They have been a team for many years. Bob, 77, is a Wright-Patterson AFB retiree who played college golf at Carnegie-Mellon University.
“He got me started in the game,” Steve said last week. He’s always caddied for me. He left his retirement luncheon early (many years ago) to caddy for me in a Nike event in Tennessee.”
Walking the fairways with his son in a Senior Open probably will be just as much fun for Bob as for Steve.
Making the 36-hole cut is not Steve’s goal, but playing 72 holes is. In other words, he is taking the positive approach. It’s been 25 years since he last played in a 72-hole event, and it figures to be 100 degrees in Sacramento.
“I’m not worried about doing it physically,” Steve said. “It’s dry out there and it’s a fairly flat course. I am worried about my dad. It could be difficult for him.”
Steve doesn’t expect to be enamored with the big-name players in the event. “I’m not built that way,” he explained. “It would be cool to play with Ian Woosnam and Gene Sauers because we’re all about 5-foot-5, but that’s not going to happen.”
The men who must qualify for the event are never paired with the big-name players.
Steve, 51, thinks he can compete. His scoring average for 26 rounds this year is 75.2. He shot 68 in the sectional qualifier.
“My skill level is good enough to be very competitive,” he said, “but my mental fortitude hasn’t been tested like this before.”
Women's Amateur at CCN: A field of 55 — 12 of whom have single-digit handicaps — will tee it up this week in the annual Dayton District Women's Golf Association Amateur Championship at Country Club of the North.
The first 36 holes, Tuesday and Wednesday, will serve as the Stroke Play Championship and set the brackets for the match play beginning Thursday.
Weather permitting, there will be one match Thursday, a double round Friday and a 36-hole final Saturday. Play begins at 8 a.m. each day. There will be 16 in the championship flight.
Top contenders, in order of their handicaps, are: Amanda Dixon, Lindsey Murray, Esha Kulkarni, Mikaela Hadaway, Morgan Eib, Cathy Jefferson, Jamie Witt, Tee Pazitney, Daryl Nels, Peg Wynkoop, Penny Bitzer and Jacque Howell.
OSWGA tourney poorly run: From the reports I've gotten from participants in the recent Women's Ohio State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship at the Catawba Island Club, it was a complete farce.
Space will not permit me to tell the whole story, but it is obvious that some of the tournament administrators — all volunteers — did a poor job.
Nine players were disqualified, most because they were not told they could not use a marked drop area on the 141-yard par 3 16th hole. It required a tee shot fully over water with no alternative. Some withdrew after pumping multiple balls in the water and realizing they could not play the hole.
“We played a practice round (on the 16th) at 101 yards and in the first round it’s 141 yards with nowhere to bail,” said Daryl Nels, who tied three other players for third place with a pair of 89s.
Nels re-read the instructions after learning of the disqualifications. “Nowhere did it mention the drop area,” she said. “The starter was supposed to tell groups about it. He told some and not others.”
Apparently the course was set up far too difficult for many of the senior participants in what for many is as much a social event as a competition. Difficult pin positions, fast greens, long rough grass and a rainstorm made the first round a nightmare as only 31 of 72 players broke 100. Some left saying they would never play in the event again.
Tee Pazitney of Kettering apparently was a victim of some poor math by whomever processed her scorecard. Pazitney shot 92-85, which would have put her alone in second place at 177, but she was given a score of 88 in the second round for a 180 total.
Before Pazitney knew about it, the scores were declared final and the trophies were awarded. Her only consolation is that she will be listed as the runner-up in the WOSGA archives.
Chip shots
• The City of Centerville will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Yankee Trace golf course Thursday with a ceremony, a luncheon and a round of golf for invitees.
• Sarah Willis, a rising sophomore at Eaton High School, won the prestigious Hudson Junior Invitational on June 9. She posted a 3-under-par 69 in the final round to win by five strokes with a 54-hole total of 220. It was the first time she has broken 70.
• Moraine Country Club has closed nine of its 18 holes to allow workers to begin a major remodeling project. The other nine holes will close July 6. The club expects to re-open the course next spring.
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