BROOKINGS Shooting under your age in golf is considered an impressive feat. You have to be around a scratch golfer when you reach your 70s and then most golfers can only accomplish it for five to 10 years. For Donald Boe of Brookings, he is still consistently shooting under his age at age 96.
Boe and his son, Rodney, play at Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings two or three times a week and he shoots under his age frequently. He said nobody is near his age at the golf course.
At 96 [years old], Im by far the oldest. Theres a few guys in their 80s and maybe at one time there might have been someone close to 90, but Im the only one consistently out there, Boe said.
Boe was born in 1929 and grew up on a farm 6 miles north of Wessington Springs. He went to a school that had one teacher for first through eighth grade. Boe played softball and baseball while growing up. There was no television and very few radios, so ball games were the main source of entertainment at family gatherings.
In 1944 his family moved to a farm that was 8 miles north of Wolsey. He drove to high school every day and would pick up other kids along the way that werent on the bus route.
After graduating from high school in 1948, Boe was in the service and then worked on a farm that he bought. He then started working at Kaneb Pipeline Co. in 1964. He started playing golf then and first played at Memorial Golf Course in Huron, which is now a 9-hole executive course.
Ive always enjoyed playing sports, Boe said. I didnt start playing golf until I was 35 years old, but I started playing well right off the get go. It wasnt a long transition. I just took to it right away and it was natural.
Boe and his family moved to Mitchell in 1970. He worked at Kaneb for 15 years until he had an accident and retired. He was carrying a tray of tools and went into a garage when it was raining and slipped and fell.
My feet went out from under me and I landed on my tailbone, Boe said. I ruptured my third, fourth and fifth lumbar in my lower back and was in traction for 19 days. I just decided to retire [after that].
The beginning of Boes retirement is when he really got into the game of golf. He had a house on Lake Mitchell at the time but moved to Arizona for the winters. He and his sons would play at the Lake View Golf Course in Mitchell and eventually he started playing in tournaments on the weekend.
Boe won seven tournaments between 1972 and 1982. When he looks back on the first 20 years of playing golf, he thinks about the equipment he used.
When I started playing, my driver, 3-wood and 5-wood were actually made of wood. I played with a Spalding Dot [golf ball]. If you hit those things wrong with an iron it could split in half. The balls we use now have a solid core. The equipment now has really improved, Boe said.
Boe started realizing his talent was different when he got into his 70s and was shooting his age. He now frequently shoots under his age and occasionally shoots in the 80s, including a round this spring before his 96th birthday.
I was shooting my age occasionally in my 70s. I was a three or four handicap when I was really playing well. That was when I started shooting my age, but not under it. That started to happen more in my 80s. My best round this spring I shot 10 under my age. An 85, Boe said.
Boe has lived with his son in the Meadow Green Community in Brookings since 2006. Along with golf, he likes to play pool in the Meadow Green community room.
Boe shot a 91 on Tuesday at Edgebrook and said hes been blessed to be able to still be as active as he is at his age.
Its been an active life. Ive been very fortunate. I could still run if I had to but somebody pretty big would have to be chasing me, Boe said with a chuckle.
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