Another Day in Paradise

Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1:20 p.m.

Well, it's another Chamber of Commerce weather day here at the USGA Senior Amateur at Beverly. The golf course is firming up and the players are having a bit more difficulty, particularly on the greens. I'll go into the scoring in a later post, but the purpose of this missive is to let the Beverly members know what the players, the USGA officials and the spectators are saying. In a word, "perfect". It surely doesn't help that the weather is spectacular, but it would be an insult if one didn't take time to take note of the perfection that has been achieved by our grounds crew.

Yesterday, Steve Coates was talking to a USGA official and the man was absolutely glowing about the agronomic condition of the golf course. "There's no ground under repair on the entire golf course," he said. "Not one bit of white paint. I've been working at USGA events for twenty years and I've never seen that, never." If that isn't enough, every single player that I've talked to for the past three days is positively raving about the beauty, condition and playability of the golf course. Pat Kaufman, the chair of the USGA Senior Amateur committee, said that the first day of the Championship was "flawless". I have heard many officials utter the same expression over the past three days: "I would never get tired of playing this golf course." That is very reassuring to me, because that is Rick Ten Broeck's mantra about being a member at Beverly. And he's only been playing the golf course for more than 50 years.

And they aren't blowing smoke. This place looks like it could host a Senior Tour event this week. The amateurs are playing the course at around 6500 yards, which is essentially the white tees, but they aren't killing the course in any way, shape or form. The principal difficulty is with the putting surfaces. The players, to my eye, seem to be overly cautious and tend to leave their approach shots well beneath the hole locations, leading to very difficult birdie putts. The hole on 18 has been a real devil for the players today. Joe Claffy was marshaling near the 18th green for two hours today and he saw more three putts than two putts.

Last thought for this post: This Championship has been a real whirlwind for Dick Carparelli. I honored Dick with a speech at the Players Dinner on Friday night. I would venture to say that half the field has sat down with Dick for at least a few minutes to pick his golfing brain. He has been giving a few lessons, as well, but the main thing that Dick has been doing is soaking it all in. He told me that all of the members should "get out here and see this tournament; it's the best thing to happen at Beverly in thirty years."

He should know: he's been here 63 years! Get out to the club and take a look at your golf course in the best condition that I've seen in 22 years of being a member. Talk to some of the players about Beverly. You'll never be prouder to be a member.


Terry Lavin

Co-Chair USGA Senior Amateur Committee