BOWMAN, N.D. (KFYR) – Most golfers put away their clubs when the snow flies, but one Bowman man just switches out his summer clubs for his winter set.
Don Groll has been hitting golf balls at Bowman’s Sweetwater Golf Course since 1975.
“It was a social thing; all the teachers at school said, ‘Everybody golfs. You’d better become a golfer.’ So that’s what I did,” he said.
Groll fell in love with the game and even started the school’s golf team.
“It was good to get young people involved,” Groll said.
He coached golf for 14 years.
“The golf program is still going, and it’s doing very well,” said Groll.
At age 73, Groll’s golf game is still going too. He plays at least once a month—every month of the year. His streak started in March of 1987.
“Once I got the streak going, I said, ‘I want to see how long I can keep it going,’” he explained.
Groll even has a special set of winter golf clubs.
“I pack lightly. I’ve got a six iron and a hybrid. I just use those in the winter,” he said. “My rule to myself is I have to play all nine holes. I can’t go home and warm up.”
That takes a little over an hour and 10 minutes.
Golf started as a social outlet for Groll. Now, more than 50 years later, he said there’s something special about the solitude that comes with a winter round of golf.
“I don’t see many people out here in the wintertime. When there’s snow on the ground, of course, you look for footprints, and there usually isn’t too many. It’s good for the lungs. It makes me feel good,” said Groll.
It makes Groll feel good enough to inspire him to keep golfing through another winter.
Groll said this winter has been one of the easiest winters he’s ever golfed— Bowman hasn’t had much snow. But he said he’d welcome a little snow because they need the moisture.
In the summer, Groll plays 18 holes two or three times a week.
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