Dewsweepers

On most mornings during the week (not on Thursdays during the summer), sometime just before the first tee time, you most probably would find a group of geezer types trying to  improve their chipping and putting right before their play starts on one of the back nines. There may be several other of the same cohort, standing around talking up the latest news. Having given in to their mediocre golf game as to not bother with the practice they probably need, they instead spread the joy and solace of the good life on Cape Cod and especially at the Captain’s Course with most anything that’s close by – it doesn’t have to be human.

These are the Dewsweepers, about 20 of us, but not every day. You can tell who we are because we are old and many of us are wearing some kind of clothing with our logo attached – somewhere. This proud group of serendipitously gathered friends, initially brought together by our mutual love for this great game called golf but now finding a more lasting camaraderie in our ripening friendship, has been plying the Captain’s Course back nines in the early hours for almost as long as the Captains has been around – at least since before it was two courses. We only play nine holes, on one or the other of the back nines, as a full eighteen is beyond what we consider reasonable exercise. We establish the daily teams from those in attendance in a random manner and we score our rounds using a quota system so everyone is contributing to whatever game we play on any particular day; for most days this is a team-against-team competition, best net team quota score being declared the winner.

During the year we also play several “tournament” rounds with the “tournament” rules being established and mis-managed, mostly, by one of our members volunteering what he or she would consider to be a fun game to play. This does lead to some confusion and friendly argument at times but never gets in the way of another fabulous day of golf at this great course.

Perhaps superseding the actual golf experience for any day we play is then sitting around the table at the Freemen’s Grill enjoying the “coffee-and” as well as the fun of reviewing and reliving almost in a blow by blow fashion the trials and tribulations foisted upon the members of the group willing to share their round. In the absence of this, there is the usual spirited discussion of the problems plaguing the world and the obvious solutions if anyone would just listen to us – you know how that is.

If you are reading this maybe you are new to the Captain’s, or maybe just someone who might be looking for a regular game with somebody else who is fun to be with and has a game that fits well with yours. I will guarantee you that someone in our crowd fits that description. So all you need to do is to come by the Captains before the first tee time and wander over to the practice green and look for someone with the Dewsweeper logo on some part of their body, introduce yourself, even mention this note and your next phase of Cape Cod life will become a reality. Alternatively, if you have questions about our group you can contact our Commissioner and long time mentor George Metzgar at g.metzgar@comcast.net. George will explain, as he usually does to new recruits that there are three things you need if you want to play with the Dewsweepers; one dollar ($1), a thick skin and a mediocre golf game and the golf game is optional! And if you are not interested and you have just been curious, we wish you exceptional golf in splendid days at our terrifically manicured and managed Captains Golf Course