By Alan Suderman
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

On a bright, crisp, fall Texas day, Highland Springs residents came out in full force to prove that they were the ones to beat when it came to putting—well, almost. On the putting green on the middle of the Highland Springs campus, the residents were the clear winners in one-on-one competition, beating the staff 4-2.

And they would have sailed to certain victory in the team-closest-to-the-hole-wins competition if it were not for Mary Norman, M.D., the Highland Springs primary care physician who sank three straight hole-in-one putts—and the residents’ hopes of claiming total victory.

“I could never do it again,” Dr. Norman says. “It was my stepmother’s lucky wooden putter.”

Having lost to residents in recent pool and bowling competitions, Highland Springs Executive Director Chris Emmett says his staff really wanted to win the putting competition, but they were outworked by the residents. In the end, the residents won the match play event, and the employees won the closest-tothe-hole challenge.

“We need to practice a lot more,” Emmett says. “They beat us fair and square.”

Bill Crawford, a resident who helped organize the event, says members of the golf team came up with the idea and practiced for a month beforehand.  Fourteen residents met weekly at the practice green to play through the four-hole layout that they designed. Scores were tallied each week, and those in the top six participated against the staff.

There were plenty of spectators at the event, as community members surrounded the putting green and watched from their balconies and patios. The resident support even included some old-fashioned trash talking and heckling.

“Practicing was a lot of fun, and so was the actual competition,” Crawford says. “We’ll undoubtedly make an annual event of this.”

Chris Emmett contributed to this article