<\/p>\n
Nolette Butler grabs a driver from her bag while golfing at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Mary Lou Bledsoe, left, and Nolette Butler, right, prepare to tee off at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Mary Lou Bledsoe tilted her head, a puzzled look forming on her wizened face as she listened to her clubmate, Kimberly Campbell. Bledsoe\u00a0and Nalette Butler, each 99 years old, had just finished an 18-hole round of golf\u00a0alongside a group of their friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Reminiscing on Bledsoe and Butler\u2019s impact on the at Onion Creek Country Club, Campbell mentioned the day they stopped frequenting the course would be a sad one. She suggested during that mid-June afternoon that age might catch up to them and maybe they\u2019d visit once a month rather than two to three times a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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“Every week they show,” Campbell said. “Rain or shine, for the most part. They still play tournaments to this day.”<\/p>\n
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Mary Lou Bledsoe, left, and Nolette Butler, right, talk while golfing at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Bledsoe had heard her friend. She simply couldn’t fathom the idea. Curiosity and life radiated from her piercing blue eyes. In her mind, there\u2019s no reason she would stop anytime soon. After all, the pair called Onion Creek their home course since before the Reagan administration. They’ve seen the surrounding area develop, played good rounds and bad, but never lost that love for the links.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If I’m not capable, I guess I’ll stop\u2026 if I get in a wheelchair or something,\u201d Bledsoe said. \u201cBut I don’t plan to do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Bledsoe and Butler join a trend of near-centenarian women who still make regular trips to the course \u2014 a Pennsylvania woman celebrated her 100th birthday on a golf course in September <\/a>and a 99-year-old in Iowa last week<\/a> talked about how the game helps keep her young. But for Bledsoe and Butler, the benefits aren’t just physical.\u00a0<\/p>\n The parallels of life and golf<\/p>\n Bledsoe dug her tee into the grass on the third hole and took her stance on the third Friday of June. The flag waved from 99 yards away, a pond between the golfer and the hole.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The veteran swung slowly and smoothly. The pure sound of the driver rippled across the course as the ball sailed easily over the water, bouncing within 15 yards of the pin. A clean chip-and-putt earned a routine par.<\/p>\n A former 12-handicap, Bledsoe knows her skills have declined. She makes up for her decreased strength and\u00a0athleticism with poise and experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThey just kind of go play,\u201d Dina Phillips, a regular at Onion Creek Country Club, said. \u201cThey really don’t have bad shots. When they do, they don’t care.”<\/p>\n They still\u00a0recognize their mistakes, though. Butler drew some praise on the second hole after chipping her ball onto the green from the rough. She dismissed it as a \u201cbad shot\u201d since it rolled farther from the hole than she would\u2019ve liked.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But in a game where perfection eludes even the world\u2019s best, Butler and Bledsoe have mastered the art of flushing away their mistakes.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you have good days, and you have bad days,\u201d Butler said. \u201cI try to think of the good days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Nolette Butler walks to the putting green while golfing at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Bledsoe is a treasure trove of wisdom on the course. Phillips said she learned how to hit a low drive off her back foot from her friend. One of Bledsoe\u2019s favorite sayings is \u201crespect every putt.\u201d Having decades of experience under her belt, she understands how unforgiving golf can be to one who rushes the process.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s why Bledsoe can still outplay Campbell, who\u2019s 40 years younger, on Tuesdays when they\u2019re grouped.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Campbell said a wayward shot might throw her off her game and create frustration, leading her game into a downward spiral. Bledsoe doesn\u2019t let that happen. She moves on, understanding that the only thing she can do is continue striving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cLife is that way. You make mistakes, don’t you? And you try to correct them,\u201d Bledsoe said.<\/p>\n Taking it one day at a time, since 1974<\/p>\n Butler started playing at Onion Creek in 1974. When her husband would go off to golf with his friends, she\u2019d gather the wives and play a round with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The former Bergstrom Air Force Base was located near the club until it closed in 1993. Butler recalls playing with military dignitaries and generals. She said she always wondered why they came back to Austin, but she never asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe general scared me to death,\u201d Butler said, drawing some chuckles from her friends. \u201cHe did! He was rough.