Greetings Golfers,

For those of us of a certain age, we all remember where we were when President Kennedy was killed. Fifty years ago tomorrow, I was in 3rd grade when the awful news came over the classroom loudspeaker. That night my Cub Scout Pack Meeting was cancelled – the whole country went into shock – everything stopped.

I know this is a golf newsletter … but I have been known to get off topic. How’s this for a save: “Golf Digest” magazine rated JFK the best golfer of all American Presidents. Even though he had a bad back, he supposedly had a sweet swing.

Most of the Presidents of the 1900’s played golf – usually not well – Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower were the most avid. In fact, Ike’s love of golf and Arnold Palmer’s magnetism combined to bring golf to the masses in the 1950’s.

Then after Eisenhower, Kennedy was elected President in 1960 to lead America into a new, youthful, dynamic era. But on November 23, 1963 that hope was ended. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the reigns.

History is still confused about the ensuing years: Viet Nam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the Civil Rights Movement, LBJ’s Great Society, the Moon Landing, Chappaquiddick, Richard Nixon, Watergate. The ten years after President Kennedy’s assassination were chaotic and ended with Watergate.

I read somewhere that 80% of the American public believes that we don’t know the truth behind the JFK assassination.

We may never know the truth. But I do know that America changed 50 years ago tomorrow. Though we changed and still haven’t completely healed, we are a strong, resilient nation. I knew that then and know that now – that hasn’t changed.

Respectfully,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com