COLUMN: Kalispell’s Hanson becomes golfing marathon man
Marlin Hanson is capable of going low on a golf course — he shot 74 at Buffalo Hill Wednesday — but he has once again proven he can also go far.
On June 24 the 72-year-old played 72 holes in one 13.5-hour stretch.
The event is called the Bandon Dunes Solstice, and it’s a challenge: Play four rounds, on foot, in one day. Hanson has done it twice now, along with his son Brandon.
“It’s kind of tough to get into,” said the elder Hanson. “You have to get online and register. We got registered in about 2 1/2 minutes this year, and it filled up in four.”
The Hansons were two of 124 golfers that played four of the five courses at Bandon Dunes, on the Oregon coast. The resort is 20 years old but all of its courses are rated in the top 100 in the nation (if you want to be floored, just go to: www.bandondunesgolf.com).
“It’s not a tournament per se,” said Hanson. “It’s just a matter of surviving and finishing 72 holes, walking (with a caddie), on four different courses.”
Hanson survived, and in fact every golfer that started on June 24 finished. As for himself and his son, they got through the first 18 in 2 1/2 hours. They shuttled over to the next 18 and that one and the third round took three hours each.
“The last one we were dragging a little bit,” he said. “Three hours and 18 minutes.”
Those are about the only numbers Hanson brought back to Kalispell. He didn’t keep score.
“You don’t hardly have time to get a scorecard out to write it down,” he said. “There are a lot of gimmes. You don’t look long for golf balls. I don’t think anybody kept their score.
“I did make eight birdies this year, but that was in the first 54 holes. Then I ran out of gas.”
Hanson is well-known around these parts, certainly. Born and raised in Kalispell, he was State AA golf medalist back-to-back, in 1965-66. In 1966 he led Flathead to its first of two boys’ championships (the other came in 1982).
“I turned pro in 1985,” he said, and noted he started at Buffalo Hill Golf Course, went to Ronan’s Mission Mountain Golf Club for 11 years and returned to Buffalo Hill as a golf professional in 2002. He retired, and we use this term loosely, four years ago.
“I’ve done more holes in a day,” he said, relating that he, Jeff Epperly and others played 144 holes for a fundraiser. “We could have done more that day but we wanted to save it, in case we wanted to do it again,” he said.
“But that was Buffalo Hill and we were in carts. That was a little bit easier. This — walking up and down sand dunes at sea level — it’s quite a challenge.”
A year ago he did it and thought, well that’s that. Then several months passed and the thought of doing 72 holes at age 72 won out. He began to train in February, walking as many as 14 miles a day and 35-40 a week before tapering off in June.
“I enjoyed it a little more this year,” he said. “Last year it was kind of, ‘Get your head down and finish.’ This year I kept my head up and looked around at the dunes and at the ocean and the courses.”
Hanson put in 59,000 steps on June 24, translating to 26 miles and change — a literal marathon of golf. Here’s another number: 66, as in the years since he first started hanging out at Buffalo Hill. Club rules banned him from playing the course until he was 10, so to the range and practice green he went.
Four years of swings, with no scorecard to fill out? Turns out he was training for the Bandon Dunes Solstice the whole time.
Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com