Mark Bennett: Remembering a summer of golf, and an old friend

I was a better golfer as a 14-year-old than I’ve ever been since.

Now, that’s not a high bar. Though I can pull off a respectable round in the handful of times a year that I play, I consider a golf outing as more of a hike through nature. Once my drives start slicing, I’m hunting mushrooms, other long-lost golf balls, and the occasional 5-iron (probably hurled during a duffer’s tantrum long ago) in the woods beside the fairways. I can shoot double digits for an 18-hole round, with a few pars and maybe a birdie...or not.