Harris hits 88th birthday on the links
Vi Harris (standing center, in pink hat) celebrates her 88th birthday surrounded by friends at the Darlington Country Club.
Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The Darlington Country Club links provided the setting for some genial competition last Monday as friends celebrated Vi Harris’ 88th birthday with a round of golf, followed by an ice cream social in the dining room.
Harris has enjoyed a long relationship with the game, which she began playing in her 20s shortly after marrying her late husband, Ray Harris.
“When I married Ray and he played golf, I thought that was for the birds. So it was several years and several children later when I woke up one day and thought, ‘There’s got to be more to life than a clean kitchen floor and food on the table. I’m going to the golf course!’ So I called a friend who had been urging me to play and told her I was ready,” Harris recalled.
Harris said she used to tease Ray about being the ace of the Wake Forest golf team during his college days, though his brief stint on top ended with the arrival of a hotshot student who became a golfing legend.
“I used to tell people my husband played No. 1 on the Wake Forest team and it would make him so mad! He would hear me and he would say, ‘One week! Then Arnold (Palmer) took over.’ I always thought that was funny,” said Harris.
Asked what her golf game is like today, Harris replied that she can “keep up” with her friends. Her modesty prompted one buddy to interject: “She’s perfect! She never misses a shot and putts like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I can still putt,” Harris conceded, “but you’ve got to reach the green before you can putt. That’s the hard part.”
