Sudden Death Play-off at the National Championships
Fall 1998
by Chris Pegram/Bob Andrews
The 1998 USBGA National Championship was filed with new stories and some of the best competitive blind golf played in years. Orange County National’s (OCN) Panther Lake golf course, located just west of the Orlando Disney World area, was the new site for this year’s exciting tournament. The beautiful yet relatively new course will soon be rated one of the best in Florida and set up well for blind golf, as seen by the scores below. OCN prides itself on being a public golfing complex with private club service and atmosphere…, which it certainly has!
One of the amazing records in all of blind golf did come to an end. Pat Browne’s National Championship winning streak of 20 consecutive titles was stopped by Orlando’s Keith Melick, who won the title for the first time. In order to win first place, Keith, coached by his wife Jean, had to survive a sudden death play-off by a hard charging Jim Baker, from Nashville, Tennessee. “Boom Boom Baker” as Jim is known, lived up to his nickname on the final holes with some incredible long accurate woods and irons. Jim’s coach, Kyle Seeley, could not have done a better job of yardage, club selection, and alignment.
The following brief account of the final three finishing holes
and one extra play-off hole was relayed by Coach Chris Pegram, who followed the
final twosomes in. Pat Browne and Keith Melick were tied with a 101 after the
first day of the 36-hole tournament. Just 4 strokes behind loomed Jim Baker.
Pat
and his coach, David Clark, were working well together in the final round and
were only 3 strokes behind Keith heading to the par 3, 17th hole. An
errant shot into the lake by Pat and a bogey 4 by Keith spelled the end for
Pat. Keith and Jean walked off the 18th green feeling pretty good,
having posted a 96 for what looked like a national title. Little did they know
that hurricane Mitch wasn’t the only storm brewing behind them. “Boom Boom”
Baker stood on the 16th hole with what appeared to be an
insurmountable 6 stroke lead by Keith. A blistering drive was followed by a 5
wood which landed near the green. A chip and a putt later, Jim had his par and
he picked up two strokes on Keith. The par 3, 17th was set at 129
yards. Kyle handed Jim a 9 iron, which he nailed 3 feet from the hole. A “hold
your breath” one putt for birdie now had Keith’s lead down to two strokes.
Keith had posted a 7 on the final par 5 hole, so Jim knew he needed to par the
hole to get into a play-off. The pressure apparently did not bother Jim, since
he took his driver and lived up to his nickname. Boom Boom launched the ball
the ball up the middle, 302 yards! A 3 wood and a soft pitch over the trap left
him 8 feet below the hole. The birdie putt for the win came up 2 inches short
and the play-off was underway. Jim and Kyle must be congratulated for shooting
a 92, while mounting an exciting charge and playing superb golf under immense
pressure.
It
only took one hole of sudden death to settle the tie, but it also was a
wonderful exhibition of two teams putting together one great shot after
another. Despite a light rain that was beginning to fall, both golfers had good
drives off the par 5, 10th tee. Although it was much shorter Keith’s
next fairway wood was up the middle and Jim’s shot was in the right rough.
Keith’s 11 wood to the green was near-perfect ending up 20 feet from the hole,
just one foot into the second cut. He followed this with a 7-iron bump, which
left him 10 inches from the hole. The pressure was back on Jim, who also lay 3
after his wedge came up short, about 50 feet from the hole. When Jim’s first
putt was long Keith nervously tapped in for par. Jim’s par putt failed to drop
and it was over. What a way to end a fine year of blind golf for Keith and
Coach Jean. They added a National Championship title to three other wins this
season.
Scores were generally lower this year with some new members showing much
improvement. There were 6 golfers within 7 strokes of the lead after the first
round. The first and only USBGA lady member, Sheila Drummond, re-qualified this
year and played well with the help from her coach, husband, Keith. Also, it was
good to see two second year Alabama golfers making a move up. Gerald Stricklin,
with Coach Joe Shurbutt, was much improved. James Meacham, with his coach, Chuck
Miller, really jumped up, winning the Joe Lazaro Trophy for the most improved,
as well as making the cut to play 18 holes on the final day.
The 53rd championship will always be remembered for the close competition. But there is always so much more that makes up a successful event, such as the Florida Hospital Golf Marshals, who score and run the golfing business to perfection; PGA professional Tom Mirus, a USBGA vision impaired member and USBGA Senior Rules official, who spends two days helping blind golfers play and benefit by the rules; the wonderful evening at EPCOT which is arrange by the tournament chairman, Jim McCaskill; the awards dinner at Alaqua Country Club, hosted by Jessie Pollack, her parents, and Susan Gregory; and finally, at the awards banquet, professional singer and USBGA member, Nick Genovese, entertained, while Jake Vest, the national syndicated cartoonist, was the hilarious Master of Ceremonies. Overall, it was an excellent way to end a successful year of blind golf.
National Championship Results
1st Place National Champion
Keith Melick /Jean (Florida)................... 101- 96=197
2nd Place
Jim Baker / Kyle Seeley (Tennessee)..... 105- 92=197
3rd Place
Pat Browne /David Clark (Louisiana)................. 101-102=203
4. Chuck Koepke /Wayne Koenig (Canada)..…..106-109=215
5. Bob Andrews / Tina (Florida)……………..…108-112=220
6. Dave Meador /Bo Casey (Tennessee)……..…106-118=224