I'm in trouble now.

Two guys I bet with when I golf with them have just retired, and that means they'll have more time to work on their game.

I celebrated with them at their retirement parties — Judge James S. Burns at the Waialae Country Club and University of Hawai'i men's basketball coach Riley Wallace at the Stan Sheriff Arena.

Not that retirement means they'll easily lower their golf handicaps. It doesn't help. Take my word for it, I know.

"I don't want a lower handicap. I want to raise my handicap. I have a loss of income. They fired me for being too old," said Burns, forced to leave the bench after 30 years in the Hawai'i State Judiciary because of the mandatory retirement age when he turned 70 last week.

Wallace, you might say, also had a mandatory retirement of sorts. But not because of any age requirement. He leaves after 20 years as head basketball coach and, to his credit, called his team the Rainbows all throughout that time, endearing him to a loyal Go 'Bows fan like me.

What doesn't endear him to me is that Riley's rather chintzy when it comes to giving strokes. I have to beg to get three a side. Maybe now I can get more because he's got a lot of room to work with in lowering his 18-handicap.

In Jim's case, it'll be rather difficult because he plays to a 5-handicap. And being fair-minded on a golf course as he was as chief judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals for the past 20 years, he didn't mind giving me a stroke a hole.

It'll probably be a different story now.

Burns might have given up the gavel, but he won't give up his golf clubs, especially his beloved long belly putter.

And he'll remain active in lending support of the many organizations he's involved with, including the Governor's Cup, a Ryder Cup-like format involving the state's leading professionals and amateurs, named in honor of his late father, John A. Burns.

Like his father, Burns has touched so many lives in so many different ways.

He's a guy who doesn't mind playing with hackers even though he has teed it up with golfers named Arnie, Dean and Michelle. Yes, he's on a first-name basis with Palmer, Wilson and Wie.

Burns also played a round with Sen. Barack Obama when he visited his native state and his alma mater, Punahou School.

And so it was a proud moment last Friday night at Waialae when Burns' wife of nearly 20 years, Emme Tomimbang, noted that not only did her husband receive letters of congratulations on his retirement from Hawai'i Senators Daniel Akaka and Dan Inouye, but also an e-mail from Obama for the occasion:

"I just want to congratulate Jim on an extraordinary career. I am only worried that he will have more time to play golf, since he already administered a thorough beating on me the last time we played together, Good luck, Jim — we are proud of you."

So Burns is a guy who plays golf with top pros, a presidential candidate and entertainers, in particularly Willie K (Kahaiali'i), who not only sings Hawaiian music but also belts out a bravo-inducing rendition of "Nessun Dorma."

Golf, though, can be a humbling game, as Burns found out.

Singer Melveen Leed recalled a time she played with him when someone yelled, "Eh, you Burns, eh?" When Burns replied that he was, the guy said, "Your son married to Emme, eh?"

Mr. Emme, as Burns likes to call himself, learned the game from Ted Makalena, who was his high school golf coach at St. Louis College as it was known then.

Hall of Fame golfer Ron Castillo Sr. recalls never having beaten Burns until he went away to college, getting a law degree at Villanova. They still play together with their Sunday morning gang at Waialae and more often than not, Burns gets the best of Castillo.

That Burns is playing golf and has enjoyed career of distinction in the state judiciary is remarkable, considering his mother, Beatrice, gave birth to him after she was paralyzed with polio. Doctors recommended an abortion.

"He was a miracle baby," says Emme.

One of the many persons Burns thanked that night was Seishiro Okazaki, a martial arts instructor who was into the healing arts. He took Beatrice into his care and as a result she lived and so did Burns.

"He was a very special man in our lives," Burns said. "My father only called me by middle name, Seishiro."