Friends fore life

The game of golf is a popular pastime and the River's Bend Golf Course in Thompson Falls offers a scenic 9-hole course for a relaxing game. David Tallant and Rees Woolford are two friends that have been meeting up to play on the course for almost nine years.

The friends met in 1985 while they were both working in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as bank examiners for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Before he and his wife Laura bought a summer home in Thompson Falls in 2007, Tallant had been making trips to Montana for the past 40 years and loved the area.

Tallant spends around six months in Thompson Falls and the remaining months in Hawaii, where he's sure to get a few rounds in on one of their beautiful courses as well. After David and Laura moved to Thompson Falls, they would have barbeques and other gatherings at their house and Rees, along with his wife Kay, would come up for a visit and also fell in love with the area.

Woolford made the decision to move to Thompson Falls permanently in 2009 and joined Tallant on the River's Bend course. He credits Tallant as the inspiration for getting him into golfing.

In every game there is usually a bit of a competitive spirit, especially if you've been playing together for close to 10 years. This is not the case with Woolford and Tallant. They meet in the mornings a few times a week to spend time together and enjoy a relaxing game of golf.

In past years they would meet more frequently and at the early hour of 6 or 7 a.m. to play, but as the years have gone by their tee time has gotten a little later and they regularly meet up around 9 a.m. There is a camaraderie between them where they strive to support and make the other better.

"Well David is the better golfer," Woolford answered with a smile when asked which of the two won more often. "He's been playing longer."

Tallant has golfed courses all over the country and insists that the River's Bend is one of his favorites. The pair also golf in the Over the Hill league on Monday mornings. Before every game, Tallant likes to get in his ritual of stretches that help his swing.

"It's an obsession," Tallant said. "I got into golfing 20 years ago. I used to work in Hawaii a lot and saw all these nice golf courses there and thought it would be fun to try."

Once Tallant tried his hand at golf for the first time that was all it took for him to get hooked. In 2017, both Tallant and Woolford competed in the River's Bend club championship in Thompson Falls and Woolford came out with the victory, factoring in his handicap. Rees's wife Kay has also been bitten by the golf bug in the last couple years and has been taking lessons by local golf legend Gary Thompson.