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Keesler member aces 120-yard drive

  • Published
  • By Susan Griggs
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Ed Simpson Sr., who traded his basketball for a golf ball when he retired from active duty in 2008, landed his first hole-in-one at the Bay Breeze Golf Course March 13.

Simpson, facilities resource manager for the 81st Training Support Squadron, was golfing after work with retired Senior Master Sgt. Steve Harris when he aced the 120-yard No. 12 hole with a nine-iron.

"I am normally a bogey golfer, but that particular day I shot a 79," admitted Simpson, a former master sergeant who worked in the 333rd Training Squadron before he changed units last year.

A St. Louis native, he was introduced to golf by his grandfather, Francis Hicks. He took up the game in earnest when his best friend, Alphonso Overton, presented him with a set of golf clubs as a retirement gift.

"He said I was getting a little too old to keep running up and down the basketball court, and I've been golfing ever since," Simpson recalled. "Unfortunately, he passed away due to cancer, but I think he's the guide that directed the ball into the No. 12 hole."

Since adopting his new sport, he plays golf five times a week. He walks nine holes after work three days a week and rides 18 holes on Saturday and Sunday after church.

Simpson went through technical training at Keesler and returned twice for assignments, choosing to make his home here after retirement nearly six years ago.

Simpson's basketball skills were well-known while he was still in uniform. He was a standout on the base intramural and varsity basketball teams. He played six years on the Air Force team, earning three gold and two silver medals, and three years on the Armed Forces squad, claiming one gold and one silver medal.

He's passed along his love of the game to his son, who graduates from high school this spring and is headed to Middle Tennessee State University on a basketball scholarship. He may be watching his son on the hardwood, but he'll continue to pursue his new passion on the course.

"I've been giving my clubs quite a workout, and I had thought about getting a new set, but I think I'll hang on to these ones for now," Simpson said.
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