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Get out of bed, shoot your age, then do it again

By BRYAN BURNS
Published June 7, 2006

SUN CITY CENTER - Shooting your age in golf is one of the game's most difficult accomplishments. But for 95-year-old Sun City Center resident Bill Baker, it has become, well, par for the course.

Baker, who plays regularly at Caloosa Golf and Country Club, a mile from his house, said he has pulled off the feat 2,462 times, first doing it when he was 67. He never kept track until he was 77, however, meaning there are 10 years Baker hasn't even accounted for.

He could, in fact, be clos to 3,000.

In the past 18 years, Baker has played just 96 rounds in which he didn't shoot his age.

Baker's success with the game was natural, ever since he picked it up at age 10 back in 1920.

He learned as a caddie in his home state of New Jersey, buying his first club from the club pro for $3. "I would beat people with just that one club," Baker said.

He also had to play right-handed, which was unnatural for the lefty.

"There were no left-handed clubs when I caddied," he said.

Baker also was a darn good baseball player.

As a 6-foot-2 southpaw, he was signed by the Yankees in 1932. In two spring trainings, he went 12-1 but never made it to the big-league club.

He recounted pitching batting practice to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934 and making a couple of stops in the minors, earning $75 a month.

"I was bitter with the Yankees," he said.

"I still always root for them to lose."

He never tried to go pro in golf, instead taking a job with pharmaceutical giant Hoffmann-La Roche. He worked the night shift so he could play golf during the day.

After retiring, he moved to Florida in 1971, mainly so he could play more.

For Baker, golf is therapeutic. He gets around well, and his memory is sharp. He can recount famous playing partners and favorite holes back to his early teens.

There's no doubt the game has had a hand in that.

He has 18 holes-in-one. Three of those, he recounted, went straight in the cup.

He set the course record at Caloosa from the blue and white tees in 1985 (67 and 66, respectively) and has won the club championship five times, the last in 1994.

He also says he has eagled every hole at Caloosa except No.7. That one continues to get the best of him.

"I've hit the pin, and I've landed 2 inches from the hole," Baker said.

"But I haven't eagled it yet."

Baker tries to play at least five or six times a week when it's comfortable outside. The scorching summer heat is the biggest hindrance.

"Last year, I quit for the whole summer because of the heat," he said.

"The humidity just becomes too unbearable."

He also suffers from an equilibrium problem that has slowed him the past year and prevented him from entering The Villages Shoot Your Age Championship in May. Other players at Caloosa encouraged him to enter, particularly Richard Lanese, Caloosa's director of golf.

"He's a legend to all of us here," Lanese said.

Baker lamented not playing but knew it was for the best.

"I was playing a round earlier this year, and I caught my heel in the grass," he said. "The next thing I know, I'm laying on my back.

"It's an inner ear problem. If I turn around quickly, wow, look out. I can go right to the floor."

When he's not playing a full 18, Baker still can be found at the driving range or putting green, working on some part of his game.

The game is his passion. As far as Baker's concerned, he'll never give it up.

"When I wake up, I look out to see if the sun is shining so I can play golf," he said. "I'd rather be out there playing than anything. I can't really put a finger on it, but I just love playing.

"So long as I'm able to get out of bed, I'll be playing."

[Last modified June 7, 2006, 02:00:17]