I set out to play my once a week round of golf with my brother-in-law Steve, with lofty thoughts of shooting my age. I do that to try and stay positive. Usually I’m not anywhere close to shooting my age. Golf is a game that requires strong mental concentration and the power of psychology can play a big role in how one performs. It was just going to be the two of us. It’s something I look forward to every week.

We approached the first tee and checked in with the starter. He said, “Is it just the two of you?” And I said yes. Then the starter said, “I’m going to pair you with him.”

For purposes of this golf tale, let’s call “him” Darren, and he shall remain anonymous. He stood on the first tee and proceeded to wrap his wrist up with an ace bandage almost up to his elbow. I’m thinking it could be a long day. Is he going to slow us down?

Fortunately, Darren, put a good swing on it and hit a long drive down the middle. We were off and running. From his one swing I could tell he had grown up playing golf and that we would enjoy the round. His arm didn’t seem to be a problem.

I was off to a really good start, 1 under through 8, still dreaming of shooting my age. Up til this point we hadn’t spoken with Darren all that much. We were all concentrating on our games. Steve, being from the Boston area picked up on Darren’s Boston accent and they struck up a conversation, determining that they had grown up roughly in the same area.

I bogeyed nine to finish even par on the front, with hopes of shooting my age, 67, dashed, but still a very good round for me. One that I wanted to keep going. I was hitting greens in regulation and making a few putts. I got it back to 1 under through 14.

It doesn’t take much to distract me and cause me to have a blowup hole or two. Negative thoughts about blowing the last few holes were creeping into my head.

On 14, Darren asked if work brought us to Charleston. I told him I am an artist and he seemed very interested, asking my name and for my website. So I gave him my card. Steve mentioned that he is a lawyer, at which point Darren responded, “I could use a good lawyer!” We laughed and drove to the 15th tee.

As we got out of our carts I asked Darren what he used to do and he replied, “I’ve been in crime all my life.” I found that interesting that he could use a good lawyer and that he was involved with crime. So I thought I’d try and be funny and asked him if he was Boston Mafia and if he knew Whitey Bulger, one of the most famous criminals from the Boston area.

He laughed and denied knowing Whitey. On the next hole I asked him if he was a detective. He shook his head and still wouldn’t tell me what his line of work was.

As I stood on the 17th tee, wondering if I should hit a driver or not, holding onto an even par round and not wanting to blow it, Darren walks up to me and shows me a mug shot of a man on his phone, and asks me, “Do you know this man?”

I said no I don’t. He tells me it is Myles Conner, a life long criminal from the Boston area. “Have you heard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston) art heist”, he asked me. I said I hadn’t. “It was the biggest art heist of all time (March 18,1990) with stolen paintings valued at over 500 million dollars, including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer. Myles Conner is believed by some to be involved in the heist.”

Rembrandt van Rijn, ***Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee***

Usually such a distraction would ruin my game. I would lose concentration and hit my tee shot out of bounds and go home dejected. For some reason this time was different. I hit one of my best tee shots of the day.

I ended up missing birdie putts on 17 and 18, but ended up with an even par round, which is one of my best rounds of the year.

As we shook hands with Darren and walked off the 18th green, all in agreement that it was a fun round, Darren looked at us with a twinkle in his eye and said with his thick Boston accent, “You better check your carts to make sure nothing is missing!!!”

I laughed and said, “My wallet, who stole my wallet?” Steve and I rode back to our cars laughing about our most interesting and fun round with Darren.

I always say you learn a lot about someone on a golf course. This time not so much! We had more questions than answers. Who was this guy? Is he on the side of good or evil? As I was driving out of the lot Steve flagged me down and told me that Darren just came clean!

Darren was on the side of good, involved, shall we say, in the court system. That mystery was now solved, but what about the Gardner Museum heist that I knew nothing about. I googled Myles Conner and read all about him being one of the many suspects in the case. Then I read about the Boston Mafia being suspected! Then I read about the possibility that Whitey Bulger was involved along with the IRA!

It was all fascinating being an artist and having this conversation with Darren on the golf course. So that night after I had done my google searches, I decided to watch a little golf on TV. Once that was over I checked to see what was on Histories Greatest Mysteries.

There it was in big bold letters, The Gardner Museum Robbery! I watched for an hour the whole story unfold before me, glued to the TV. Stolen masterpieces. The possibility it was an inside job. Boston Mafia suspects kept getting whacked. Whitey Bulger years later got whacked while in prison. Who pulled off the biggest art heist in history? It’s still an unknown. A lot of the suspects are now dead! There is a ten million dollar reward out for anyone who can help lead to the recovery of the 13 stolen paintings!

Because of the way it all played out, it was one of my most memorable golf rounds. One that I’ll never forget. What are the odds that I would joke about Darren being with the Boston Mafia, or ask him if he knew Whitey Bulger before Darren even brought up the Gardner Museum robbery? And what are the odds that Darren would ask me if I was familiar with the Gardner Museum heist as the episode was already recorded on our TV, home waiting for me!

Art and golf have always been two of my favorite past times. This time the two combined in a very mysterious and peculiar way. It was all a little eerie to say the least! In the end I was happy with my round and learned something about the art world that I should have known long ago.

I hope you enjoyed this golf tale and found it to be a good read. I’m back to painting now and working on several commissioned paintings. I’m looking forward to my next round of golf and wondering who will I get paired with next! LOL.

Please check back soon to see what’s on my easel. Thank you for reading my journal!

“One of the joys of being an artist is having the freedom to follow my passion….”

— William R. Beebe

A Golf Tale ~ Golf round leads to an unsolved art crime!