‘Big Ben’ Colossal in Tiny Hometown

Midway through services Sunday morning at the Ostrander United Methodist Church, parishioners began to get antsy.

Local hero Ben Curtis was on his way to winning the British Open and they wanted an update.

Pastor Scott Campbell, sensing the frustration, abruptly halted his sermon. He descended into his basement office and turned on his television. Some of the parishioners left, but most of the 75 or so remained in the pews as Campbell yelled updates through the vents.

In Ostrander, Ohio, when a local kid is winning the British Open, even church can wait.

“The town pretty much shut down,” said Dustin Allen, an Ostrander resident who attended the service.

Curtis won. The kid who grew up in Ostrander became one of the biggest surprise winners in the history of major championship golf when he held off pursuers who included Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III and won the British Open at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.

It was his first try at a major championship, only his 16th try in a PGA Tour event, but Curtis -- a PGA Tour rookie who barely qualified to play the British Open -- surprised everyone by finishing a shot ahead of Singh and Thomas Bjorn.

His quest for the British Open title took over the town for much of the weekend. The local newspaper, normally filled with school board controversy, reported almost exclusively on the British Open. At the Midway Market, extra copies of the Monday paper had to be ordered because it had sold out.

Most of the town cheered Curtis’ every shot, but there were naysayers even among the locals. One of the churchgoers said he would buy dinner for everyone if Curtis won.

“He ended up buying dinner for about 15 of us,” Allen said.

Of course, they went outside the city limits to eat. The Ostrander Restaurant and Pizza Shop is the only restaurant in Ostrander, a town of about 400. The Midway Market, a convenience store attached to a gas station, is the only market in town. It’s also the only gas station.

There is a post office and a bank. There are no stoplights and four stop signs.

The story goes that Bill Black, Curtis’ grandfather, built the local Mill Creek Golf Club on land he owned because he wanted a place to play when he retired. Bill Black died in February, but Bob Curtis, Ben’s father, is still the course superintendent.

Growing up, Curtis lived just off the 18th fairway. He first picked up a club at 3 and spent much of his youth honing his skills at the course. It is a short course, about 6,300 yards from the back tees, but it’s very tight. The green fees are $18, $29 with a cart.

The pro shop is small. It sells shirts and hats but no clubs. There is a dining area for special functions and a snack bar for golfers. The driving range is about 300 yards, and long hitters often hit the houses in back of the range.

Still, the course is among the most popular in the area. There are 18 courses within 20 miles of Mill Creek, but Evan Tribley, a pro shop worker at Mill Creek, said about 40,000 rounds are played at the course each year. That number is about half what busy Los Angeles-area courses do, but not bad for a rural course that closes from December through February.

“We try to be friendly and people remember that,” Tribley said. “We remember their names, we remember what they ordered at the snack shop. It’s a family-run operation. We make them feel at home.”

Heavy rain and early-morning lightning kept the fairways empty Monday, but it was still one of the busiest days in recent memory.

Dozens of well-wishers dropped by with gifts, cards, flowers and other forms of congratulations. Hundreds of phone calls kept the pro shop staff on their toes throughout the day.

Bob Curtis clocked out early so he could make the two-hour drive to Cleveland, where his son arrived by plane late Monday afternoon.

Within three hours of his departure, the message list for him had grown to more than 50 names.

“This is most definitely the biggest thing that has ever happened in Ostrander,” Tribley said.

Several businesses hung congratulatory signs. On the outskirts of town, the “Welcome to Ostrander” sign had an addition Monday morning: “Home of Ben Curtis.”

When Curtis arrived at Cleveland International Airport on Monday afternoon, about two dozen sign-carrying friends, family and fans were waiting -- some wearing T-shirts that said “Big Ben.”

“This is awesome,” was about all an overwhelmed Curtis could say.

Most everyone in Ostrander knows Curtis. He starred at Buckeye Valley High and worked in the pro shop at Mill Creek. Curtis also was an accomplished amateur player. He won the high school Division II state title twice. He won the first American Junior Golf Assn. tournament he entered and became an AJGA All-American in 1994. PGA Tour winners Charles Howell, Matt Kuchar and David Gossett also were All-Americans that year.

Curtis went to Kent State and still holds the school record for career stroke average (72.23). He was a three-time NCAA All-American.

In 1999, he was a semifinalist at the U.S. Amateur Championship, losing to Gossett, the eventual champion.

He won back-to-back Ohio state amateur titles, a feat only Arnold Palmer and John Cook had accomplished. He was the top-ranked amateur player in the nation by the end of the summer of 2000.

“Is this unexpected? Absolutely,” Kent State golf Coach Herb Page said in a release on the school Web site. “But is it a huge surprise? To me it really isn’t. It’s a Cinderella story for most, but for people around Kent State ... we’ve always thought Ben was a champion.”

After turning professional, Curtis tried and failed twice at the PGA Tour qualifying tournament. He played the Hooters Tour for two years and won once.

He finished 26th at qualifying tournament last fall, earning his PGA Tour playing privileges. Curtis hadn’t finished higher than 13th in a PGA Tour event but was 66th, 27th and 13th in his previous three events.

After college, Curtis remained in Kent, nearly two hours away from Ostrander, but returns often to visit his parents.

He’ll always be welcome, the townsfolk say. Curtis doesn’t expect otherwise. He plans on continuing his visits to the pro shop. And the Ostrander Restaurant. And the Midway Market.

“I just like to be normal and have some fun and do normal things,” Curtis said Sunday after winning the tournament. “I want to keep as normal as possible.”

Even if the local pastor doesn’t.

Associated Press contributed to this report.