A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from August 23, 2014
“I hit two great balls on the golf course—I stepped on a rake” (joke)

An old joke has a golfer say this after a bad round of golf:
 
“I hit two great balls on the golf course—I stepped on a rake at the sand trap.”
 
The joke has been cited in print in 1985, but is probably older. Comedian Henny Youngman (1906-1998), American actor, singer and comedian Dean Martin (1917-1995) and others have been credited for telling the joke.
 
   
13 June 1985, The Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), “TV/radio sports” by Jim O’Donnell, sec. 4, pg. 3, col. 3:
And ex-Black Hawks star Stan Mikita, currently the director of golf at Kemper Lakes, left the WLS-CHannel 7 Sports audience buzzing recently when he told Tim Weigel after a disappointing round, “The best balls I hit today were when I stepped on a rake back at that sand trap.”
   
Google Groups: rec.sport.golf
HAS ANY ONE GOT SOME GOOD GOLF JOKES ??
Dave Gavin
6/10/94
....After a bad round….  “The best two balls I hit all day was when I stepped on a rake in the sandtrap”
 
Google Groups: rec.sport.golf
Favorite “Golf-isms”?
cgdick
5/19/96
One of those bad days, reply to a “How was it?”.
“The only good ball I hit all day was when I stepped on a rake.”
 
Google Books
Memories Are Made of This:
Dean Martin Through His Daughter’s Eyes

By Deana Martin with Wendy Holden
New York, NY: Three Rivers Press
2004
Pg. 149:
“I played golf today and hit two great balls—I stepped on a rake“ was one favorite.
 
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Comic Quotes
By Geoff Tibballs
London: Constable & Robinson Ltd.
2004
Pg. ?:
What a terrible round of golf! I only hit two good balls all day and that was when I stood on a rake.
JIMMY TARBUCK
 
Google Books
The Friars Club Encyclopedia of Jokes: Revised and Updated!
Over 2,000 One-liners, Straight Lines, Stories, Gags, Roasts, Ribs & Put-Downs

Compiled by Barry Dougherty and H. Aaron Cohl
New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.
2009
Pg. 460:
While playing golf today, I hit two good balls. I stepped on a rake. —HENNY YOUNGMAN
 
Twitter
Eldan Schoeman
‏@EldanLegend
I hit two great balls today on the golf course, I stepped on a rake
1:54 PM - 21 Aug 2013
 
Washington (DC) Post
Joining the golf club — I get it, President Obama
By Alexandra Petri August 22, 2014 at 7:15 PM
(...)
I hit two great balls, like that guy in the old joke who tripped over a rake.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CitySports/Games • Saturday, August 23, 2014 • Permalink


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