Golf veterans find time to stay sharp

Youngsters rule Ohio Am, but older golfers can still give them a run.

Wright State golf coach Pete Samborsky pushes out of a bunker Tuesday during the first round of the Ohio Amateur at NCR Country Club.

JIM NOELKER/Staff Wright State golf coach Pete Samborsky pushes out of a bunker Tuesday during the first round of the Ohio Amateur at NCR Country Club.

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By Bucky Albers, Contributing Writer 10:28 PM Tuesday, July 12, 2011

DAYTON — Over the years the Ohio Amateur Championship has become mostly a competition for golfers 18 to 24 years of age unless, of course, a teenager like Michael Bernard comes along and wins it at the age of 16, as he did last year.

But amidst this battalion of young men who can hit the ball out of sight and worry about the consequences when they find it, there is a squad of graying golfers who somehow can battle the tide with good results.

Every year, it seems, the names of two-time champions Robert Gerwin II and Randy Reifers appear on the leaderboard along with those of Alan Fadel, Pete Samborsky II, Jeffrey Scohy and others. Then a guy like 67-year-old Lynn Martin qualifies and plays respectably, shooting 78.

They are men who have maintained their golf games to the point where they can compete with the youngsters and their new equipment.

How do they do it when they cannot practice as much as the kids?

Gerwin, the 44-year-old Cincinnatian who won the Ohio-Am in 1996 and 2001, attributes his staying power to experience.

“That’s a tough question,” Gerwin said Tuesday after shooting a 2-over-par 73 in the first round at NCR Country Club. “It’s sort of the evolution of a golfer. I have three children and a business. I’ve sort of evolved where when I first won the state am I hit balls a lot. I practiced a lot.

“It evolved to where I just sort of go with what I’ve got. I don’t worry about it as much. I try to get it on the fairway and get it on the green and try to putt well. I don’t expect as much of myself. I try to be a little more patient. I try not to hit 260-yard cut 3-woods. I just try to do what I can do. If I’m on the range and I’m drawing it, I go with it. If I’m cutting it, I cut it. I try not to be hard on myself. And that way I still feel that I can be competitive.”

Gerwin doesn’t let anyone beat him because they have better equipment.

“I’ve got all the latest stuff, all the toys, he said. “Where 10 years ago I might try to hit a cut on one shot and a draw on another, I just try to cut everything all the time. That’s what I’m comfortable with. I don’t fight myself. I try not to squeeze something in there if I’m not comfortable with it. If I’m not comfortable with a distance, I try to just play to the fat of the green and just be more patient that way. When I was younger, I might be a little more skilled where I could squeeze something in there.”

Samborsky, the Wright State golf coach, has three jobs and two children, but he remains competitive for the same reason that Gerwin does. He says he is fortunate this week to be playing his home course, but his approach is to play smart golf and to manage the course instead of shooting at sucker pins.

He is playing with a 5-year-old driver and a set of irons that he’s had a few years. He switched back to his old Scotty Cameron putter some time ago and is having good results.

He matched playing partner Michael Bernard’s 70 on Tuesday.

Martin concedes he is no threat to win this year’s Ohio Am. “My goal is to make the cut,” he said. “I love this golf course. When I heard the tournament was going to be here, I wanted to play in it.

“Can I win? That’s beyond my ability. Can I beat a few people? Yeah, probably.”

Martin shot 78 and will have to trim a few strokes to survive the cut to the top 60 and ties after today’s round.