Muriel and Moe, both in their 90s, still loving golf at Gannon

​LYNN — Between them, they have nearly two centuries of wisdom. And almost as much experience driving -- off the tee, that is

Moe Atherton, who will be 91 in November, and Muriel Mynahan, who turned 95 in April, are the oldest male and female golfers at Gannon Golf Club. Atherton plays four times a week, in the Shoe City League and the 32 Club, while Mynahan plays once in a week in the GE Ladies League.

Mynahan, of Lynn, has been a trailblazer of sorts in the game. She is one of the founding members of her league, which has been on the fairways for more than 55 years. But she began playing well before that, and — in a reversal of traditional roles — drafted her husband into the game.

After graduating from Lynn Classical, she got started while working as a secretary at General Electric’s West Lynn plant. The company was hosting a golf outing, and she and a friend decided to join in, even though neither of them had ever played the game before.

“Her brother was a real good golfer. So she brought his clubs with her. That was the first time that we played,” Mynahan said. “And then we (kept playing), and my husband started playing."

She began taking lessons with the Tedesco Country Club pro through the YMCA in Lynn. (Mynahan couldn’t recall his name, but Tedesco’s current pro, Bob Green, believes it would have been Alex Ellis, who was the club’s pro from 1929 to 1951.)

Atherton got his start on the links when he was about 16, taking lessons from his father, Horace.

“My father repaired clubs. He knew all about golf,” said Atherton, who worked at Tedesco while he was a student at Lynn English.

“He used to go up to Lynnfield, (Sagamore Spring Golf Club). A guy by the name of Apple (George Apalakis) was a pro there. My father got to know him, and my father used to repair all his clubs for him. We used to play there all the time. Then he went to Salem Country Club, doing the same thing.”

Atherton took a long break from the game when he enlisted in the Army in March 1943, his senior year of high school. A member of the Greatest Generation, he didn’t want to wait to be drafted to serve during World War II. He earned seven battle stars during his service.

But when the war ended, the golf course called to him again.

“We were in Munich, Germany, and we were there for five months waiting to get enough points to get out or go to Korea,” he said. “This guy says, ‘There's a golf course in Bavaria not far from here. You know anybody who wants to play golf?’ Well, yeah! So about six of us hopped on the back of the truck and played there two or three times.

“It was fantastic. Something as you get older, you'll look back on. It was 70 years ago.”

Then he added with a chuckle: “We were drinking a few beers, too."

Atherton, who lives in Peabody, also worked at GE, as a quality control inspector for 28 years before retiring in 1985 to drive a school bus. He has five holes-in-one on his resume — most recently on Gannon’s 14th hole in 2013, at the age of 88 — and guesses his handicap is about a 12 or 14. His game -- like many things -- has changed over the years.

“Quite a bit,” he said. “You find that the older you get, you lose (your long game). And then you lose your short game, too.”

But, it’s not only about the numbers on the scorecard.

“The men. The gentlemen,” Atherton said of the best thing about playing at Gannon. “They’re all good guys. I don’t know two bad guys up here. And the people in (the pro shop) are fantastic.”

The feeling is mutual about Atherton, who has three sons (“You know you’re old when your sons are retired,” he said), nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. His wife Shirley died last year.

“To play with Moe Atherton is a joy, an absolute joy,” said David Solimine Sr., who plays twice a week with him in the Shoe City League. “That’s the best way I can describe it. His attitude, everything about him, he just has a good feeling. And he’s realized, like we all do, that things aren’t like they used to be. So we’re not going to do everything we used to be able to do. He accepts it, keeps plugging, and he’s great company. He’s just a good person.”

While Atherton is a member at Gannon, Mynahan, who retired from the GE River Works in 1981, gave up her membership a few years ago. But she still plays once a week, and considers it an honor to be the most-senior woman at the course.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said. “These girls are something else. They are so nice to me. They really are. They say, ‘We want to be like you.’”

But Mynahan expects no special considerations on the course.

“We’re all impressed. We’re in awe,” said Patty Roderick, the president of the GE Ladies League. “We look at her and say, ‘Wow, she’s just amazing.’ You would never in a million years think she’s 95 years old. The way she just runs around the course. We’ll say, ‘Muriel, slow down, get in the cart.’ And she just says ‘no.’

“She has the best outlook on life and she makes the best raisin cookies. And it never fails. It always seems to be the hottest day of the year and she brings two big batches up that she baked, and everybody dives in they’re so good. She’s unbelievable.”

Mynahan, who husband William died 21 years ago, has four daughters — she’ll be heading to Hawaii for the winter with one — seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

They’ve both seen tremendous changes over the years -- in the game of golf and in life. It gives them a unique perspective.

“Someone said, 'How come you're able to do this, that, and the other thing?’” Mynahan said. “'You just got to keep busy. Once you retire, don't sit in the house and do nothing. Get up and move around and get into something that you want to do.”

Maureen Mullen can be reached at mmullen@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MaureenAMullen.

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