WINCHESTER — When it comes to age defying feats on the golf links, one local man may have topped them all.
Less than a month ago, all eyes were on the world’s greatest golf geezers at the U.S. Senior Open Golf Championship at Salem Country Club.
Three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin shot his age (72) in the first round, while 67-year old Tom Watson, winner of eight major championships, came within a couple of three-putt greens in each of the first two rounds, shooting back-to-back 69s.
Eight years ago Watson held golf fans around the world in suspense when, at the age of 60, held the second and third round leads at the 2009 British Open, (some 26 years after his last major championship win) only to bogey the 72nd hole and lose in a playoff to Stewart Cink.
That was nothing compared to what Peabody resident Bill Locke, Sr., an honorary member at Thomson Country Club in North Reading, did.
The 95-year-old is believed to be the oldest person to ever compete in the prestigious Winchester Country Club Father-Son Invitational, which wrapped up three days of play Thursday. More than 600 golfers played in the event, which was first played in 1919 and is the oldest event of its kind in the United States.
“When we played two years ago, the tournament officials told us they thought he was the oldest then, but they said this year they don’t have any record of anyone playing who was 95 years old,” said Locke’s partner in the selected drive alternate shot format, 54-year-old son Timothy Locke, a Winchester resident. “They were really talking it up before we teed off, and then he absolutely striped his tee shot, right down the middle, and people went crazy. We even played his drive, it was better than mine.”
Former Winchester golf professional Jimmy Lane spent 32 years at Winchester and says he can’t ever recall anyone close to the age of 95 competing in the Invitational.
“We had some guys that played for long stretches of more than 50 years, but I don’t remember anyone that old who played. I would say that has to be a record for sure.”
The Lockes shot 47-50, 97 and finished tied for 139th out of 195 registered teams.
“I can’t see the ball too well, but they tell me I hit some good shots today,” said Bill Locke. “We each missed a couple of putts and we finished badly with a triple bogey on the last hole, but we definitely should’ve been under my age easily. I’ve always been pretty good at chipping, but I was off today. I think that will come back if I work on it and practice.”
Timothy Locke said his father is an ageless marvel.
“I look around and I see people 30 years younger than he is and they aren’t half as physically fit,” he said. “This golf course is tough to walk even when you have a cart. It’s extremely hilly and the terrain is tough going, plus it was 90 degrees, but, honestly, I think I was more tired than he was at the end of the round. He’s just amazing. Out of 14 drives today, he hit 12 that were pure, just right down the middle, 150 yards or so every time, as a 95-year-old.”
The 18-hole round was his first since the 2015 Invitational. Locke couldn’t play last year because he was still recovering from injuries suffered in a January, 2015 car accident when he was hit head-on by a driver who had fainted.
“I had three broken ribs, a broken arm and a broken foot, and it took about six months to recover, so I didn’t really play any golf last summer, but this summer I’ve been able to play a lot more,” Locke said.
A couple hours before teeing up at Winchester, Locke received good news from his eye doctor.
“He told me that my vision is back to 20-60 and I can get my driver’s license back,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be able to play and practice more and do better next year.”
The Bill and Tim Locke team may not have gotten any hardware, but another member of the Locke family went home a winner. Teddy Locke, Tim’s son and Bill’s grandson, won the Grandfather-Grandson title with his maternal grandfather, Norm Towle, a long-time member at Winchester, with an 82. Towle and his son Chris, who played with the Lockes, finished tied for seventh with a 74.
Bill Locke, who first played the Father-Son in 1971 with his oldest son, Bill, Jr., says if all goes well, he will be back next year.
“I’m glad I played, I played as well as I could considering, and we did alright,” he said. “But hopefully next year we can do better. I’ve played in this with all three of my sons and it will be great to do it again next year. Today was a great day.”
