Steve
“Tank” Tankersley – Restless Golfer
In the midst of a major golf pilgrimage that involved 28
courses in 9 days, Texas most well-traveled golfer (400+ courses)
accomplished something that gives new meaning to the term
“restless golfer”. Steve Tankersley of Robinson,
TX, affectionately known as “Tank”, awoke to the
smell of cow dung in the thriving metropolis of Stratford,
TX focused and prepared for the day. The adventure ahead involved
playing 5 golf courses in 5 states before dark. It was Wednesday
morning in the little town northwest of Amarillo - home to
farmers, pheasant hunters, the funk of 7 stockyards, and a
skyline dominated by wheat towers.
“I woke up smelled cow shit everywhere. They’d
had a lot of recent rains and there was dew everywhere.”
Did you eat breakfast Tank?
“No.”
Why not?
“Didn’t want to!”
Tank, from Robinson, TX near Waco, talks fast, and his passion
for golf and life glows from his 6’2’’,
250 pound frame.
“It was an unusually warm morning. About 75 degrees.
I always look for trees in the flat towns out west to find
the golf course. This one was about 2 miles outside of town.
I hit the Stratford CC and paid $5 for the fee and cart with
my cancer book. There was one guy there. Everything was green.
Beautiful flowers. Big, mature trees. This 9-holer was hilly.
I was the only one there. Bent grass greens. Real pretty.
Better than average. They had a bell hole.
So how long did it take you?
“Oh…45 minutes or so. I like to average about
5 minutes per hole.”
And then what?
At 9:45 AM I hauled ass across the border to Boise City,
OK. I couldn’t find the course so I went to Elkhart,
KA. A clean little town. It was wonderful. Best course I played
on the whole trip. Bent greens and fairways! I was the only
one there besides two guys mowing. Nice folks. They had a
beautiful signature hole…a par 3 over water with a fountain.
Perfect greens. Thought about taking my shoes off so I wouldn’t
mess up the fairways. Cost me $20.”
What’d you shoot Tank?
“Oh maybe a few over there. For the whole day I think
I was 4 or 5 over.”
Wow…that’s good.
“Yeah. I was hitting em’ well and had a good
feel since I’d been playing so much. So I left just
before noon. Straight back to Boise City, OK. Drove 85 MPH.
Tee’d off about 12:30. This one was a ‘come as
you are’ type club. Didn’t have to pay. They told
me that anyone doing what I was doing didn’t have to
pay. The clubhouse was open. The course was very flat with
few trees. I think I saw a tornado shelter on the course.
The rough was difficult here, but all in all it was the perfect
family course. Flat and very basic. It was here they told
me others have played 5 states in a day, except they do it
in the summer with long days.”
And then what? Did you eat lunch?
“Something fast food…maybe a DQ. I headed towards
Raton, NM at 1:15. This was the longest drive and the trickiest.
They’ve got some kind of gambit for speeders that involves
signs that say the roads are patrolled by planes. Also signs
that say it’s a safety zone and it’s double the
fines. So I had to slow down to 70 MPH through all the ancient
volcanoes and the time zone. Raton is set in a mountain pass.
A neat town. Lots of trailer homes though. Teed off about
3:00 PM. 4 o’clock our time. Average course with good
views. It rolls up and down and around. I had to play through
lots of high school kids.”
Were you getting tired?
“Hell no. 30 minutes later I’d made it to Trinidad,
CO. The shop was closed even though they’d told me via
phone they’d be open. But they let me play. This one
was at 6,600 feet and my big ass had to walk. Good course
though. Undulating greens. I shot one under. Had an eagle
on a par 5…boy does the ball fly at that elevation.
At sunset, I hit an 8-iron 175 yards to 10 feet on their signature
par-3. Boy was that nice!”
Did you feel a sense of accomplishment once you were finished?
“Oh yes…..I grabbed supper at a Chinese place
called Lou’s. Thought about how I’d driven 5 hours.
Total mileage on the 5-state trip was 280 miles. Gas prices
were $1.89 to $2.09 for regular (86 octane). Regular rainfall
normal was about 6". Presently they had 19" with
more coming! Temperature was mild. Windy a couple of days
including 5-state trip but surprisingly calm most of the time.
It rained hard on me from Rotan to Hamilton (180 miles) on
Sunday coming home. The motel cost averaged about $34. People
were always friendly. Total green fee bill was $337 which
is about $12 a play. 297 total holes. $1.13 per hole.”
So after that day and the trip up from Waco via Lake Fork
you were ready for more?
“Yeah. I hit Friona. Then Farwell. The DQ was gone
at Farwell. In Vega I set a record…..I shot even par
and they told me I’d set a record and I said ‘a
record at even par’ and they said ‘we’ve
never seen anyone do it in 30 minutes’. It was Friday
evening and I was looking for lights. I found em’ in
Littlefield and I……”
Excuse me Tank, did they have any Waylon Jennings tributes
in Littlefield?
“No…didn’t see any. But 4 years ago when
I was up on the High Plains in the fall I caught a Floydada
football game and I thought how funny it was that I was now
watching a Floydada-Littlefield game on this night. Littlefield’s
a 3A school you know?”
So what was the best part about the entire trip?
“Without question feeding the fish at Lake Meredith.
The lake was 62 feet low and they’ve got a 100 or so
pet carp in this one spot. Imagine 100 giant carp rolling
on the surface fighting for food.”
What a trip Tank?
“Well it was too crowded at Lake Fork…4,000 folks
in the fishing tournament. So we hit Scroggins and Link’s
at Land’s End. In Quanah they wouldn’t let me
play because it was the Quanah versus Vernon grudge match.
Quanah wore yellow and Vernon wore white. Or was it the other
way around? Good golfers there though and it was big doins.
And watch out for weekend tournaments when you’re traveling
through the small towns. I had to pass up quite a few because
of local tourneys. But all told, by blue pickup sniffed em’
out pretty good and we found some great golf courses.”
Ramble on Tank! |
