"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

September 30, 2007

From Larry White to Lex Tarumianz to Larry McGill, players who formerly excelled on the junior amateur circuit have shown their mettle in national and international competition. It seems like only a short while ago that all those players were competing with the flat bellies and collegiate stars, but the relentless passing of time has carried them into another level of competition, along with many other players who seem to be adjusting just fine to their new status. 

Just this summer Chattanooga’s Coy Mabry finished second and Mike Jenkins finished third in the Tennessee Senior Amateur played at his beloved Chattanooga Golf and Country Club, and Chuck Jabaley won the Tennessee Senior Match Player Championship after reaching the finals the year before.

Chattanooga, in fact, has been well represented in the match play event; in 2007, three of the four semifinalists (Neil Spitalny and McGill were the others) were all from the area.  In addition McGill qualified to play in the USGA Senior Amateur in August.

Jabaley, for one, has welcomed the opportunity to compete for championships again. From his peak in the early 1990s, when he won the Tennessee Open and reached match play in the U.S. Amateur, Jabaley had fallen back as he found it difficult to keep up with the younger breed that grew up hitting titanium drivers and two-piece balls.

“Senior competition is much better for me,” said Jabaley, who in addition to his match play victory finished fourth in the 2007 state senior amateur. “I just can’t keep up with the power game of these young guys anymore. At the state amateur this year [at Nashville’s Belle Meade Country Club] a lot of the younger guys were hitting 6- and 7-irons into the par 5s. I never even went for a par five [in two]. You can compete with the kids for a while, but it’s difficult.”

Jabaley has only recently returned to playing serious tournament golf after sitting out the last couple of years before he turned 55, the age at which amateurs can begin competing as seniors.

“I enjoy having a chance to win again,” he said. “If you get really nervous, you know you’re in the hunt. Those butterflies are tough, but they’re fun. I only wish I’d have played more tournament golf when I was 52, 53. Bobby Jones said there’s golf and there’s tournament golf, and they’re not the same.”

That’s definitely true, but many seniors I’ve talked to in the last couple of years always mention the camaraderie of senior golf. So in that regard it’s a bit different than the grind of the state and national amateur circuit.

“Everyone is still as competitive as ever,” Jenkins said. “No change there. But it’s done in a more relaxed, friendly type atmosphere. That makes me enjoy it even more.”

Jenkins has long sacrificed his own game while volunteering his time in golf administration, for the TGA and the CDGA. But when he got closer to 55, he made a concerted effort to focus on the aspects of his game that would enable him to compete with his fellow seniors.

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