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OpEd
Legends I have
seen at the Masters
By Wink Harris
Guest columnist
Some may have won more major tournaments (Masters, P.G.A., U.S. and
British Opens), or more tournaments worldwide. How do you decide? And, is it
fair anyway? Equipment has been improved over the years and the golf courses
and putting greens are more manicured.
I think it is fair to say that some golfers were the best in a certain era. Jones,
Sarazen, Hagan and Armour ruled the 1920 s and part of the '3os. Nelson; Snead,
Hogan and maybe Demaret ruled the '4os and 'sos. In the '6os and 70s it was
Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and Casper, and Trevino and Floyd overlapped some of
that era. In the 1980 s it was Ballesteros, Watson and Faldo, and Greg Norman
overlaps in the '9os.
So while I conclude that you cannot say any one golfer is the “best” of all
time you can say that several are in a particular era. Except for Walter Hagan, I’ve
had occasion to see all that are mentioned in the column, and 1 consider that a
privilege.
I would rate Nicklaus’ sixth win in 1985 as the most exciting round that I’ve
ever witnessed. He was 46 years old, and past his prime. Until the last nine holes
on Saturday, he had not done anything to make you suspect that he would win.
On Saturday, he birdied far out of five holes and scored a 69, but he was still
four strokes behind.
e . The tradition at the Masters says that the tournament doesn’t start until
Sunday. Well, this was the case again. Even with a bogie on the difficult 12th, he
shot a 30 - six under par on the back nine. Here’s how. Birdies on 10 and 11,13,
16 and 17 and an eagle on number 15.
*. Norman started the day six under, followed by Ballesteros. Kite and Watson
were four under followed by Nicklaus. Some pretty fair country golfers to catch.
Nicklaus was first in... eight under. Kite had a chance with a birdie putt from 12
feet on 18. But he missed. Norman, with a birdie on 17, actually caught Nicklaus
but he hit into the gallery on the 18th and finished one stroke behind. The old
man won!
. I’ve shed tears twice at the Masters. Once in despair and once in pure happi
ness. Both concerned Ben Hogan. In 1946, the Masters was reinstated following
World War II after two years not having it Hogan was the favorite and was prob
ably the only great golfer of that era who had not won it with the exception of
Snead. He was seven strokes behind Herman Keiser after 36 holes, and only
needed a par on the final hole on Sunday for a tie. It was a short putt but movie
cameras whined and Hogan step. In 1967 Hogan was playing his third round and
was three over par. Starting on the 10th hole he birdied it 11,12,13,15, and 18
for a backnine 30. He was just two strokes behind the leaders. He was 55 years
old. The cheers that reverberated around the course “made the hairs stand up on
my neck.” He had come back from adversity, a near fatal car crash to win the
Masters twice. This was a last hurrah, and the spectators knew it. Mr. Hogan died
in 1997, but the legend lives on.
, Wink Harris is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and a retired
Northeast Georgia banking officer. He lives in Winder.
Great souls II six
who changed a century
I
•I
At a time of moral depravity
in so many areas of American
life, I urge you to read a book
that will lift your spirits called
“Great Souls: Six Who Changed
the Century,” by David Ailman, a
former “Time” correspondent
qow with the Ethics & Public
Policy Center in Washington.
; It is a deeply moving portrait
of six giants who have had an
incalculable impact on our time: Billy Graham,
.Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzheniesyn (profiled in
last week’s column), Pope John Paul 11, Elie Wiesel
and Nelson Mandela. To be selected, “Great Souls”
had to live in the '9os, have had an impact on the
world well beyond their own nation and been recog
nized as truly outstanding human beings, even by
those who disagree with them.
Each also'exhibited an outstanding virtue.
Nelson Mandela’s moral authority was based on one
simple virtue - his willingness and capacity to for
give those who imprisoned him for 27 years. Many
predicted a “blood bath” if 45 million blacks ever
seized power from the six million whites whose
apartheid rule had harshly controlled them. But as
he came to power, Mandela said, “I saw my mission
as one of preaching reconciliation, of binding the
wounds of the country, of engendering trust and
• confidence.”
