Interesting Player Notes From The 2002 U.S. Mid-AmateurFrank Acker, 45, of Las Vegas, Nev., is a casino pit supervisor at the Luxor Hotel and Casino.
Players with muscle aches might get some help from Mark Amundsen, 43, of Sioux Falls, S.D., who was a physical therapist on the PGA Tour. Currently, he works in golf course design and development. He caddied for Graham Marsh when he won The Tradition in 1999.
John Auclair, 38, of Cumberland, R.I., is a sales executive in his business life but he’ll be getting to the championship in a unique way. He is a private pilot and will probably commute by air from Rhode Island.
Allen Barber, 43, of Yorktown, Va., played the most qualifying holes to advance to the championship. He won an 11-hole playoff for the second and final spot at James River Country Club.
John Belicka, 34, of Old Greenwich, Conn., lost lifelong friend Thomas Galvin on 9/11/2001. They were junior high, high school and college teammates. Belicka will wear “G” on his hat in honor of his friend. He plays out of the Griff Harris Golf Club.
Dick Blooston, 59, of Edina, Minn., was a quarterfinalist at the 1998 USGA Senior Amateur and one of his five career holes-in-one came at the 1982 Mid-Amateur. He is also an assistant HS hockey coach.
Pat Carter, 34, of Huntington, W. Va., has won eight straight West Virginia Amateur championships, which is believed to be a national record. He was a quarterfinalist at the Mid-Am in 1996 and 1997.
Terry Coffield, 51, of Bennington, Vt., is radiologist who plays classical guitar, has run in the Boston Marathon and competed in national and international cross country skiing events.
Kyle Coody, 38, of Plano, Texas, is the son of former PGA Tour player Charles Coody. Kyle won the 2001 Texas Mid-Amateur. John Pate, 42, of Santa Barbara, Calif., is the older brother of PGA Tour player Steve Pate.
Dan Crockett, 34, of Franklin, Tenn., was a three-time All-American in football at Lambuth University. He was also an all-conference baseball player.
Brad Cruts, 44, of Allen Park, Mich. is a high school golf coach in Allen Park. One of his players is his son.
Chris Cupit, 33, of Alpharetta, Ga., has an enviable golf pedigree. Four of his uncles and his father were golf professionals. One of his uncles, Jacky, was the runner-up in the 1963 U.S. Open. Chris works as a club owner and operator (Rivermont Golf and Country Club).
Tripp Davis, 34, of Norman, Okla., is a golf course architect and played on Oklahoma’s NCAA Championship team while in college. The most recent of his five career holes-in-one came at the opening of his new design called Grand Oak in Colorado. Steve Smyers, 49, of Lakeland, Fla., also owns a golf architecture firm. His wife, Sherri, played on the LPGA Tour from 1985-1997.
Enjoying his time as a competitor will be Tim Gamso, 47, of Dallas, Texas. A nine-time Dallas Athletic Club champion, Gamso served as the general chairman of the 1997 Mid-Amateur at his home club. He is also a member of the Mid-Am Committee.
Larry Gilhuly, 50, of Gig Harbor, Wash., is getting paid by the USGA while playing in the Mid-Amateur. That’s because he is a 19-year veteran as a full-time turfgrass consultant for the USGA’s Green Section. This is his first USGA championship.
Robert Godfrey, 28, of Clemson, S.C., holds a USGA record. He shot the lowest stroke play score in U.S. Amateur history at the 2001 championship at East Lake G.C. in Atlanta.
Jerry Greenbaum, 61, of Atlanta, Ga., is the oldest competitor in this year’s Mid-Am field. In his playing career, he has participated in the U.S. Junior Amateur, the U.S. Amateur, the Mid-Amateur, the U.S. Open, the USGA Senior Amateur and the U.S. Senior Open. He made the cut in the 1964 Open at Congressional C.C. His first USGA championship was the 1958 Junior Amateur.
Brad Hardin, 25, of Martinsville, Ind., is a medical student who sister, Leigh Anne, was the 1998 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion and a member of the victorious 2002 USA Curtis Cup squad. He played collegiately at Notre Dame.
Scott Hardy, 26, of Pleasant Hill, S.C., is the golf coach at St. Mary’s College and Greg Martin, 36, of Starkville, Miss., is the head coach at Mississippi State.
Bob Kaestner, 40, of Glyndon, Md., made birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to get into a playoff (5 for 2) in qualifying at Rockville, Md. and holed a 7-iron from 165 yards for eagle to land a berth on the third hole. His father and older brother are members of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Jack Kearney, 47, of Peachtree City, Ga., is a pilot for Delta Airlines. An Air Force veteran who flew A-10 Warthogs for 20 years, he made it to match play at the 1996 Mid-Am and then left for a combat tour of Bosnia.
Bob Land, 46, of Lafayette, La., is also an accomplished tennis player. He won three national racquetball championships (1986, 1988-89) and played one year of minor league baseball in the New York-Penn League.
Clay Long, 50, of Carlsbad, Calif., is a golf club designer. Among his clients are Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. In fact, Nicklaus used a Long-designed putter in winning the 1986 Masters.
Roy Neal, 37, of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., is a driving range owner. He is the official scorer for the men’s basketball team at the College of Charleston – a role he’s held for 17 years, which includes three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs.
John O’Brien, 32, of Jacksonville, Fla., is a minor league hockey official in the East Coast Hockey League and the American League.
Haymes Snedeker, 26, of Oxford, Miss., is a law school student at Ole Miss and is also the assistant men’s golf coach for the Rebels.
