Syracuse native Ruth Colvin has accomplished a lot in her life. So much, in fact, that she once received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.

But what she's accomplishing as an athlete might be even more impressive.

She doesn't hit the ball quite as far as she used to. Then again, who does? She also doesn't always hit it quite as well. But when you've been playing golf for more than 70 years, since Harry Truman was president, birdies take a back seat.

"I'm meeting lots of young friends," Colvin said during a recent practice session. "You see, most of the people my age are gone."

And the ones who aren't are not playing golf.

"Once you're at your top, and your game starts slipping, you give it up," said Colvin, who added there are other over 90-year-olds who belong to her country club, but none of them still play golf.

"I say, don't give it up," she said.

And she hasn't.

Colvin gets out and plays two or three times a week during the season. Sometimes, she even sneaks in a few laps at the pool. But she has had to cut down a little. Four years ago, she went from 18 holes down to 9 when she celebrated her 100th birthday.

"So, you were still playing 18 holes when you turned 100?" Spectrum News 1 asked.

"Yeah, around there," she answered. "But I wasn't playing very well."

But instead of quitting, she found a ladies group to tee it up with on Wednesdays, with women 40 years her junior. And although she normally doesn't score as well as they do, Colvin said the age gap makes a big difference.

"When I was 60, I could beat them," said the former CNY district competitor. "But, when they're 104, they can compete with me."

So she keeps playing for the competition and she keeps playing for the camaraderie. And because no matter how long you play this game, you never quite figure it out.

"You have to practice. You have to practice, and practice, and accept the ups and the downs," Colvin said. "But, learn to count, and be honest about it. That's what's important."

Colvin uses her fingers. This icon of literacy, who founded Literacy Volunteers of America back in 1962, became an amateur mathematician because she's also found out over the years that her playing partners sometimes need a little help remembering how many shots they've taken.

"If I saw that they were not quite remembering, I won't say they were dishonest, they weren't quite remembering, I'd say, 'I'm lying one, you're lying one. I'm lying two, you're lying two,'" Colvin said.

They don't usually argue either.

You get the idea that, though she admits she's on the back nine in life, Ruth still has plenty of holes left to play, putts to line up, pars to make and perspectives to change.

"It's just a game," said Colvin, who turns 105 in December. "It's not life, it's just a game. Some of them, most of them, are better than I am at the game than I am, but I can compete in something. And one of the things they're interested in, my age. 'If she can do it, I'll do it.'"