Hard-bitten journalists who interviewed him in
prison wrote about his “serenity, confidence, cour
tesy and lack of bitterness.” He loved his enemies -
„ an outgrowth of his Christian faith. “We see in his
life a dimension of generosity and magnanimity in
both political defeat and political victory that is rare
in all of history,” Aikman writes.
, Mandela’s astonishing impact is the “complete
transformation of South Africa, one of the most rad
ical and instant changes of governing” in history by
' a peaceful exercise of voters, without a civil war, or
the hideous wreaking of revenge one can see in
: Rwanda.
Elie Wiesel survived the Auschwitz and
Buchenwald concentration camps and became the
first person to write about the horror he witnessed
as a youth. Quotes from his book, “Night," pub
lished in 1958: “Never shall I forget that night, the
, first night in camp, which has turned my life into
r one long night... Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the little faces of the children
whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke
beneath a silent blue sky.
„ “Never will I forget those flames which con-
Mike
McManus
1993, he publicly challenged President Clinton not
to permit America to stand idly by as the Balkans
bled to death. It took Clinton two more years to act.
Reared as an Orthodox Jew, Wiesel asks pene
trating questions: Where was God during the
Holocaust? Could God be both all-powerful and all
merciful and permit such atrocities?
Aikman calls his unique moral gift,
Remembrance. In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
acceptance speech, Weisel said, “Remembering is a
noble and necessary act... No commandment figures
so frequently, so insistently in the Bible. It is
incumbent upon us to remember the good we have
received, and the evil we have suffered.”
Pope John Paul II is a great soul who played the
decisive role in the collapse of communism in
Europe and Russia. Aikman notes that he never
directly called on Poles to resist their rulers, but
convinced them that communism was not Polish,
nor was it invincible. Within 14 months of his 1979
visit, Solidarity was organized, which ignited the
flames of liberty. John Paul also charmed
Gorbachev, which helped bring down his and other
communist governments. Recently he dazzled Fidel
Castro and wowed crowds with his message of
humane dignity and the individual’s right to wor
ship without state interference. Crowds shouted,
“Libertad!”
The Pope is undoubtedly the world’s most
charismatic person. Though he is now frail, I have
seen him electrify crowds in Montreal and
Baltimore. Even those who disagree with his con
servative positions on such issues as birth control
and abortion can not help being impressed.
He spe ds up to seven hours a day in prayer,
saying that without “a deep experience of prayer,
growth in the moral life will be shallow.”
Aikman’s essays on “Six Who Changed the
Century” are the best 50 to 60 page overviews of
these extraordinary people I have ever read. Buy the
book as an Easter present for yourself or someone
you love.
Finding the true meaning of Easter Sunday
The children were excited about
the arrival of the Easter bunny and he
had been real busy all week visiting
one store after another gathering toys
and treats. Baskets were ready to be
deposited on doorsteps and in special
places in the house. The weather
promised to be great for Sunday with
temperatures in the 70's and a clear
and cloudless sky was expected. The
new dresses, suits, and shiny shoes
were lined up with new socks, under
wear, and all the accessories for a glo
rious day at Grandma’s house.
There were no family plans during
the week preceding Easter to recog
nize the holiday. School was out for
spring break, but no mention of the
meaning of Easter had been made by
school teachers because that could be
considered illegal by some people.
Many children asked questions of their
parents: "What are all of those things
in the yards of churches?” one child
Part II Community Design
In search of the humanity in modem development
Edited by Richard Spreen
Successful Communities
There is a growing consensus
among members of the environmental
and business communities that the
current trend of decentralized devel
opment characterized by automobile
dependent design is creating serious
environmental challenges. This pat
tern also creates major economic and
social problems. As air and water
quality are compromised by increased
pavement and automobile emissions,
enormous pressure is being placed on
local and state governments, and in
tum on taxpayers, to finance public
services and the infrastructure costs of
urban and commercial sprawl.
An executive with Equitable Real
Estate Investment Management
Company noted that “the city that
lives by the car, dies by the car.”
Investment executives are coming to
realize that a building surrounded by
vast parking lots fails to feed other
businesses or contribute to communi
ty vitality. The gaiety and life which
sumed my faith forever.”
