I played little golf this year; my highlights came from watching the game. Two events stand out:
-- This fall's USGA Mid-Amateur championship, held at Milwaukee Country Club (along with stroke-play at the nearby Brown Deer muni), was a real treat. I've highlighted the outstanding MCC course in some previous threads...
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,36505.0.htmlhttp://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,37107.0.html...but the tournament itself was a real joy to take in.
A few small highlights:
-- Mid-Am winner Steve Wilson, far from his Mississippi home, sitting with just his caddie at a modest table outside the MCC clubhouse, eating a sandwich while waiting for the afternoon round of the 36-hole final to begin. No hangers-on, no out-of-control media mob, no fans pushing against rope lines -- just a golfer on the verge of a USGA title.
-- Walking some of the final match alongside longtime USGA official Bob Hooper. More than any single person, Hooper is responsible for the creation and nurturing of the USGA Mid-Am, a true amateur's amateur tournament. Bob is 75, and walks a course quicker than most folks half his age. If I'm that spry 30 years from now, well, I know I've done something right. What a great gentleman, and steward of the game.
-- At the conclusion of the tournament, white-gloved wait staff from the club offered champagne and hors d'oeuvres to a small crowd gathered near the front door of the clubhouse. MCC doesn't open its doors all that often -- this year's Mid-Am was just the third significant tourney hosted by the club in the past three decades -- but when it does, it knows how to do it. Wonderful and quite thoughtful members helped make the tournament a terrific experience.
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I previously highlighted the unselfish and classy efforts of PGA pro Jerry Kelly, who took time off from his practice session at University Ridge GC to help out the state-bound Madison East golf team during a practice session on the range:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,36913.0.htmlHow Madison (WI) East got to the state tournament -- its first appearance there in 17 years -- is just as good of a story. In Wisconsin, qualifying for the state tournament is a two-stage process -- four teams qualify out of regional tournaments for the sectionals, then only two of the eight teams at the sectional tourneys (six of which are held around the state) qualify for the state tourney. Team scores are based on the four lowest 18-hole rounds posted among the five varsity golfers.
At the first-stage regional tourney, Madison East's 5th golfer -- senior Melanie Whitcomb -- took a misstep in the rough and wrenched her knee. She was unable to complete her round, meaning East had to count all the rounds of its remaining four golfers. But no matter; they all played pretty well, including East's 4th golfer, a freshmen who's been competing in golf for only a few years. East won the regional and moved on to the sectional tourney.
Leading up to sectionals, East coach Mark Buffet (a good friend of mine) asked Whitcomb if she could play. She hadn't practiced all week, and was limited to hitting a few practice balls on the range. But, she put on a knee brace and decided to give it a try. The sectional tourney began under cool temperatures and threatening skies. As sometimes happens under tournament pressure, East's 4th golfer, the young freshman, began scattering balls all over on a course that punishes wayward shots. When the East golfers made the turn for the back nine, they stood 10 strokes behind the first-place team, and nine strokes behind the second-place team and final qualifying spot. Mark went up to Melanie, working on an OK round despite the bad knee, and told her he was probably going to have to count her score, given the problems his 4th golfer was having. She nodded her head OK, and walked over to the 10th tee.
Then the skies opened up, rain came down, the wind picked up, and temperatures dropped -- in short, miserable conditions. And Melanie Whitcomb went out and played some of the best nine holes of her career -- a 45, bogey golf, with pars on two of the last three holes of the round. On one good knee. The rest of the team played well, too, but her scored ended up being counted -- in fact, it was the best score posted by any of sectional teams' 5th golfers the entire day, and better than all but one of the other teams' 4th golfers. East ended up winning the sectional tourney by four strokes, and with it earned a memorable trip to the state tournament -- thanks in large part to Melanie's back nine.
Tiger was no more inspirational, or courageous, at Torrey Pines.
The epilogue? East didn't play that great at the two-day state tournament, held at the tough University Ridge course near Madison. Melanie played a full practice round, then the opening 18 holes of the rugged course, but her knee gave out as she made the turn for the final nine holes of the 36-hole tourney. She didn't want to drop out without first talking to her coach, so I hustled off to find Mark. He came over to the clubhouse, put his arm around her, and told her it was OK. "You got us here," he told her.
Maybe I'm getting crusty, but I find myself enthused less and less by professional athletics, and even find the cynicism rampant among college athletics off-putting. But athletes who play the sport for the love of it, backed by maybe a few friends and families, have a way of inspiring me.