AT THE age of 30, I should be coming into my golfing prime – but that doesn’t stop me consistently getting beaten by a man 50 years older than me.

The man in question is my wife’s grandfather, known as Pops among the family, and I recently arranged an evening of golf to celebrate his 81st birthday.

The evening in question consisted of nine holes at his local club in the company of me and his two grandsons, Steve and Kirk.

Before we got started, Pops began playing his mind games.

“I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to keep playing,” he said. “I’m getting too old for this.”

As a result, he got his wish and was paired with Kirk, a 12-handicapper, in a fourball match against Steve and I.

Pops’ major gripe with his advancing years is the declining distance he can hit the ball. True enough, it took him two shots to get up to Kirk’s excellent drive, but a duffed tee shot meant that Steve was in the same position, while it took me three to get there following a slice into the trees.

Kirk made par at the first to give he and Pops the lead, while Pops had the chance to extend the advantage on the par-three second, leaving his par putt short.

Then, on the third, a par-five, Pops made a mockery of his earlier complaints, three lusty blows, an excellent pitch and well-holed putt earning him a par to win his team the hole.

He then won his side the fourth with a bogey, while the fifth was halved to leave me and Steve three down with four to play.

Some magic was needed and it looked like I had provided it with an excellent iron shot off the tee – but I then proceeded to duff my second into a pond, handing the hole and the match to our opponents.

We played the last three holes anyway, giving me the opportunity to show off my incredible slicing with the driver twice more and annoy myself by hitting the ground before the ball on numerous occasions.

Pops may not hit the ball as far, but at least he advances it in a straight line down the hole with every shot. We weren’t counting but I reckon he beat me by at least five shots over those nine holes.

There’s plenty of golfing life left in him yet. Next time we play, I’m teaming up with Pops!

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