May 31, 2011

Anyone who is really paying attention knows that the world is full of miracles and wonders: Labrador puppies, the Interwebs, night vision, pot vaporizers, those Coke Freestyle machines at Jack in the Box (c’mon, 100 flavors is just fucking sick! All that’s missing is a “vodka” selection). We have a few right here in Austin – not just the Coke Freestyles, but miracles and wonders too. We have Barton Springs, the nightly exodus of 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats, Leslie Cochran, Hippie Hollow, food trailers, moon towers … but there is one huge miracle/wonder that goes largely unnoticed, and that is the Butler Park Pitch & Putt Golf Course behind the Jack in the Box on Barton Springs Road. Why is it a miracle? Because it hasn’t been sold and converted to expensive high-rise condos. That’s nearly impossible to comprehend, isn’t it? How could such a large parcel of expensive Austin real estate remain untainted by the hot crotch of greed? How could it maintain its innocence? Well, it never has, really. As bucolic as the name sounds, Butler Park Pitch & Putt has a fascinating and sordid history. It may not look like it today, but the course was built on the remains of the old Butler Brick clay mine. When the clay played out in the late 1940s, the property sat undeveloped for several years until a golf pro named John Douglas Kinser petitioned the city to build a nine-hole, par 3 golf course on the site. His plan became a reality, and on June 1, 1950, the Butler Park Pitch & Putt opened to the public. Less than two years later, Kinser was murdered in broad daylight by a fellow named Malcolm Wallace who, along with Kinser, was rumored to be having an affair with then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson’s sister, Josepha. Intrigued, right? Maybe somebody should have kept his putter in the bag …. On Oct. 22, 1951, Wallace drove to the Pitch & Putt and shot Kinser five times in broad daylight with a .25 caliber pistol, then drove away in his station wagon. Both the car and Wallace were identified by witnesses, and the police arrested Wallace shortly thereafter. Interestingly, Wallace had worked for LBJ before being appointed as an economist to the Department of Agriculture, and when he went to trial in February of the following year, he was represented by LBJ’s attorney, John Cofer. Because of the overwhelming evidence (murder weapon, shell casings, blood stains, eye witnesses), Wallace was convicted of first-degree murder. Eleven of the 12 jurors voted for the death penalty, with one holding out for life in prison, but the judge overruled the jury and announced a five-year prison sentence, which he then suspended. Wallace was immediately freed. If you believe the conspiracy theorists (or historians as they like to be called), Wallace went on to murder several more people, including John F. Kennedy, on LBJ’s behalf. If that’s actually true, then the perpetrator (or one of the perpetrators) of the most famous assassinations of the 20th century got his start right here in Austin … at the little ol’ Pitch & Putt behind the Jack in the Box on Barton Springs Road. In America, anything is possible. For instance, this Friday at the Butler Park Pitch & Putt the Dream Come True Foundation is hosting the South Austin Pitch and Pooch Celebrity Golf Tournament and Canine Extravaganza – the “World’s Smallest Golf Tournament” that includes its own Jimmy Buffett-costumed dog parade. Participants can compete for prizes, get pictures with their dogs in Buffett attire, and bask in the glow of celebrities like Cedric Benson. Yes, in America, anything is possible, and that’s what the Dream Come True Foundation is all about: helping young people transition out of poverty. Anytime that happens it’s a miracle.