Bogeyman

Amazing: Something Ellen Port Never Runs Out Of

The Bogeyman

Dan O’Neill

Perhaps the best way to start this essay is to defer to MAGA executive director Kurt Rohe, who made this post after the final round of the MAGA Senior Amateur Championship on Aug. 25:

“I have been fortunate to see and do some amazing things in my 20+ years with MAGA, but today may have taken the cake! First, it was two of the hottest days I can remember on the golf course, so for that I want to say thank you to my staff and volunteers for showing why we are the best at what we do, bar none! Second, Ellen I knew you would play well this week, but I’m being honest saying I did not think you would win and I should know better! I tell people all the time you may be the most competitive golfer I know and you proved that today! You are amazing and today was one of the most memorable, historic days I’ve spent on the golf course….so thank you and congratulations!” Two things about that post - first, yes, Rohe and his band of golf brothers do a first-rate job, and their efforts in the crockpot conditions at Sunset Country Club on Aug. 24-25 were terrific. Second, and central to this space, “amazing” is something Ellen Port never runs out of.

Since laying down a tennis racket and taking up a golf club in her mid-20s, Port has put stacked one remarkable moment on top of another, moments that include seven USGA championships and way too many national qualifications and local championships to list. For perspective, only JoAnne Carner has more women’s USGA titles - one more. And with the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur on Sept. 10-15 looming, the distinction is tenuous. In between, Port has raised two children, played on and captained U.S. Curtis Cup teams, taught physical education at John Burroughs School, coached golf at Washington University, nurtured a marriage of 36 years with her best friend, caddy and supportive husband Andy Port … and chewed gum at the same time. Over the years, Port’s game has fluctuated. Her best comes and goes. So it is with golf, so it is with anyone. But one thing has carried Port through for all these years - passion. She has it in spades. She has it for golf, for competing and most of all, for people. To say you expected Port to become the first women to win the traditionally male version of the Senior Amateur would be silly. That is not something one predicts. Then again, no one who knows her would rule it out. Joe Malench might have thought if he shot a 3-under 69 in the final round, if he made eight birdies and 25 pars in the suffocating environment of two days and 100-degree heat indexes, it would be good enough. Who wouldn’t? That said, no one who knows Ellen Port, who hears she came from five strokes back, shot a 5-under 67 in the final round and won a four-hole playoff with a 20-foot birdie putt, would say “that’s not possible.” Of course it is. Of course she did those things. She’s Ellen Port. Earlier this summer, Port played in the U.S. Women’s Senior Open, a field that included some of the LPGA greats of the game, including eventual winner Annika Sorenstam. The field also included Carner and legendary amateur Carol Semple Thompson, who played alongside Port during the first two rounds. After shooting 71-69, Port was four strokes off the lead at Brooklawn Country Club going into the weekend, rubbing leaderboard elbows with Sorenstam, Laura Davies, Catriona Matthew, etc. When she was asked to reflect on it in a press conference on Friday, when she paused think about it, she couldn’t keep from tearing up. She apologized to the media center gathering, and then she didn’t apologize. “I don't care,” Port said. “I love to cry. The older I get it's like if you can't have some emotion …” To know Port is to be able to finish the sentence for her. “If you can’t have some emotion … then what are you here for?” The game is charged with emotion … the thrills of playing well … the frustrations of playing poorly … the appreciation of new friends and the treasure of old ones … the bad breaks, the good breaks and all breaks in between … the trials and tribulations of hitting a very small ball into a very small hole and using “weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose” … the demands on your character and the test of your integrity. If you can’t have some emotion, why waste your time. Ellen Port doesn’t waste time. Years ago, the Bogeyman and KMOX golf analyst Dan Reardon were playing Pinehurst No. 2 when they were joined on the back nine by Ellen and Andy Port. Ellen, with Andy on the bag, had competed in the Women’s Open at nearby Pine Needles. The results had been disappointing, as she missed the cut. But on that Saturday morning, you never would have known it. Rather, it was the Bogeyman brandishing an attitude, sulking about the sorry state of his game. Port wasn’t having it. “I don’t want to hear any whining from someone sho doesn’t work at it,” she said. “How often do you practice? If you don’t practice, you don’t have any right to get upset.” Then she changed the dynamics. She insisted we break into teams. Andy, a respectable player in his own right, teamed with Reardon. Ellen clamped a ball and chain to her ankle and took the Bogeyman as a partner. Suddenly, the day was about where we were, what we were doing and with whom we were with. Fun was poked, laughs were had and an everlasting memory was made. The Bogeyman even contributed a decent shot or two as the team of Port-O’Neill prevailed. He learned a valuable lesson that day. When you’re in a match, and Ellen Port is your partner, you should always raise the stakes. Amazing is something she never runs out of.