Man” Patch and David Gillet. John and David broke the ice on the 2023 season at 8:10 Sunday morning.

Going with firsts, Butch Carlstadt was the first Little River golfer to turn 90 years of age on Sunday, January 1st, 2023. At rounds end, Butch, playing with the Stapleford group, was presented with a birthday cake from the Little River Men’s Club, initiated by Dave Hautala. The large cake, a fairway green color with a flag in the corner, was consumed by fellow golfers amidst a chorus of happy birthdays to Butch. Happy Birthday, Butch.

Playing with a group on the last Wednesday of 2022, Butch drew our attention to how long our shadows were. We were on the fifth green. Yes, our shadows were long. It was close to the shortest day of the year, which translates to the longest shadows of the year. Because of our bodies’ long shadows across the green, one needed to move a long distance to remove a shadow from a fellow golfer’s putting line. Our shadows were probably 8 to 10 feet long. We also noticed the telephone pole just to the south of the green was casting a shadow across the green, leading directly to the fifth green cup. If you were lucky to have landed your ball in that shadow, you had your putt line perfectly routed. None of us were that lucky. Curious, I asked Jim Corsar, also playing with the group, if the shadow would still point toward the hole next month. Jim, besides being a good golfer, knows about these things. Jim answered if it was 12 noon, the shadow would be in the same position, only shorter. Each day would be a little shorter until June 21st. After the summer equinox, the shadow would begin to lengthen slowly. The takeaway from this is to do your research and set your tee time, so you arrive on the fifth green just when the pole shadow points to the hole. Navigate your chip to the shadow of the pole and sink your par or birdie putt. Easy. You can do it.