We have many golf enthusiasts at the Daily Gazette, and one of the goals for most of us is to win our in-house tournament, the Bryce Hume Memorial.
Doug "Shaq" Hopkins, my good buddy who can trash talk with anybody, finally picked up his first Bryce Hume win today at Stadium Golf Club, and I was extremely happy for him. His 94 gross was good enough for a 73 net score that topped the employee division. He will have his name engraved on the permanent trophy, which is something very special at The Gazette.
Hopkins is an unsual person. Although he moved past the 50 mark in age a few years ago, he could pass for 15 years younger. He works out every day before work, and he can't bear to stand still for one second. He still plays flag football, basketball and racquetball, among other sports, and he even got into kick boxing. He's also one of the best bowlers in Amsterdam. His hyper personality often doesn't jive very well with golf, because you have to control your emotions so often. Doug let his emotions get to him on the front nine, and he was very concerned that his goal of winning the tournament was lost for another year.
I gave him a pep talk, and he played extremely well on the back nine. This guys is so strong that if he ever used his entire body in his swing rather than his upper body alone, he could probably hit 300 yard drives consistently. Yet he has an extremely soft touch with a lob wedge and is a solid putter. All he needs to do is keep his emotions in check, and he usually plays well.
I was thrilled that he finally won, because now he can back up all of his trash talking at the office. Look out now.
By the way, Ken Shumway won the low gross title among the employees with a 91. A fine time was had by all, and we can't wait for next year. The weather turned out great, although it was only 42 degrees out when we teed off at 7 a.m. The Stadium staff put on a nice luncheon for us, and general manager Dan Beck ran a fantastic tournament. In fact, Beck actually gave Hopkins his opportunity to win the tournament this year, because Dan decided not to compete. The former assistant pro has an excellent game, and he is by far the best golfer at The Daily Gazette. He's already won numerous Bryce Hume events.
I feel fortunate that the Gazette still hosts such an event for its employees, retirees and friends. In these economic times, events such as this are often the first to be cut. Remember, we already host five tournaments for area golfers: Men's County Amateur, Men's Senior County Amateur, Women's Best Ball, N.I.E. Junior and the Gazette Cup between the area pros from the Northeastern New York PGA and the amateurs from the Capital Region Amateur Golf Association.
Who knows, we're even talking about starting a Gazette bowling tournament that would also be open to the public. I'll keep you posted if it ever gets off the ground.
