It Will Be Awhile Before Golf Pro Can Shoot His Age

Pick your day. Pretty much any afternoon at Shoshone Golf Course, you can find Idaho’s youngest golf pro hitting balls with one of the state’s oldest pros.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without Babe,” said Ernie Hill, 20, who was only 13 when he met his mentor, Leroy “Babe” Streeter.

Hill is now the course’s resident pro.

Streeter, who filled the same role for many years, recently scored his seventh hole-in-one. Two weeks ago he shot his age - 80.

“Babe has golfed here virtually every day since 1942,” said Sano Haldi, the club’s director of golf. “He’s quite an individual.”

A baseball enthusiast, Hill first visited the golf course just to see how far he could hit the ball. But the game intrigued him, and it wasn’t long before Streeter noticed the young golfer.

“We started golfing together every day,” said Hill. “When the weather got too bad, we’d go to Spokane.”

Both agree that Shoshone Golf Course, perched on a scenic ridge above Big Creek, is one of the state’s toughest.

“When I leave here, other places don’t look too bad at all,” said Hill.

In March, Hill took the Professional Golfers Association’s player’s ability test at Spokane’s Downriver Golf Course. To pass, he had to play 36 holes in one day and shoot 151 or better. He shot 147.

Hill will receive his pro card in August, after a sixmonth waiting period. For next winter, he has his sights set on the West Coast Tour. But whatever the future holds, he won’t forget his roots.

“Babe taught me everything,” said Hill. “I don’t think I would have kept playing without him.”

Ferris wheel for sure

Yes, Virginia, there WILL be a Ferris wheel at Pinehurst Days next weekend.

The carnival has long been a mainstay of the 25-year-old town’s annual celebration. But last year, a communications glitch had Candy Apple Amusements’ rides double-booked for Pinehurst and Post Falls.

Some of the carnival equipment actually pulled into town before it vanished back over the pass, making the Pinehurst kids’ disappointment even harder to swallow.

This year, though, things will be different, promises festival spokeswoman Lawanna Watts.

“I’ve called them four times, so I know it will happen,” she said. “It’s going to be great to have them back.”

Huckleberry dropouts

Speaking of parties, why on earth did Wallace’s Huckleberry Festival planners decide to draft members of the media for Huckleberry Sheriff 1995?

“The truth? We wanted the free publicity,” said Linda Brunette, a coordinator of the August event.

The contest is a fund-raiser for the festival. Jars for each contestant are placed in local businesses; people vote by stuffing them with money.

But while none of the organizers will come right out and say so, the media candidates may prove more trouble than they’re worth. When the race kicked off Friday, one of the three newspaper contestants had dropped out. (Huckleberry Hound D.F. Oliveria, no less.) Another hadn’t submitted his election picture.

And Don Lehman, selected to represent the Silver Valley’s monthly news magazine, staunchly vows not to participate whenever the subject comes up.

“If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve,” declares Lehman, who objects to the appearance of the official Huckleberry Sheriff hat.

Only John Davis, representing the local radio station, seems to have gotten into the spirit of the event. Resorting to a form of subliminal advertising, he whispers, “Vote John Davis for Huckleberry Sheriff!” at odd moments during his daily broadcast.

Maybe next year, organizers will select a group of sheriff candidates that can follow through and get things done.

Secretaries, or something.