GARDEN CITY, NY – Drinking deeply from the fountain of youth, Ed “Scissorhands” Gibstein won his second Walter J. Travis Invitational qualifying round medal with a sparkling 3-under 70 at Garden City Golf Club. It was the second Travis medal for Gibstein, who also took the same honor in 1998 en route to a runner up finish. “It held up?”...
To celebrate the opening of Travis week, it’s my paean to Garden City and the Travis Invitational. Christmas in May starts Friday! Welcome to the most heartwarming week in amateur golf. Our Green and Gothic Home The joyous daybreak’s shimmering light Reveals a blessed, stirring sight, Fair Garden City, beaming bright! Our green and gothic home. The world...
TRAVIS TRIVIA! Here’s a new feature for this year – each day you’ll get a Travis trivia question. Answer after the article. Q. This winner of the 1998 Travis Invitational played out of Sunningdale in Westchester, defeated popular amateur competitor Ed “Scissorhands” Gibstein in the final, and was the only golfer in a five year period to...
MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ – Tomorrow, one of golf’s great gems will shine its inimitable version of the Sportlight once more for all the sports world to see. Forsgate Country Club’s fabled Banks Course will host Annika Sorenstam and Brad Faxon in the annual Charity Classic, which benefits both the Forsgate and Annika Foundations. You know the Sportlight...
The warm glow of the Sportlight from a great golf weekend dimmed twice with the passage of a pair of good souls. We lost Norm Swenson, 64, great amateur golf champion and Bill Charest, 43, champion sports fan far too soon. Norm Swenson was one of the greatest amateur players of our generation. He won championships at a whopping 12 different country clubs throughout...
GARDEN CITY, NY – With more hair-raising, last second escapes than a James Bond double-feature, Florida’s Nick Gilliam won the 101st Travis Invitational at fabled Garden City Golf Club, defeating Kevin Gai 3&2 after trailing well into the back nine, then turning the tables on Steve White by winning the final two holes en route to a 1-up victory. The...
Nick Gilliam defeated Steve While 2&1 to win the 101st Travis Invitational. Our final wrap-up will be up tomorrow morning.
GARDEN CITY, NY – Surprise! The top three seeds in the championship match play bracket of the Travis Invitational all advanced to the semi-finals of the 101st playing of the Grand Old Amateur. Nick Gilliam, Steve White, and Hans Albertsson, stroke play co-medalists and the 1-2-3 seeds respectively, won morning and afternoon matches to advance to Sunday...
GARDEN CITY, NY – To paraphrase the fight song of his beloved alma mater: “Deerfield! Thy son is marching into the weekend’s match play phase of the Walter J. Travis Invitational with co-medalist honors, and though the odds maybe great, he’ll fight for victory for you, loyal though win or lose.” With a sparkling 4-under 69 Deerfield...
— Within the city’s bustle lies A gleaming jewel in glad sunrise Our emerald ‘neath the blissful skies! Our Green and Gothic Home! — From Our Green and Gothic Home – a poem to commemorate the Travis turning 100 years old. GARDEN CITY, NY – You can’t help but fall instantly and forever in love with Garden City Golf Club...
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA – Within yards of each other, separated perhaps by only a smooth 3-wood and a pitch, two of Florida’s premier private clubs lead the golf world by example, selflessly championing golf’s great virtues by giving back to the game as much and as often as possible, rather than celebrating and promoting their own opulence. Clubs that...
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA – It was Yankees-RedSox, Steelers-Patriots, and Celtics-Lakers all rolled into one, and it went into the bottom of the ninth, the two-minute warning, and the last possession of the ball before it was finally settled. A steely-nerved Delray Dunes Golf Road Cup team withstood Quail Ridge’s furious Sunday charge to eke out a narrow 12-10...
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA – With a roar worthy of the 18th green at Augusta National on Masters Sunday, Quail Ridge members rattled every palm tree from Seminole to Sawgrass celebrating head pro Dan Brosnihan’s miraculous birdie on the final hole that rescued their team’s chances to wrest the Golf Road Cup from their rival Delray Dunes. Snookered behind a...
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA – One of the undisputed truths of golf is that it is a celebration of both the unquenchable human spirit and the altruistic virtues even though the competition is as fiercely contested as though American hegemony were at stake with every shot. Football players “swagger.” Hockey players fight. Soccer players roll around on the...
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. – Indiana native Ron Carter won the 28th Society of Seniors Championship today at Quail Ridge Country Club – the de facto Tour Championship of Senior Amateur golf – but not before channeling his inner Lon Hinkle on the back nine. With his feisty demeanor, you thought he might pull a Mister Roberts instead. After a scintillating 5...