Novotny uses strong finish to win USGA senior qualifier

When a golfer makes a double bogey on the first hole, it often puts him or her in a bad mood.

If a golfer double-bogeys the first hole in a USGA qualifying event, the situation is worse because the competition is always keen. Two strokes in a qualifier is a large obstacle to overcome.

Some might conclude there is no reason to keep playing except to get their money’s worth out of the entry fee.

On Tuesday, Dave Novotny of Dayton double-bogeyed the first hole in a U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier at Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati. He had to be disappointed, but he didn’t walk angrily off the course and pitch his golf bag into the trunk of his car.

Instead of sulking, Novotny hitched up his pants as Arnold Palmer would have and decided that his trip to Cincinnati wasn’t ruined yet. At the least, a few hours of golf at Kenwood (or any other club) isn’t too hateful.

Novotny’s tee shot on the par-4 first hole struck a tree, his second shot came up short and his approach landed in a bunker. He blasted out and two-putted for a six.

“Was I upset?” the 62-year-old Novotny said, repeating my question. “Actually, I wasn’t. I might have been upset 15 years ago. But I’ve been in a lot of these qualifiers. I knew it was a long haul and you need to keep your head up.”

Novotny bounced back with a birdie on the second hole and played the remaining 16 holes in one over par to turn in a 2-over-par 74 that would make him the medalist and give him one of the two spots available for the prestigious Senior event Aug. 24-29 at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina.

“I was shocked when I got in and saw the (high) scores,” he said, referring to four 76s and four 77s near the top of the scoreboard. “Then I had to wait. I was tied with somebody ( Jim Muething of Cincinnati) who had three holes left.”

A rainstorm ended play with four groups still on the course, and Novotny had to go home and return to Cincinnati on Wednesday morning to await the results and a possible playoff. When Muething bogeyed the last two holes to shoot 76, Novotny was the medalist.

As for playing well after opening with a double bogey, Novotny recalled the 1969 PGA Championship at NCR Country Club when Miller Barber double-bogeyed the first hole and shot a course record-tying 64. (Don Bies shot a record-breaking 64 in the second round and Barber posted his 64 in the third round.)

Novotny’s extraordinary comeback gave the Wright State University graduate from Beavercreek some sort of a hat trick in the USGA’s amateur events. He qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 1996 and the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2000.

“I really don’t play that much anymore,” said Novotny, who was club champion at NCR no fewer than 13 times. Novotny runs the Dayton Business Interiors store, and he said he is too busy for golf.

“I haven’t played (in the Senior Amateur qualifier) in a couple of years,” he said. “I’ve been so busy I had to withdraw.”

Burritt plays Monday in U.S. Women’s Am

Alyssa Burritt, who won her third straight Miami Valley Metropolitan championship at Dayton Country Club last weekend, qualified July 11 at Walnut Grove Country Club for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Old Hickory Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi.

She will play Monday in the first of two rounds to determine which players will be in the field of 64 for match play, which begins Wednesday. Burritt is in a threesome that includes Lauren Hartlage of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who also qualified at Walnut Grove.

Another who made it through the Dayton qualifier is Alexandra Swayne, who won the 2018 Ohio Optimists Championship at Yankee Trace Golf Club. Swayne, who is from the Cincinnati area, now lists her home as The Virgin Islands.

Chip shot

James “Skip” Snow of Dayton will be inducted in the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame on Monday at Plumbrook Country Club in Sandusky. Snow is a Miami University graduate and a member of Dayton Country Club where he has won the club championship 21 times.

A retired accountant, Snow has won the Ohio Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship three times and the Super Senior title twice.

The inductees are selected by OGA. He also won the Dayton City Match Play Championship in 1978.