A Thousand Fairways

Eddie Miller has a unique bond with the earth. Almost every day, he jams a wooden peg into a patch of soft grass, aligns his spikes, and hammers a white dimpled ball into the distance.Golf is Eddie’s game, and the courses of the world, with their clever designs, stingy traps, smooth angles, and plush fairways, are his playground.“I like golf,” Eddie admits. “It’s a good pastime. Relaxing. A place where you can enjoy yourself.”Eddie smiles like a kid when he tells you about the time he arrived at the golf course at 4 a.m. waiting for a tee time, before playing “36 at the Old Course.” Of course, he’s not talking about Skyline Golf Course in Jasper, where he first swatted one off the tee at age eighteen, back in 1966. He’s talking about the links at St. Andrews, Scotland—the place where, many centuries ago, this great gentleman’s game was developed into the modern affair we so rightly cherish.Eddie’s golfing life has literally taken him all over the world, and has allowed him to build enduring friendships with fellow golfers. In fact, many of Eddie’s fondest memories include a golfing excursion to the British Isles with an 11-man crew, including friends Alec Grant, Pete Smith, Dr. Erich Wouters, Mike Short, Dr Stan Eggers, Lee Wouters, Dr. Bobby Underwood, Dr. John Crump, Bill Coons, and Doug Gissendaner.While he has played overseas in England, Scotland, Ireland, Mexico and Portugal, his fascination for courses has been largely domestic. Two years ago, Eddie completed his tour of pleasantries, playing golf in all fifty states. That means Eddie has played eighteen holes of golf in Delaware, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii, and Minnesota. Pretty impressive, considering most people have never been to all fifty states, much less played golf in all of them.At first, Eddie didn’t set a lifelong goal of playing golf in all of the states, but after playing in about half of them, he became conscious of the benchmark and informed his wife that he was going to go for it.“I told Lisa, let’s see if I can’t play in all fifty of them,” recounts Eddie.Eddie has also played the following courses in the United Kingdom: Royal Troon, Turnberry, Carnousie, Kingsbarns, Royal Aberdeen, Prestwick, Royal St. George’s, Royal St. Annes, Royal Liverpool, Royal Birkdale, Ballybunion, and Royal County Down. He’s played on a course in Ireland where you shake hands with your partner through a rock, just before you tee off.In Portugal, Eddie played a round at Oitavos Dunes, one of the top courses in the world. “I also played one of the last courses Seve [Ballesteros] designed before he passed away. It’s in northern Portugal,” says Eddie.While Eddie’s outer orbits of golf have extended to Europe, the axis has remained the same. Most days, you can find him in a group at Musgrove Country Club in Jasper, teeing up with his buddies. Eddie describes Musgrove with a particular fondness, a home away from home.“The clubhouse is just beautiful. It’s real unique,” he says. “And you’ve got the creek. The scenery’s pretty, especially in the spring and fall,” he says.He’s a 10 or 11 handicap, definitely not a hacker by any stretch. He’s had two hole-in-ones; the first one was on #12 at Musgrove, and the second was at Rancho La Quinta, a Drummond-owned course in Palm Springs, California.“I like to play every day that ends in Y,” jokes Eddie. “And when Lisa calls me out on that, I say, ‘Okay, I’ll just play on every day that starts with a T—today and tomorrow.’”Eddie completed his fifty-course tour on July 9, 2012 at Bully Pulpit in North Dakota, where three of the holes meander through Badlands National Park.So what are his favorite courses?Eddie’s Top Five:1. Chambers Bay - Seattle, Washington2. Bully Pulpit – Medora, North Dakota3. Steelwaters – Dadeville, Alabama4. Old Marsh – Wells, Maine5. Bandon Dunes – Bandon, OregonPrettiest Golf CourseOld Head—IrelandBest Links CourseRoyal County DownBut this golf enthusiast doesn’t take the game too seriously, and believes that this attitude helps him to enjoy the game.“If I hit a bad shot, I just move on to the next one. You can’t do anything about it,” Eddie admits.And after a long trip, Eddie says that it’s always great to come home to those familiar fairways at Musgrove. 78