Weisel has also become an
activist, who “has never stopped
asking why people are indiffer
ent to the suffering of different
human communities when such
suffering is delicately and
malevolently imposed on them
by others,” Aikman writes. For
example, at the opening of the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial in
asked. “Oh, those are just crosses that
are put out every spring,” the adult
remarked. “Why are there so many
cars at church on Thursday and
Friday?” one asked. “Mom, what is a
sunrise service?” said another.
In another setting the Sunday
school teacher handed each child a
colorful plastic egg. The children had
been given candy-filled eggs, eggs
with toys and surprises, and had found
them hidden in the grass at Easter Egg
Hunts. Now their teacher gave them
another egg. But these were different -
no candy and no treats!
Inside each egg the teacher had
placed symbols of spring and Easter.
The first child opened his egg and a
dogwood blossom fell out. The
teacher explained how the dogwood
tree was a very strong wood and one
use of this wood many years ago was
to make crosses to punish criminals.
Another egg contained a beautiful
results from having many activities
close together contributes financial
value as well as social value to the
community.
Compact, efficient communities
integrated with shops, homes, schools
and other public activity centers
reduce pressure on the natural world
while at the same time strengthening
the social fabric of the community.
The design characteristics of compact
communities which include mixed
use, transit-oriented and pedestrian
friendly development provide govern
ments with a more economically effi
cient way to deliver public services.
Visual Preference Surveys of
more than 100,000 people in 80 dif
ferent communities across this coun
try have found that most people do
not like the current land use patterns
of subdivisions with look-alike hous
es. The dominance of garage doors
and driveways, strip commercial
development, wide streets, and no
sidewalks is a turn-off.
Overwhelmingly across the coun-
g■
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FORSYTN COUNTY NEWS Sunday, April 12,1 m
replica of a butterfly, the symbol of
new birth and new life. Another held a
rock that was used to seal the tombs of
the dead, and others held a nail, white
cloth, a small palm, and a strip of
leather.
As each child opened an egg an
object was visible their teacher told
the story of Easter. There were no sto
ries about the bunnies, the baskets, and
the colorful eggs each child had
received that morning. There were no
stories about the beautiful bonnets the
little girls wore or the big boy pants,
the tie like dad’s, and the new shoes on
each child's feet. The main topic of the
morning was not the plans of hiding
eggs at Grandmother’s house in the
afternoon. It was Sunday - Easter
Sunday - and even though all the chil
dren were excited about the events of
the day, they listened attentively to the
stories told by their teacher.
One egg was left unopened in the
try, most people like a similar set of
characteristics, many of which are
reminiscent of pre-World War II
towns and villages.
Preferred community elements
include shopping and workplaces,
sidewalks, street design, housing mix,
transportation, common areas, and
greenspace. All of these elements
impact the natural environment, the
economic balance, and the sense of
community. The most highly rated
preferences for neighborhood design
include pedestrian-scale develop
ment, narrow streets with sidewalks
and shade trees, community green
space, front porches, and the comer
store. The visual preference surveys
also indicate that many people will
accept mixed-use development and
higher densities if designed properly.
One interesting outcome of the
Visual Preference Survey exercise is
what it reveals about consumer choic
es when offered alternatives. Until
recently, homebuyers have sought to
fulfill the American dream with sin-
Julianne
BoHn 9
basket. It was different from all the
other eggs the children had opened. It
was not yellow or blue, green or pink.
It was white! As each egg was opened
the children had listened to their
teacher explain the meanings behind
the objects nestled in each egg, but
when the last egg was opened, it was
empty! The children began to ques
tion why there was no object in the
white egg. Yes, they learned the most
important aspect of the Easter cele
bration, an empty tomb and the risen
Lord!
gle family homes on large lots with
well-manicured lawns. An increasing
desire for community combined with
intense pressure on the natural envi
ronment, however, is forcing devel
opers to re-examine the modem sub
division design which some urban
planners describe as places to be dri
ven not walked, and segregating in
terms of income and age. Consumer
preference surveys recently conduct
ed by the National Association of
Home Builders show that a large lot
is one of the first features home buy
ers are willing to forego to obtain the
house they want in a neighborhood
they want. Builders and developers
are finding that “neighborhood” is
often more important to homebuyers
than simply the “house.”
Neighborhoods patterned after pre-
World War II communities, and often
referred to as traditional neighbor
hood development (TND), reflect
qualities which are more humanizing
and certainly more environmentally
sensitive.
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