Most golfers would be happy to “shoot their age” once in their golfing life.

On January 13th, Roger Page did it for the 50th time .

“It has been a goal for me,” said Page. “I wanted to get to 50 before I turned 70,” he said.

Playing from the white tees at the Links O’Tryon, Page carded a 68 besting his age by a shot.

The retired pharmacist has always been competitive, but it got a lot better after his retirement.

“I had time to play more and especially practice more. I also have been able to play in more tournaments and competing helps you to play better,” he said.

Page has always been competitive. He played three sports in High School at Byrnes. As a Rebel quarterback, he held the record for throwing five td passes in a game until the pass happy days of Coach Bobby Bentley and quarterback Willie Korn.

“I’ve been athletic all my life and being in good health certainly has allowed me to enjoy playing good golf,” he said.

The first time Page shot his age was just after he turned 65. He shot the 7-under par round at the Links’O’Tryon, his home club. He has shot his age using all different tee settings, not just the senior tees.

A statistics nut, Page has kept detailed records of his game. His lowest score was the 65 at the Links, but he has matched that score and shot his age or better at many more courses than just his home club.

“I’ve shot my age here and at Woodfin Ridge, Three Pines, Spartanburg Country Club, Columbia Country Club, Deer Brook and a couple more,” he recalled.

“When you go to tournaments there are dozens of Super-Seniors playing. Some tournaments call it the Legends Division. These are golfers who have been good players all their lives and still can play at a very competitive level,” he said.

In addition to county, state and Carolinas events, Page has enjoyed playing with the Interclub Seniors Golf Association now operated by First Tee Upstate.

Golfers, who are 55 and older and members at eleven clubs in and around Spartanburg County, can play in as many as 16 tournaments during the year by joining the group.

Last year Page was named the golfer of the year in the association and knows many more golfers would enjoy playing in the tournaments.

Now that he has reached his goal of shooting his age 50 times before turning 70, Page has another golfing goal in mind. It is not just for him, but for all golfers in the “Legends” age group.

“I’d like to see the Cyder Cup teams add a Super-Senior to each team for the matches,” he said. “I know they already have senior players in the matches, but having a couple of Super-Seniors would let some of us older guys show we can still play,” he said.

January Holes-In-One