There are times when Washington Capitals forward Ben Clymer would rather be anywhere than a breathtaking afternoon on a Minnesota golf course.
The putts aren’t dropping. Approach shots overtake the hole. Don’t even start about the wayward drives. The summer vacation sometimes seems more like a prison sentence.
“There are days when you can’t get anything to go right,” he said. “If this was a hockey game you could get in a fight and get thrown out. I have to stay out here for 3 1/2 hours with [his foursome.]”
Before muttering “Poor baby” while heading to work on another steamy summer day locally, remember everyone gets vacation time. Clymer supplements his regular offseason workouts with a handful of rounds weekly while hitting the ball nearly every day.
Clymer’s a scratch golfer hoping to hoist the second cup of his athletic career. After winning the Stanley Cup two years ago with Tampa Bay, he’s now readying for the Minnesota State Open on July 21-23.
“It’s not the end-all, be-all for me, but it would be a really cool experience,” he said.
Happy Gilmore, he’s not. No hockey stick as a putter or forechecking other golfers. Clymer hasn’t found the bridge between the two sports.
“Golf is one of most unique sports when under pressure,” he said. “Hockey is just reacting. Golf has so much time in-between shots to think about things and get out of sorts. You have to be calm and collected and believe in yourself. In hockey, it’s fight or flight.”
Golf is his accidental love. Clymer played little before college when joining his best friend, who was the University of Minnesota’s golf captain. It wasn’t long before the competitiveness that fueled Clymer to a state high school hockey championship emerged.
“I was getting spanked every day so I had to figure it out so I could win some games,” he said.
Clymer was soon a 10-handicap and steadily trimming strokes. There was a magical 67 on his home course of Olympic Hills in Eden Prairie, Minn. when missing only one green. And there are lots of 74s and 75s on days when his wedge shots “misbehave.”
Clymer played only during the Olympic break last season, though the Caps aren’t short in finding a group to play with Olie Kolzig and Matt Bradley also loving the game. Former captain Jeff Halpern was also an enthusiast.
Hockey can wreck a golf swing, though, and the pressure of performing before galleries can be more unnerving than stands filled with hecklers.
“I played with Senior Tour [golfers] and there were people lining the fairways,” he said. “I hit two people. Oh well, what am I going to do? I played with the PGA Tour players and their game is so good. There are days when I feel like have a hold on [the game] that isn’t anything close to theirs.”
And bad days aren’t limited to weekend warriors, Clymer discovered during a round with Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk.
“We were playing in Tampa and he blew up on the back nine,” Clymer said. “I was keeping the card and he took so many strokes I had to ask how many. I felt so bad having to ask him. This is Carlton Fisk.”
The secret to good golf? Balance.
“Most people are so unsteady over the ball,” Clymer said. “People have to remain so stable. Tour players are so balanced over the ball.”
The U.S. Amateur is coming temptingly close to Clymer at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn. Too bad the Aug. 21-27 event is when Clymer starts thinking about the Caps more than his clubs.
“I would like to try to do that, but it’s a bad time for me,” he said. “Late August is hockey time.”
Maybe in Minnesota where falls comes early. Washingtonians will still be sweating over their putts while Clymer switches to the ice.
By then, his long game should be all net.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
