Thursday, Sep. 04, 2008

Clubs, tees, balls headed to 'Golf War' zone

When soldiers call relatives from overseas, they often ask for items that remind of them of home. They want home-baked cookies. They want socks. Maybe they'll want a specific brand of deodorant or shaving cream they can't get at the base exchange.

Two weeks ago, Modesto's Bob Davidson got an early morning reveille of sorts from his son, Robert Davidson Jr., who is a master sergeant in the Army's Special Forces. Robert Jr., 49, has been a soldier for 23 years. His parents know only that he's somewhere in Iraq. He doesn't tell them exactly where.

When he called to wish his dad a happy birthday -- at 4:30 a.m. Modesto time -- the conversation took an unusual turn.

"My son doesn't ask much of me," Bob said. "This time, though, he requested a very strange thing."

Things, to be more precise: golf clubs and balls, tee mats, tees and ball retrievers. Call these items projectile launchers of a more civil, sporting type.

Yes, if Robert and his Army buddies have their way, the site of the ongoing Iraq war and the 1990s Gulf War is about to become the Golf War zone.

Robert's Army outfit is stationed alongside an Air Force base, his dad said.

"They're leveling it out and putting in a driving range," Bob Davidson said. "(Robert) said it would build morale and would be therapeutic. They can just whack that ball and take out all their frustrations on it. And not just there (wherever Robert is stationed). They want to spread these ranges all over (Iraq)."

The elder Davidson is an artist who, out of respect those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, paints their portraits and gives them to their families after arranging sponsors to pay for materials. He donates his time and talents, and said he puts in an average of 350 hours on each portrait.

The golf equipment campaign -- which he's dubbed "Operation Driving Range" -- will benefit those who are there now enduring the hardships of war and occupation.

Since his son's phone call, he's been contacting various golf course and country club managers in the valley, asking for donations of equipment in any condition.

"They don't care if they're new or used," Bob said.

Sand wedges would surely be popular, since Iraq is one big bunker and pretty much devoid of greens.

Water hazards? Yeah, right. They're called mirages.

Within a day or so, Bob had commitments. Scott Goodreau, a local physician and member at Oakdale Golf & Country Club, sent an e-mail to General Manager Rick Schultz and the club's membership detailing the equipment drive. They responded quickly.

"We've gotten tons of balls and tons of clubs," Schultz said. "We've got 12 sets of irons and 20 to 30 miscellaneous clubs, and buckets and buckets of balls."

Jim Toal, head pro at Spring Creek in Ripon, hasn't even put the request out to the membership yet. That's the next step. His first was to clean out the country club's storerooms.

"We've got about 100 clubs we can send," Toal said. "Some came out of our fitting cart (used to match players with the right types of clubs). Some were lost or thrown out and picked up by our maintenance crew."

Some clubs were retrieved from the ponds, though the Stanislaus River provides the course's most formidable water hazard. Employees don't go into the river to fetch balls or equipment.

Since grassy areas are few and far between in Iraq, carving them up with divots probably wouldn't be the most diplomatic approach.

Toal has the answer to that.

"I've got some mats they can have -- rolls of mats after we replace some of ours," he said. "And we've just replaced all of our range balls. We have probably 400 to 500 dozen we can send over."

Likewise at Del Rio Golf and Country Club, pro Duncan Reno said.

"We plan to participate," he said. "I'm putting it in our newsletter."

River Oaks in Ceres also is collecting gear.

Bob Davidson said he's prepared to crate up the equipment and is working with a retired Army colonel to ship it to Iraq.

Anyone wanting to donate golf gear can drop it off at the Gallo Center for the Arts on the I Street side during the "Big Band Veteran's Day" show Nov. 11, though Davidson said he expects shipments to Iraq to begin before that date.

If the early contributions are any indication, Bob Davidson literally will be able to fill a weapons carrier with drivers, irons and, especially, golf balls. The soldiers in Iraq never can have enough of them, if only because they might be too hazardous to retrieve.

"They'll be out there for eternity," he said.

Jeff Jardine's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in Local News. He can be reached at jjardine@modbee.com or 578-2383.