Golfer Takes Care of History and Christmas

When Jimmy Powell made golfing history last Sunday by becoming the first professional to win a Super Senior as well as a Senior PGA Tour event at Ada, Mich., it didn’t surprise the old-timers at the Via Verde and Indian Hill country clubs. Powell spent a number of years as club professional at the two clubs when an ailing back prevented him from playing on the regular tour.

Super Seniors are 60 and over and play alongside the other 50-and older golfers in senior tour tournaments.

The father of seven and grandfather of 12, Powell said he needed the $15,000 from the Super Senior purse and the $105,000 from the regular event “just to take care of Christmas.”

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Add Powell: Southland pros with long memories may recall a July day in 1966 at Recreation Park in Long Beach when a young Jimmy Powell had one of his worst moments. He was five up with five holes to play in the Southern California PGA tournament but lost all five holes and the match in a playoff with Carol Hansen.

He came back to win the sectional title in 1968, ’70 and ’75.

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Trivia time: Who is the youngest player to win a singles title on the men’s tennis tour?

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What else? Talk about bad luck. Ed Price of the Augusta, Ga., Chronicle reports that on their last trip, the Augusta Green Jackets of the Class-A South Atlantic League dropped seven of eight games, lost their ace relief pitcher and their backup shortstop for the season, spent more than 24 hours on the team bus because their driver got lost and ended up in Pennsylvania, and suffered the worst shutout loss in league history, 23-0.

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Football rules: The Grand Prix of Dallas, a fixture on the Sports Car Club of America racing schedule, has fallen victim to the Dallas Cowboys.

“When the NFL released its 1995 schedule, it was very distressing for us to see that the Cowboys would be playing at home on the same day as the Grand Prix of Dallas,” race director Mike Bidwell said. “As everyone in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area knows, it is difficult to compete with the Cowboys.”

The race has been canceled.

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Double-edged: Woody Woodburn, writing in the Ventura County Star: “I think USC should play its college games this fall on Sundays . . . so L.A. fans will have a pro team to watch on NFL game days.”

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All in the family: While Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale is racing around the country in NASCAR’s SuperTruck series, his family has been winning races at Kern County Raceway in Willow Springs. Ron III won his second street stock main event, and his mother, Lindy, won her first race in the newly instituted Fox Stock class.

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Trivia answer: Aaron Krickstein, who was 16 years 2 months when he won at Tel Aviv in 1983.

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Quotebook: Deion Sanders on Barry Bonds, his new teammate on the San Francisco Giants: “I told Barry at least I won’t be the one to get booed the most.”