Acing the competition
Alarid hits hole-in-one on first day of City Golf Championship
The drinks were on Richard Alarid at the Santa Fe Country Club on Friday evening.
Alarid strictly adhered to the time-honored golfing tradition of buying everybody a round of drinks in honor of hitting a hole-in-one, even if it happened in the City Golf Championship. The 69-year-old from Santa Fe greeted practically everybody who walked into the country club lounge and offered them a drink.
“Have a drink on me,” Alarid told Randy Francis as he walked in from his round.
It was a good day for Alarid, who has been a fixture in the local and state golf scene for the past 30-plus years. He shot an even-par 72 in the businessmen’s flight of the tournament, and his net score of 66 tied with Taka Ayamoto for the best net score. What was different for Alarid in this tournament was the flight in which he competed.
Alarid was almost a permanent fixture in the championship flight of the tournament, but he made a concession to time and age by opting for the businessmen’s flight. He said it was the first time he did that since the early 1990s.
“Ah, those kids are young, and I’m getting shorter [hitting the ball] as I’m getting older,” Alarid said. “I could have done it, but I don’t know. We always played the gold [tees, which are the farthest from the hole] whenever we play here.” Alan Hamilton, who was a part of the foursome with Alarid and part of the group sitting with Alarid in the lounge, took partial credit for helping convince Alarid to make the switch.
“Four days ago, we sat here [in the country club lounge] and I told him, ‘You’re too old, you can’t compete in that flight,’ ” Hamilton deadpanned. “So,
Alan Hamilton told him not to play in the championship flight.”
“And his wife agreed,” added Alarid’s wife, Marie Gutierrez y Alarid.
So, Alarid traded the gold tees for the blue ones, and that might have helped with his ace on the fourth hole. The pin was tucked on the left-hand side, with a bunker just yards away and a small hill in front of the green to block Alarid’s view. He used an 8-iron and floated his shot perfectly over the hill and it bounced into the cup. Alarid didn’t realize it until playing partner Oscar Rivera informed him.
Still, Alarid didn’t need to see the result of his swing.
“You know how there are times when you hit one and you say, ‘God, that felt good,’ ” Alarid said. “You know how in baseball, where they hit a home run and they never feel it, it’s the same thing. It felt nice and solid, real high. Oscar was standing on the side [of the tee box] and saw it.”
Just like a good playing partner, Alarid was quick to praise Rivera for his performance.
“Oscar shot good, had a 72,” Alarid said. “He birdied three in a row — five, six and seven.”
Alarid, though, rallied for his score. He missed out on a birdie at his first hole — No. 10 as the field of 75 golfers had a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start — but made up it on No. 11 despite landing his tee shot next to a tree. Alarid struggled after that, though. He was 4-over on his round by the time he reached No. 4, but he started turning his game around.
“We birdied No. 6 and birdied No. 7,” Alarid said. “We really caught fire after that.”
“Well, we didn’t,” Hamilton replied. “You know, we is right because I helped him this whole round. I’m a psychologist and I talked him through it. He was 4-over and we did some work.”
“That’s Alan Hamilton, Ph.D.,” Hamilton added as the group at the table roared with laughter.
Regardless of the credit, Alarid has no intention of ending his time at the tournament. Well, until told otherwise.
“I don’t know,” Alarid said when asked how long he sees himself playing. “Until Al tells me I’ve lost my mind. He’s a psychologist.”
Notes: Perhaps Alarid should have waited a year before taking the step down. Jim Gallegos and Eric Trujillo tied for the lead in the championship flight, as they each had a 1-over 73. That was one stroke better than Fernando Horta, and two strokes ahead of defending champion Jonathan Bartlett and Nicholas Rosenheim.
In the women’s flight, Jonelle Martinez shot an even-par 72 to take a two-stroke lead over Chanet Trujillo (formerly Fiorina before marrying Eric Trujillo in September). The senior flight saw Robert Steiner shoot a 6-over 78, while Patrick Martinez, John Hall and Bob Sherman were two strokes back.
Golfers head to Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe for Saturday’s second round, although rain threatens to wash it out.The final round will be Sunday at The Club at Las Campanas.