Vintage Invitational Senior Golf Tournament : Moody Shoots Desert Course-Record 64

Gary Player, the money leader of this tour, maintains that PGA Seniors events are no longer relaxing outings.

Player said that with all the competition, the demands and the large number of tournaments, it has become work.

As the 50-and-older golfers played Thursday’s first round of the 72-hole $350,000 Vintage Chrysler Invitational, which Orville Moody leads by two shots, it didn’t look like work.

The first two rounds are played on two courses, the 6,900-yard Mountain and the Desert, 700 yards shorter, at the Vintage Country Club. The courses are immaculate.

In addition, the weather was perfect and--an unusual condition here in the desert--there was no wind. According to Bob Toski, who shot an opening-round 70, two under par, at Mountain and trailed Charlie Sifford by a stroke in the 60-and-over super-seniors’ part of the tournament, golfers are treated like kings, too.

It is a calculated bid by the Vintage to become the Masters of the PGA Seniors Tour.

“They chauffeur you wherever you want to go, and they even open the door for you,” Toski said. “Now, I know they open car doors for the wife, but I never had them do it for me. Maybe this is the senior Masters.”

Moody, who shot a course-record 64 on the Desert course, had eight birdies and an eagle on the par-five, 470-yard 17th hole. Gene Littler, who set the tournament record of 271 in winning the first Vintage in 1981, shot a 66, six under par, also on the Desert, taking over second place. Another stroke back was Dale Douglass, the winner here in 1986, who shot a 67, the best round on the Mountain course.

Larry Mowry, with a 68 on the Desert, trailed Moody by four shots. Player, who has won two of the last three tournaments, was in a group of five at 69. He played the Desert.

Though Player pointed out how much more competitive the senior tour had become, he wasn’t complaining, except about his lack of time.

“With competition so tough, it isn’t much different than it was on the regular tour,” he said. “You have to practice as much, you play in the pro-ams, you attend two functions in connection with each tournament, and there are so many tournaments now, you get tired traveling.

“The difference is, we’re all getting older, too. What makes it fun, though, is we’re all getting a Mulligan (a golf expression meaning a second shot), and we’re making more money than we ever made before. It’s well worth it.”

There was nobody willing to knock either course.

Mowry, a one-time rabbit who won two tournaments and $200,000 in prize money and was 13th on the money list last year, is making his first appearance at the Vintage.

“The Mountain course is the finest I have ever seen,” he said. “It is a fair test. I think I have a chance to win here, but if I don’t, it will not be the fault of the course. It will give you a fair chance. You have to beat yourself.

“The Mountain is more suited to a long hitter and an aggressive player, like I am. The Desert lulls you to sleep. For instance, the 12th hole is a short par-5. You should reach it in two and have a shot at an eagle. I played it so poorly, I had to sink a 10-foot putt to make bogey.”

Moody was always an outstanding golfer until he reached the green. He just kept getting worse.

“I had the yips so bad,” he said, “I couldn’t make a 1-foot putt. I tried everything, cross-handed, everything. Many years ago, I used a long-handled putter when I used the croquet style like Sam (Snead).

“I still had it in my garage. I lengthened it twice and now it’s 50 inches long. I just had to try putting with my hands apart. It took me more than a year to perfect the new style, but the last seven months of last year I started putting better.”

He hit his peak with his 64, needing only 23 putts. A year ago he might have used that many in nine holes. It became monotonous as he went through his round for reporters. He kept saying, “I sank a 7- or 8-footer for a birdie.”