Fortunately for Jim McCabe, he’s been able to spend a lot of time this summer playing golf. But just as the summer began, after I gently nudged him during an interview for a story on his retirement from Southern Regional School District, he made the commitment to play miniature golf against me.

“I took the challenge because you implored me,” he said plainly on Aug. 11, after we roasted on the Low Tide course of Jen’s Links in Barnegat Light. “I always try to accommodate the implorer.