Cha-am,
Thailand
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
he is a coach's nightmare. he does everything wrong except to hit the ball long and straight. he is tall and paunchy but not fat and pretty fit for a man well into his seventies. his (female) caddy calls him papa and he in turn calls her mama and i call them the mamas and the papas. we played a round at springfield. it was matchplay. at times he was two up and seemingly unsinkable and then unthinkably he was two down again. in the end we ended all square and sat in the clubhouse for a few singha beers and some relaxed conversation. it turns out we have a lot in common. we are both retired, for one thing. also, both of us have had some dealings in the world of finance, i as a professor of finance and he as the governor of the central bank of ireland.
you never know who you are going to run into out here in the golf courses of thailand. he comes here for a few weeks each year and he is going back home to ireland in february. come on back any time you want, john. you are as welcome as the flowers in may.
