Butler Township man golfs every month for 50 years
Even snow, sleet and hail cannot stop Bill Uram from golfing. As long as there is one day each month where the weather is clear, his 50-year streak can continue.
Uram has golfed at least once a month every month for the last 50 years, crossing that 50-year milestone on Christmas Eve, the one day of December the weather was clear. He thought he was going to lose his then 49-year, 11-month streak that month, but Christmas came a day early for him when the weather was a little better than usual on Dec. 24.
“I was worried I was going to lose my streak, but it warmed up a little on Christmas Eve,” said Uram, of Butler Township. “That made 50 years.”
The streak began in 1976, when Uram and Frank Ferens, a Butler teacher, played rounds together during the winter.
They played at LakeVue North Golf Course in winter “because that was the only course that let us go out when it was covered with snow,” Uram said. The streak nearly ended in the late 1980s, but Uram played a round in 12 inches of snow on Jan. 31at LakeVue to keep it going.
“I used an orange ball, hit it in the air, looked for the hole in the snow, set the ball on top of the snow and hit it again,” Uram said. “I only lost two balls that entire round.”
Although his streak began when he was in his 30s, Uram, now 84 years old, had golfed since he was a child.
Jim Ihlenfeld, of Butler Township, met Uram when they were brought by their parents to Slippery Rock Golf Club at 15 years old. They each learned to golf there, and played intramural golf at the course, because, according to Ihlenfeld, area schools didn’t have golf teams until the 1960s.
Each of them enjoyed the sport from an early age, with Uram even getting a job at their regular course.
“Our parents belonged up there, and we all joined,” Ihlenfeld said. “Bill had worked up at the pro shop when he was in high school or shortly after that.”
Ihlenfeld continues to golf with Uram, and is usually the one to tag along with him for winter rounds, when cold weather keeps other people from wanting to play.
“I try to get out just for the exercise, if nothing else,” Ihlenfeld said. “I’m not a regular golfer with him, just in the winter. He needs someone.”
If Uram can’t find someone to golf with him, it’s all right, because everyone knows him at the golf club. He also has a supportive partner in his wife, Janet Uram, who accompanies him to the course. Though an accomplished golfer herself, she doesn't play in the harsh winter weather and waits for her husband in the car.
“Sometimes, when I can't find someone dumb enough to go, I get my wife to go, and I have to call her every three holes,” Uram said.
Uram plans to keep the streak going as long as he is able, and took another step toward that goal by golfing with Ihlenfeld on Thursday, Jan. 8, when the temperature rose above freezing.
Although it is more challenging to traverse the course at his age, Uram said he credits his constant golf games for helping to keep him active. His equipment choice has changed over the years, too.
“I feel very fortunate that I can walk nine holes at 84 years old,” Uram said. “Where I used to hit a nine iron, I need to hit a wood now.”
In a previous Butler Eagle story about Uram’s golf streak, he shared stories of going to the course while it was snowy — and even icy — outside. He recalled one round at Lake Arthur, when the pond was frozen and his shot came to rest on the ice. He wandered onto the ice in an attempt to play it.
“I was walking toward my ball when I heard the ice start to crack,” Uram said. “I turned around and got back to the ground before falling through.
“Risking my life for a $1 golf ball didn’t show very good judgment.”
Ihlenfeld said that this year will mark 70 years of the pair golfing together. He said he has never gotten tired of hanging out with his old friend, although he prefers to do it when it isn’t so cold out.
“He's a lot of fun to be around,” Ihlenfeld said.
