Freddy's Fairway Thoughts

Tim Rosaforte

• St. Johns County in Northeast Florida is growing so fast that they can't keep up with school space and a new high school is going up at the World Golf Village. Now, remember that St. Johns County is home to the Village and its World Golf Hall of Fame, and also to the PGA Tour. Those are the county's two most important businesses, way above the tourist trap industry in St. Augustine (Fountain of Youth, anyone?) So, what are they going to name the new school? You say: World Golf Village High, of course. And the nickname? You say: the Village has two courses, the Slammer and Squire, and the King & Bear. So the nickname should be the “Slammers,” or the “Squires” or the “Kings.” (“Bears” already is taken by a nearby school.) The announcement will come this month and the finalists are … none of the above. They have a list that includes Ancient City High, Nine Mile High, River Valley High and the like. The nicknames are the usual suspects: Bulls, Moccasins, Hornets and the like. With School Boards like the one at St. Johns, no wonder kids can't read.

• Can't imagine anyone out there who didn't like the late Sean Connery and golfers should have a special place in their hearts for the greatest James Bond. The golf course betting scene with Goldfinger will be part of the classics of our sport. Personal note: I played in the member-guest at Seminole and heard a distinctive voice behind me on the range. I turned and...YES!'... it was Sean Connery. He said hello, walked the 15 feet between us and introduced himself.

• Veteran Jacksonville pro Nick Clark swears this isn't an old joke, but we never heard it so we'll cautiously trust him. He said he played on his offdays with a member, and gave the guy a stroke a hole. Nick kept winning so the guy demanded two a hole. “I could beat him easily at one stroke but not two. I needed the money so I offered this: 'I'll give you two a hole if you give me one throw a hole.' The guy thought it over and realized I couldn't throw a ball very far, so he agreed. We teed off and he hit one right down the middle. I could see him already counting a win on the hole, until I picked up his ball, threw it out of bounds, and told him to go back to the tee and hit his third.”

• Jack Nicklaus is an easy to admire guy. Well, maybe oldtimers still grouse about him taking over from Arnold Palmer, and maybe middletimers think he was too cocky. But the newbies of the world? Nary a discouraging word about him. No matter what they thought, he's a person whose persona is way high on any list: good man, good family, good kids, community minded … all the things you want in life, plus a lot of money (which you also want.) Sadly, the recent election stirred the anti-Trump national media so much that several prominent members took it out on the Golden Bear because he had the effrontery (in their minds) to say he would vote for Donald Trump and, even more scandalous, to say why. The leader of the pack was one Christine Brennan, a one-sided columnist for USA Today, and her column portrayed Nicklaus as a step above cretin status. She probably sits home at night, looking at her dwindling paycheck, and wondering why no one trusts newspapers these days. Sad.

• It wasn't much of a secret but the golf media isn't one to go into stories about personal things. It was other sources that brought out the sad fact that Tim Rosaforte's disappearance from the Golf Channel was due to the onset of Alzheimer's. It's a gut check for those of us who think that awful condition only affects old folks. Tim is a former college linebacker and still looks like it, and in recent years he was as sharp as the writing he did in Florida newspapers. But, at 62, he's way into the back nine. Damn.

• The only spectators at the PGA Tour Champions event at Phoenix were club members and sponsors, but predictably there was one drunk who kept yelling. I recall a country club consultant telling us, “If you have the courage, throw out one member a year. That keeps the rest in line.” We didn't have the courage but we hope that the PGA Tour does.

Short stuff...

• Will the Masters continue their new tradition next year by honoring the first Asian to play in their tournament?

• We've seen the Byron DeChambeau movie before. It starred John Daly.

• Did you know (or care) that Holly Sonders' real name was Holly Niederkohl? And do you wonder (and maybe care) if Holly Niederkohl would recognize Holly Sonders?

Comments? I'm at fs4569@comcast.net.