22 GOLFERS PUNCH TICKET TO NYSGA MEN’S MID-AM, By John Craig

FORT JOHNSON – Besides the high heat and humidity, the other thing on the minds of players at Rolling Hills CC at Antlers were the quick greens. One golfer was heard saying they were “rolling fine” while another threatened to return with a backhoe and dig them up so they’d have to be rebuilt.

So it goes at the second of nine qualifiers around the state in the New York State Golf Association’s Men’s Mid-Amateur Qualifier on Monday.

“It’s a qualifier so all I was trying to do was keep going ahead,” said Robby Bigley, who was one of two to shoot 71. “Pars are good in this, just trying to stay around par.” Bigley of Pinehaven CC rolled in a 10-footer from behind the tricky 18th green for his second of two birdies on the round. He also had an eagle at the par-5, 510-yard fourth hole.

The other 71 came from Mike Wheeler of Shaker Ridge CC. He had three bogeys and two birdies. Of 54 golfers who started the round at the 6,326-yard, par-70 Rolling Hills CC, just west of Amsterdam, the top-20 and ties qualified from this region. In all, 22 qualified with scores from 71-82. Qualifying began at nine sites around the state Aug. 13 and will conclude Aug. 31. Players advance to the Championship at Glens Falls CC September 25-27.
WEATHER WOES

Heavy fog delayed the start of the qualifier by about half an hour and when that lifted, the players had to deal with the high temperatures and oppressive humidity. The NYSGA put out extra coolers full of water for the players. Still, it was a struggle for some.

“It wasn’t too bad on the front nine,” Wheeler said. “They had just enough cold water out there for us. I’m probably about a gallon overdue right now.” While most players wore shorts, Joe Parrottino of Albany CC wore pants because he was worried about mosquitoes. He’d already been chewed up this past weekend. He said there was plenty of water and some shade.

Jimmy Welch of Winding Brook walked and carried his bag.“It was hot coming in but it was fine,” Welch said. “The greens just got faster.” “Got to play in it, keep hydrated,” said Bigley.
THE 71s

Wheeler, 32, said he had been struggling with his putter all year but felt pretty good s the Edison Invitational August 10. He had not seen the course in six years and didn’t play a practice round so he was happy with his 36-35. “I was putting defensively all day, even from ten feet,” Wheeler said. “I’m not a real aggressive putter to begin with.”

Bigley, who walked but had his bag on a cart, was three-under through nine with an eagle and a birdie. But he started the back bogey-double bogey-bogey. “I don’t think the architect, when he designed the course, had envisioned greens that were stimping 10 or 11 so it makes for impossible shots sometimes,” Bigley said.
THE 72 & 73

Parrottino (37-35) did not play a practice round either but says he kept the driver in his bag, laid up and the greens were his. “Everything under 15-feet I made, that’s how beautiful it was rolling,” said Parrottino, who started with back-to-back bogeys before a birdie on the fourth. After a bogey at 10, a par-4, 422-yard hole, he had eight straight pars. “I played it ultra-conservatively because I didn’t understand the layout of the course or the angles and it paid off because the putting was there,” he said. “The greens are rolling so nicely that if you got the ball on the green, even though they were slopey and quick, you got a shot.”

Mike Reardon (73) drove up from Tuxedo, NY near the NJ border because this qualifier fit his schedule best.
He came up Sunday afternoon and got a quick look at the course before settling in to watch the final few holes of the PGA Championship. Reardon, 47, finished fourth when the State Mid-Am was at Shaker Ridge CC in 2004. At Rolling Hills, he had the best start of anyone – birdie, birdie, par, eagle – then bogeyed 7 & 9, doubled 11, birdied 15, bogeyed 16 & 17 and doubled 18 for his +3.

“I felt like I had to get off to a good start,” Reardon said. “I ran around here [Sunday] night for about two hours. “I take serious notes on where to hit the drive, where to hit the second shot, what way the green goes,” he said about his practice round. “I don’t keep score, I’m just hitting shots.” After the round, he changed and met his wife at the Amtrak station in Rensselaer for their vacation to Maine.
CLUB-BUDDY QUALIFIERS

Five clubs put in multiple qualifiers: Pinehaven CC, Shaker Ridge CC, Normanside CC, McGregor Links CC and The Edison Club. Bigley and Kevin Hart (79) are from Pinehaven CC. Wheeler, Jimmy Cocca (77) and C.J. O’Rourke (82) are from Shaker Ridge CC. Greg Stopera (79) and Michael Gifford (82) are from The Edison Club, David Huestis (80) and Dennis Gosier (81) hail from McGregor Links CC.

Peter Broderick and Steve Owens, both of Normanside Country Club, also made the cut. Owens, who finished third at the 2004 Mid-Am at Shaker Ridge, was in the first group out. He posted a 78 that held up. Broderick, 42, took the day off from Albany Spring Service, where he is owner and president, to shoot a 74. He was not as worried about suspensions for heavy cars, trucks, buses and trailers as he was of Rolling Hills.

“You have to really think your way around this golf course because you don’t want to miss it on the wrong sides,” Broderick said. He did get a practice round in, used his SkyCaddie, and mentally mapped out the course. He birdied the 12th but said his practice helped at the par-4, 350-yard third hole. “That’s one you have to play at least once to understand it,” he said.
OTHER QUALIFIERS

Jimmy Welch of Valatie started his round with three straight bogeys (40 on the front) and had 36 putts but carded a 77 which got him on to Glens Falls. “Because of the greens, if you got aggressive you’d be on the wrong side and you would have no chance,” he said. He did not get in a practice round but said the course was fun to play. “It’s real tough to avoid all the bullets,” Welch said. “There’s a lot of [tough] spots.”

Darren Hart, who works at Schenectady Municipal Golf Course, birdied one of the two par-5s, the fourth. He says the heat got to him toward the end of his round but his 80 got him to the last weekend in September. “[The greens] were holding some shots, it’s just you can’t get on the wrong side,” Hart said. “I don’t know if I deserve it but I’ll take it.”

76: Doug Hart of Rolling Hills; 79: David Jelenik of Saratoga National GC, Joe Quillinan of CC of Troy, John Stuerke of Sycamore CC; 81: Steve Bartholomew of Thunderhart GC, 82: Brad Anderson of Delhi College and Tony Lupo of Ballston Spa CC.
MISSING OUT

Among those missing the cut was Paul Lundberg of Shaker Ridge CC who shot 83. “Some interesting pin positions out there and tough if you got on the wrong side of the hole,” he said. “A practice round certainly would have helped but we’re all working stiffs.”

The Mid-Am was created because the NYSGA Amateur was dominated for so many years by college players. This level is for players 25 and over, with day jobs.

For Lundberg, it’s back to his insurance office, Aurora Inc. in Albany, where’s he’s been for 25 years. 54 players started their round. Three withdrew before it began, one did not show. After they started four more did not turn in a scorecard.

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