Malcolm GauldOver half my class showed up for our 40th Hyde reunion last weekend. A good time was had by all. Rather than list all the highlights (But you have to know that we all loved the victorious sweep by Phoenix teams on Saturday!), maybe I’ll just let the line of the weekend speak for itself.
It was on the 2nd hole at the Bath Golf Club where I was battling it out with two class members — Don Anderson and Chris Richards (who doubles as a HAPA member – Grace ’12) — both of whom share the distinction of having served (survived?) as my roommates during our school days (daze?).
Early in the round, Don had dialed himself into an exasperating slice. His shots were sailing off to the right and out into the woods. After he sprayed his second mulligan (Can’t recall how many we allowed…:-) somewhere into West Bath, Chris observed, “You know, I don’t want to get all up in your business, but I think I can see why your swing is off.”
Donny replied, “Yeah? How’s that?”
Chris responded, “Well, I know that golf is a personal thing, and I don’t want you to think I’m being a jerk or anything…”
I expected Don to spit back the obvious comeback: i.e., “Well Chris, I had already come to that conclusion.” (Had we been further along… say somewhere on the back nine… I have no doubt he would have as the dynamic had already begun to tilt in that direction for all of us!) Instead, he delivered the definitive line of the weekend:
“Please tell me. Hey, I can handle criticism. After all, I learned that 40 years ago.”
Don turned to me and winked. No further explanation necessary. We all got it. Only at Hyde.
Onward, Malcolm Gauld