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Butler comes off as slightly reserved, she\u2019s the jokester of the pair, dropping blunt one-liners\u00a0with deft comedic timing. She lives in the Northwest Hills area, nearly 20 miles from Onion Creek, so she doesn\u2019t frequent the course as much as Bledsoe, who is a two-minute drive from the facility.<\/p>\n Bledsoe is warm and welcoming; there hardly seems to be a club member who hasn\u2019t heard of her. She moved to Onion Creek in 1980 and joined the Austin Area Women\u2019s Golf Association shortly after. Up until five years ago, when she retired from her position on the board, Bledsoe would welcome every new member personally.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Mary Lou Bledsoe steps up to tee off while golfing at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n When Donna Smith first joined the WGA, she said she was looking to join the Friday rounds hosted by the group. One of the women she played with told her to talk to Bledsoe, and she was in.<\/p>\n \u201cLike that,\u201d Smith said with a snap of her fingers. \u201cAnd these were not easy games to get into.\u201d<\/p>\n Kindness is second nature to Bledsoe. She said she\u2019s always been personable, even if she can\u2019t remember every one of the countless individuals she\u2019s met. It\u2019s part of why when she isn\u2019t on the course, she heads to the gym to get a workout in with the Onion Creek personal trainer.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Butler isn\u2019t around as much. She loves golf, but she also sees the sport as a way to escape the routine of everyday life. Butler isn\u2019t quite the social butterfly that Bledsoe is; she even says that Bledsoe is the better player.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no bigger reason why Butler continues to golf. She said she just takes it one day at a time.<\/p>\n \u201cGood Lord just isn’t ready for me yet. That’s all it is,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n Defying their age and expectations<\/p>\n Butler and Bledsoe aren\u2019t blind to their mortality. They\u2019ve seen both their husbands and a few friends pass away. Butler just had her 99th birthday in early June, and fellow WGA member Debbie Staub said she still teases Bledsoe about her relative youth, since the latter will hit the century mark in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In a country where the average life expectancy for women is 81.4 years, according to the National Center of Health Statistics, the 99-year-olds are outliers. And as time accumulates, wrinkles form and the senses dull, life transforms into something delicate.\u00a0The societal expectation is for the elderly to be ever-dependent on those around them. Butler and\u00a0Bledsoe defy that standard each time they take the course.<\/p>\n Up until a few months ago, Campbell said\u00a0Bledsoe would insist on walking to her ball if it landed on the fairway instead of driving the cart. Phillips admires Butler, who continues to make the drive from her house twice a week, which can be up to 40 minutes with traffic.<\/p>\n Nolette Butler steps up to tee off at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n \u201cThey know that their days are numbered from here on out,\u201d\u00a0Staub said. \u201cSo every chance they get, they come up here to play golf.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Their limitations are apparent to those around them at times, even if they tend not to notice. Campbell said they\u2019ll occasionally struggle to find their ball. Butler dropped out of her round on the second Friday of June due to the intense heat. Bledsoe and Butler’s slow pace can also frustrate younger, quicker golfers.\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019ll occasionally ask to move ahead of the seniors\u2019 groups, a break from golf etiquette. Campbell doesn\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n \u201cYou slow that person down and say, ‘Hey, I’m playing with a club legend today; an elder,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But Bledsoe and Butler don\u2019t see themselves as people worthy of special treatment. To them, the sport is part of their daily regimen; it keeps them tethered to life. They refuse to remain still and allow age to define them as their 100th birthday looms. It is why they\u2019ve made it this far in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Why wouldn\u2019t they want to spend the rest of their lives playing the sport they love, surrounded by their friends? That\u2019s essential to golf. Even life, according to Butler.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s getting into it,\u201d she said. \u201cEnjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nolette Butler grabs a driver from her bag while golfing at Onion Creek Club on Friday, June 19,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,92355,126109,154],"class_list":["post-354442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-local-journalism","tag-onion-creek-golf-course","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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