Long Wins Amputee Title for Sixth Time

Bick Long of North Carolina and Geoffrey Nicholas of Australia went into Thursday’s final hole of the National Amputee Golf Championships at Singing Hills deadlocked at 12 over par.

And the way the last nine holes of this thing went, you just knew neither golfer would win by making a birdie.

No, the winner was bound to be the guy who didn’t bogey.

But it didn’t work out that way either. Although Long, a below-knee amputee, two-putted for bogey, he nevertheless wrapped up the title.

“No one won that,” said Long as he drove his cart to the clubhouse.

Indeed, Long inherited the championship, his sixth national amputee title, only because Nicholas, also a below-knee amputee, double-bogeyed the final hole. Long finished with a one-stroke victory, 301-302 for 72 holes.

Nicholas’ trouble on the 170-yard final hole began with his tee shot, which landed in the rough and way right of the green. No problem--except, of course, for the bunker between his ball and the pin.

As he was in the tournament, Nicholas was close to success with his second shot. But it barely caught the trap’s lip and rolled back into the sand.

Nicholas then hit a sand wedge within six feet, but it might as well have been 60 on the undulating green. Predictably, Nicholas two-putted and effectively handed the trophy to Long.

For a while, it appeared Long was trying to putt the title Nicholas’ way--he gave up a three-shot lead by missing a four-footer for par on 14, taking another bogey on 15 and missing a 10-footer for birdie on 16 while Nicholas was making par, par, birdie.

“It was just getting to the point where I couldn’t stand the pressure on putts,” Long said.

His lack of concentration on the green appeared to be giving the momentum to Nicholas, but Long actually thought otherwise.

“If anything,” he said, “the momentum would shift back (to me) because I have a history of giving up the lead, then I relax and come back. I sort of take a negative approach when I’m ahead.”

It was Nicholas’ first appearance in the tournament, but his narrow defeat did not necessarily bode well for his chances of eventually winning. Only four people, including Long in 1973, ‘75, ‘81, ‘82, ’83 and ‘89, have won the national amputee title since 1974.

On the other hand, Nicholas made it known a new generation of golfers might be on the way.

“Obviously, these guys are coming up strong,” Long said.

Finishing two back at 303 were last year’s winner, Corbin Cherry, a below-knee amputee from Mill Valley, and Frank Cothran, an above-knee amputee from Selma, Ala.

Cothran shot the lowest final-round total, a 75, which moved him past 69-year-old Bert Shepard, who shot a final-round 83 and finished eight strokes back 309.

Shepard was the oldest player to make the final cut and play the fourth round. He was also the only one of the 10 to walk the 36 holes. Shepard, a below-knee amputee, simply wanted to prove that amputees don’t have to rely on carts.

Oceanside’s Glenn Ankton was the top double-amputee finisher and also the only double amputee to make it to the top 10 (he finished seventh). Ankton finished at 313 after shooting a final round 81. His best round came Wednesday, a 74.

“My game is a lot better than this,” Ankton said. “I bogeyed too many par-fives, and those are birdie holes.”

Tournament Notes

Category winners included Bick Long, below-knee division; Bill Harding (Scottsdale, Ariz.), above-knee division; Larry Wyche (West Coxsackie, N.Y.), above-elbow division; John Trenchik (Toledo, Ohio), below-elbow division; Ada Myers (Thousand Oaks), ladies division; Shane Luke (Bankston, Australia), junior division; Herb Althaus (Des Moines, Iowa), quad division.