At the same time, visitors coming to the Henryetta Golf and Country Club will be welcomed by the six-foot duffer wearing the traditional golf hat and knickers and brandishing an antique wooden golf club.
Francis, as the wooden statue has been named was carved this week out of a dead pine tree that would have otherwise been cut down and sent to the burn pile.
Tom Zimmer, a resident artist at Choctaw, spent the week roughing out then fine-tuning the cuts to turn a bug infested stump into a work of art.
The New York native had been a logger but quit that occupation to look for the beauty in the trees that he was cutting down. He used his trusty chainsaw to turn logs into bears, eagles and just about anything else he could carve.
Word started spreading around and, when the decision was made to cut down the tall dead pine tree sitting next to what used to be the golf course club house, members sought Zimmer out.
He began work on the project Wednesday, cutting off slabs of wood and piling up a large mound of sawdust.
The rain interferred with his work slightly but the finished product was unveiled Thursday afternoon to the delight of club members.
The statue was donated by club member Brian Lloyd who gave the wooden golfer his name.
