SPORTS TALK
With Michael Betteridge
Golf Is A Puzzle Without An Answer
A sports topic we’ve never covered before in this column recently became big news in Thurmont: GOLF! Catoctin Cougars freshman Callen Edmonston was named athlete of the week last September after recording a five under par 31 at Maple Run Golf Course in Thurmont during a competition. This was the lowest score of any high school golfer in Frederick County this season, and Callen is only in the ninth grade!
Just so you understand something about my knowledge of golf: I am a great golfer! I play Golf Clash on my cell phone every day, and I usually win. I’ve never actually played golf for real.
I have always been pretty good at most sports. But I am left-handed, so borrowing clubs was difficult, and besides, in all my years, no one has ever invited me to play. However, I have spent many hours on the golf course watching others play golf. You see, in high school, I caddied to make some extra money at the Montgomery Country Club in Olney, Maryland. It was hard work. You had to show up early. You had to lug heavy bags over great distances under the hot, scorching sun. You had to hand the golfer the correct driver or club. You had to put up with some Judge Smails, too (that was a Ted Knight reference for those of you who don’t remember Caddyshack). It was not one of my favorite summer jobs. I just want to make sure everyone knows that playing Golf Clash on my phone and watching Tiger Woods on TV is the total sum extent of my golfing acumen.
So, why is this such a big deal? Let me say it again. Callen Edmonston is a ninth grader. To rise to the level of success at such a young age in a sport that is primarily you against yourself is amazing. Hence, the quote in my title line: “GOLF IS A PUZZLE WITHOUT AN ANSWER.” That quote came from one of the most famous golfers of all time: Gary Player.
Do you remember what you were like in the ninth grade? I wanted to be rockstar. I had formed a high school rock band: SigmaEpsilonKi. We were playing at all the local sock hops, summer pool parties, and private birthday parties that would have us. I remember at one party, one of my girlfriend’s grandmothers summed up my 14-year-old mental condition perfectly. She told me I was “pizzlestrung.” That was a new one! I had to look it up. I did. A pizzle is a dog chew made out of the unmentionable parts of a bull. She was right.
How did Callen Edmonston acquire the discipline necessary to rise above the challenges facing the average 14-year-old boy? How did a ninth grader competing at Maple Run score five strokes under the set par for a course with a 70 rating in nine holes? The answer is maturity. Callen is a good student, a great classmate, and a dedicated athlete. Callen competed in the Frederick County Golf Championship at Clustered Spires Golf Course last month and tied for second place in the entire County. Callen shot a one-over-par 73 and joined with Cougars’ teammates, senior Delaney Hench, senior Griffin Hench, junior Gage Eyler, junior Wyatt Kinna, and sophomore Weston Brantner, for an amazing Catoctin team score of 345 overall. Not bad for the freshmen’s first-ever high school golf championship tournament, and not bad for Cougar’s golf, too.
Callen’s coach, Mark Smith, characterized him as “unflappable.”
Athletic Director Brett Campbell said, “He’s a really quiet kid.” That seems like the perfect golf personality: quiet and unflappable. It looks like Callen Edmonston is beginning to assemble the pieces of his young puzzle as an answer to Gary Player’s immortal quote. I can’t wait to see the 2029 version of Cougars’ golf sensation, Callen Edmonston. Maybe another Danny Noonan, who knows? Stay tuned!
