Don Triplett is a little miffed that he has never been able to shoot a score lower than his age. He’s been playing golf for 73 years and, now at age 90, he figures he should’ve accomplished the mighty feat at least once.
“I may have to wait until I’m 100 to break my age,” he said with a chuckle. “Always have wanted to but never did.”
Triplett is obsessed with the game. He’s about to start his fifth season of playing Spark Golf at Kings Ridge Golf Club in Clermont, Florida. He had a bad fall a few months ago, which has kept him from being able to play during a relatively warm winter. Triplett only recently started hitting balls again at the practice range to see if his shoulder and hip could handle the pressure.
“I’m ready,” he declared. “I can’t wait to get back out there.”
In a few weeks he’ll get his chance when Spark Golf’s season starts. Triplett loves the league, explaining its convenience for many reasons. First of all, he can drive his golf cart from his home that sits just off the course up to the clubhouse. That’s a big plus. The format is another personal favorite.
“It’s a competition,” he said, “but there’s not a lot of pressure, which makes it all fun. Nobody is so super serious that it gets mean. It’s nice, casual and I usually get to meet new players.
“I have trouble playing 18 anymore. It’s a blessing having a nine-hole rate that gets me out there.”
Triplett has even talked his wife Betty into playing a few times with him over the years but sheepishly admitted, “she’s probably more talkative than most people like on a golf course.”
Last year, on May 28, was the last time that Triplett played a full 18-hole round. It was a memorable afternoon playing with his two sons and grandson. Triplett happily, and proudly, handed his golf obsession down through the generations.
Don Triplett was born in Michigan and grew up in Oregon. He was in the retail business for three decades, mostly as CEO of Troutman’s department store, which was based just south of Pittsburgh. He moved or transferred to a different location 14 times during those 28 years. Ultimately, he bought six Troutman’s stores and after closing them many years later he turned to real estate, running his own branch in Fort Mill, South Carolina, until only a few years ago.
The one constant during all those years? A love for golf.
“I’ve always played as often as I could,” he said.
Triplett picked up the game just at the end of his high school days, at age 17. So yes, that means he’s been swinging away for 73 years. He’s had many highlights over the last seven decades but precisely points to two when asked about the best of them all.
When living in Lewiston, Idaho, Triplett shot 78, a career low and the only time he ever broke 80. That came in 1960 when he was 30. The second came only eight years ago, when at age 82 Triplett recorded his only hole in one. On that wondrous day in Fort Mill, Triplett took a swing on the fourth tee box at Regent Park Golf Club and his ball found the bottom of the cup.
A little math shows that Triplett’s two most special golf moments happened 57 years apart. Glorious.
One of Triplett’s favorite golf courses is Latrobe Country Club, where he was a member and happened to play a few holes with Arnold Palmer as part of a scramble back in the day. Part of Triplett’s current bucket list is to get back there and play one more round of golf. He counts Arcadia Bluffs and Pilgrim’s Run, two beautiful Michigan staples, as some of the best tracks he’s ever played.
“I’ve played a lot of golf,” Triplett said. “Some good, some bad … a lot of bad, but it’s always been a big part of my life.”
The aforementioned fall last winter slowed Triplett some, as did a bout with cancer 12 years ago, where he had to have his bladder and prostrate removed. Triplett also had a stroke two years ago.
But none of those ailments or episodes have dampened his zest for life or his love for the game he’s cherished since 1952.
On April 3, Triplett will be there, on the first tee at King Ridge, for the first round of the league season. He earned first place for the low net division two years ago and has the plaque to prove it. That’s the goal again this year, of course, but mostly, Triplett is just thrilled to be able to go out and play golf again after having to sit on the sidelines for most of the past few months.
“I’m feeling well,” Triplett said. “I’m going to go play the executive course in the next week. I’ll be ready for the Spark season again. Trust me. That’s my plan. I’ll be there.”