There aren’t many sights more heartwarming to an old duffer like me than seeing a bunch of other oldtimers swinging away on a golf course.
I’ve had that privilege often the past 35 years, thanks to one of the most unforgettable persons I’ve ever known, the late Sam Gillett.
I met Sam in 1960 when I heard he was building a golf course just outside of El Paso.
In Anthony, New Mexico., to be exact.
I was golf editor at the El Paso Herald-Post at the time and went there to write about the new course and there was Sam, right in the middle of the action with stogie in mouth and a happy smile on his face.
We struck up a friendship that was to last until his death in 2000.
HIS COURSE, named Dos Lagos because if its two small lakes on the property, started out as a 9-hole course but would later expand to a full 18-hole layout. And what a boost it was to golfers on the west side of El Paso. There was only one other municipal golf course in El Paso then and now here was an alternative to driving across town.
And inexpensive, too.
Sam would later boast, with that playful smile of his, that he saved El Paso millions of dollars because now it wouldn’t have to build a municipal course of its own on the west side of El Paso.
AT ITS START, other bigger courses in New Mexico, looked down on this little upstart of a course. When Dos Lagos golfers tried to join other golf groups in New Mexico they were turned down.
What did Sam do? He simply started a golf group of his own. Then, in 1981, he started one for “old timers.” And it boomed.
In fact, it was so successful that it was accepted by other New Mexico courses and today there’s an organization known as the El Paso/Las Cruces Old Timers Golf Group.
AND WHAT FUN it is. It currently has approximately 150 members ranging in ages from 55 to 95 and with handicaps from 5 to 36 plus.
Competitions are usually team scrambles or team “shambles” tournaments and attendance usually ranges from 60 to 100 players each month.
MEMBERSHIP requirements are simple. A member must be 55 or older or turn 55 anytime during the year.
It’s truly a great way to enjoy the sport and meet other golfers.
Of course, to compete a member must join the Sun Country Amateur Golf Associaton and have an active GHIN handicap.
GHIN handicaps can be obtained at any of the participating golf courses, which besides Dos Lagos, include Painted Dunes, Anthony Country Club, Ascarate Golf Course, Underwood at Fort Bliss, Lone Star, Coronado Country Club, El Paso Country Club, Vista Hills, Horizon, White Sands, New Mexico State, Picacho Hills, Sonoma Ranch and Red Hawk.
Yes, you get to play all those courses in tournaments if a member.
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ANNUAL DUES are $25 and for that you receive an annual luncheon, a golf shirt or jacket, towel, cap and other goodies.
Each of the 15 participating courses has an Old Timers Group director that coordinates memberships and schedules. The monthly tournaments are on a rotating basis on participating courses
To join, contact one of the pro shops.
Or better yet, call either Jim Rewis, 
one of the friendliest guys you’d ever want to meet, in El Paso at 915-833-3849 or 915-539-0589 or group president Tom Bartlett in Las Cruces 
at 575-521-3166. They’ll be more than happy to help you join.
Think of the fun you’ll have.
And something else I like about all this:
The memory of Sam Gillett lives on.