Love of golf yields lifetime of dedication

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This article was published 12/07/2015 (4086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SOME of Carl Teplitski’s friends say he can recall by name all the trees at the 6,601-yard Pine Ridge Golf Club, each with it’s own signature — some good, some bad.

It’s in jest, of course, but a joke one might mistake as canon given Teplitski is a 47-year member of the famed course, which has played host to likes of Mike Weir and David Hearn over the years.

Indeed, Teplitski may just be the man who’s seen it all; his name weaved into the fabric of a near-half century of the club’s history — on the walls inside the country club, and etched into a plaque at the ninth tee box, a marker displaying those who’ve recorded an ace at the 231-yard, par-3 (the toughest hole on tour, according to some of its players).

“I’ve seen this place change a lot over the past 50 years, and especially over the last 10 or 15,” he said.

Teplitski credits Winnipegger George Knudson, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, who also finished in a tie for second at the 1969 Masters, for his introduction to Pine Ridge.

“He asked a couple of us kids way back, ‘Do you want to get better at golf?’ ” Teplitski said.

“Of course, we told him we did and he said that we needed to come to Pine Ridge, we needed to learn how to putt.

“George was afraid of no one — heck, he was playing when Arnold Palmer was in his heyday and I think he even beat Arnold a few times.”

And then there’s Casimir (Kas) Zabowski, a member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

“These guys were heroes of mine,” Teplitski said. “I used to pick Kas up at the Donwood Manor and we’d go for a ride around the course later in his life.”

Teplitski was the Manitoba Senior champion in 1995 at — you guessed it — Pine Ridge, and has multiple other titles to his name. His son, Todd, also has multiple club championships under his belt.

Never a professional golfer, Teplitski runs a piano-tuning business and has for the better part of 55 years.

“I still do it,” he said. “It took me 30 years to learn how to do it, so why stop?

“Someone asked me if I had done that all my life, and I said, ‘Not yet.’ “

Pine Ridge underlines his loyalty to the game, a commitment he’s nurtured over time.

He’s a lifer in every sense of the word. And what he’s given it; the return has been bountiful.

“I can remember saying this in the past — golf is an egoists’ game,” he said. “This is what I do. I play golf. It’s a self-satisfaction game. It’s euphoric, for sure.”

Teplitski’s long-standing love affair with the Pine Ridge course is only overshadowed by his union with his wife, Eunice. “On June 1, it was 58 years, and we’re trying hard to make it 60,” Teplitski said.

‘I’ve played roughly 20 games this year, and seven or eight of them have been in the 70s. My last outing I shot a 75 and a bogeyed three of the last four holes. I can still put shots down as good as I ever did, but I can’t string them together like I used to’

— Carl Teplitski

And Teplitski still takes pride in the game he’s dedicated his life to.

At 80, he still shoots his age on the location of this week’s Players Cup tournament. Sometimes, he breaks into the 70s as well.

“I’ve played roughly 20 games this year, and seven or eight of them have been in the 70s,” he said.

“My last outing I shot a 75 and a bogeyed three of the last four holes. I can still put shots down as good as I ever did, but I can’t string them together like I used to.”

Perhaps most important of all is he does all this with a slew of friends he’s made over the years.

“As serious as we usually are, we do laugh at lot, because we’re too old to cry, and we laugh at ourselves. We have plenty of ammunition there,” he said.

And he still loves watching the game.

“Tiger Woods, his problem is he can’t putt anymore,” he said.

“He used to be able to sink anything from anywhere. Rory McIlroy, he’s a great kid, and Jordan Spieth. Most guys are great, some are prima donnas, but they’re everywhere, but a lot of these young guys are great kids.

“These days, it’s just good to see anyone.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca