By JOSH CORNFIELD
Courier-Post Staff
Walter Stackhouse's golfing partners celebrated with a drink last week after a round of golf. Stackhouse ordered a tall glass of lemonade.
The Maple Shade golfer was celebrating, too. He was celebrating his second hole in one in four days.
Stackhouse's aces came last week at the Golden Pheasant Golf Course in Medford, Monday on the 15th hole, Thursday on the second hole. Both with the 81-year-old's 7-iron.
`I proved that you don't have to be a good golfer to get a hole in one,' said Stackhouse, who recorded his fifth and sixth holes in one in 41 years of golfing. `The fellas I play with, they're younger and they're also better golfers. But they haven't had any holes in one.'
Stackhouse has been playing since he was 40 and has played three times a week since he retired in 1983.
`I found the game fun to play and I enjoyed it, but I never thought I could hit a hole in one,' he said. `When I got the second one the other day, I just couldn't believe it.'
Neither could most of his family and friends.
`I was surprised but I wouldn't say I didn't believe it,' said Stackhouse's wife, Rosemary. `He sells himself short. When he was younger he was a pretty good golfer. He loves it and it keeps him happy.'
According to his wife, Stackhouse won trophies when he was younger. Stackhouse says his short game has been improving even when his long game slows down. Stackhouse played softball and sandlot football when he was younger.
Out of the five holes in one at Golden Pheasant this year, two belong to Stackhouse. The course only saw one hole in one last year.
`It's unbelievable,' said John Lee, who works in the pro shop at Golden Pheasant. `The guy came in the other day and said nobody believed him.'
Believe it.
However, of his half-dozen aces, there was nothing like his first one. His first hole in one came in 1986 when he was 66.
`I thought that was the greatest thing that ever happened to me in the field of sports,' Stackhouse said of his first hole in one. `I don't overrate the thing, but I'm happy more than I'm proud. (Last week's holes in one) add icing to the cake.'
He had another in 1990 at the age of 70 and two more in 1997.
`It's gotta be luck,' said Chuck DeBoer, who has been in Stackhouse's foursome for five of his six holes in one, including both last week, `because he doesn't see that good. He's only ever seen one of them go in.'
DeBoer and the other golfers had to tell Stackhouse that his shots went in. According to DeBoer, both went in on the first or second hop.
`He doesn't get that excited,' DeBoer said of his friend's reaction. `I didn't get that excited, either. You're trying to do it every time you hit the ball. It isn't worth any money.'
DeBoer got his first and only hole in one two years ago.
`I think it's a great game because you can still play it when you're older,' Stackhouse said of golf. `I walk, I don't ride, and I have the pull cart. I walk the whole 18. I think it's wonderful exercise.
`I'm very thankful that I'm able to go out and play. It's something I recommend to all seniors.'
The lemonade celebration last week at the golf course came only two weeks after the Stackhouses' 50th wedding anniversary May 26. Stackhouse was born in South Philadelphia and moved to Maple Shade 50 years ago at the time of his marriage.
`I find that a lot of people, when they retire, they have a problem with what to do,' Stackhouse said. `I find that golf fills that requirement for me. At the same time, my wife and I are in the house we moved into 36 years ago. We do everything.'
Including hitting and celebrating holes in one.
