Golf is found in mysterious places
The subject of golf popped up in so many unusual places this week, from my inbox to an overnight car crash to fond memories of an amateur who saw Augusta for the first time in person 8 years ago and lived to watch this year’s duel.
First, a reminder that local golfers interested in entering the local qualifier for this year’s U.S. Open have less than a week to enter. The deadline is Wednesday, April 26 at 5 p.m. This year, Shaker Ridge CC will host the Albany-area qualifier. It will be played Wednesday, May 17. To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index® not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional.
Overall, there are 114 local qualifying sites in 44 states and, for the first time, Canada. That might take some of our friends from the north from taking some spots in the qualifier, although Aurora, Ontario is just north of Buffalo, not near Montreal.
Also for the first time, the U.S. Open will be played at Erin Hills in Wisconsin on June 1518. Players who advance out of
18 holes of local qualifying will compete in sectional qualifying (36 holes) on Monday, June 5. For the 13th consecutive year, Japan and England will host international sectional qualifying, both scheduled in late May.
Last year, the USGA accepted 9,877 entries for Oakmont CC in Pennsylvania. The record of 10,127 was in 2014 for Pinehurst #2. Ken Venturi (1964) and Orville Moody (1969) are the only players to win the U.S. Open after qualifying through both local and sectional play. Last year, 27 players advanced through local and sectional qualifying to the 156-player field; of those, five made the 36hole cut.
Second, while covering that crazy car accident at the corner of Clinton Ave. and Quail St. in Albany early Tuesday, I met two standout area golfers. Al Stranahan, an outstanding player at Shaker Ridge and former lieutenant with the Albany Fire Dept., was working for Complete Recovery Systems to shore up the hole in the building. Jevon Sebring, who owns The Clubhouse bar on Central Ave., showed me some unreal surveillance video of the car zooming into the IBB Food Mart. The driver was charged with DWI.
“I sure do enjoy the game,” Sebring, 38, told me. He plays at Burden Lake CC and Normanside CC. A few years back, he teamed with Cody Bielawa to win a three-day event at Mt. Anthony CC in Bennington, VT. The two plan to head back out there this Memorial Day weekend.
Finally, we say farewell this week to a man you might not have known but I bet you wish you did – Chuck Steiner. The president of the Capital Region Chamber died Tuesday morning. He was just 66. He took medical leave earlier this year after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare, degenerative, and fatal brain disorder.
Steiner moved here from western New York and became president of the Schenectady County Chamber of Commerce in January 2002. Two years ago, his chamber and the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber merged.
“Chuck was one of the most positive and kindest people I’ve ever met,” Chamber CEO Mark Eagan posted on Facebook. “He brought out the best in others. Our Chamber and community are better because of Chuck. Rest in peace, my friend.”
I spoke to him in 2009, shortly after he won a charity raffle for a daytrip to the Masters. He thought he was just making a donation. Instead, he and his longtime friend Fred Caso (from their days at a radio station and then the Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce) were on the grounds for the opening round.
“It was everything, and so much more, than I expected,” Steiner said after he returned. He flew down with just a briefcase. He returned with that plus three bags of souvenirs including gifts for family and friends plus prints of both the 11th and 12th holes he expected he’d be staring at for many years to come, not just eight.
“I look like a walking billboard,” Steiner said with a laugh. “I did the State of Georgia and Augusta some very good favors. I left a few northern dollars down there, quite a few.”
It became his top golf memory, eclipsing the time he followed Arnold Palmer around in Hartford, CT years ago. Maybe now, he and Arnie can get a tee time together.
“This is a fairy tale come true,” Steiner said.
PLUDRZYNSKI LEADS ENYGA: The Eastern New York Golf Association begins its new season next week with a new Director of Golf, Andrew Pludrzynski. He played three varsity seasons at Bethlehem H.S. and is a member of Normanside CC and has a six-handicap.
Pludrzynski, 42, began playing when he was 11. He replaces the late Stan Dzek, who died unexpectedly en route to the final event of the last season. Opening day is set for April 25 at Colonie Golf & Country Club. Most tournaments, however, are held on Wednesdays. For more information, contact Pludrzynski at 852-2785 or email him at EasternNewYorkGolf@gmail.com.
John Craig’s column appears every Thursday in print and online. He can be reached at jrcjmu91@gmail.com