Golf
by Fritz Schranck »
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Fri, Jul 3, 2009
Golf memoir with multiple layers
There’s something to be said for going on a long walk, with someone else taking the lead.

Your own preference for maintaining a sense of order, of staying on a particular path all the way until its completion, is completely subject to the whims of another.

You’re not sure where you’ll be going next, but you might enjoy the trip all the same.

That’s the sense I had when I completed the meandering path laid by longtime Sports Illustrated writer John Garrity in his new book, “Ancestral Links” (New American Library; $24.95 SRP).

Depending on the chapter, this is a travelogue, an autobiography, a study of an American family’s roots or an elegy for family members who have gone before.

There’s even more to this book, but those are a few of the highlights.

Garrity is part Irish, part Scottish and all raconteur. The book opens with a funeral ceremony for his father, combined with an altogether different sort of memorial service held at his father’s old home course in New Richmond, Wisc. The action then shifts abruptly to Carne Golf Links in County Mayo, well north of Galway on Ireland’s west coast.

It seems that the Garrity clan emigrated from that part of Ireland, and so he travels there to see what he can find about his family and why it came to America. It just so happens that Carne is also a beautiful, challenging links course, which Garrity’s older brother Tommy once praised to high heaven.

Tom Garrity, several years older than John, had a short spell on the PGA Tour and was his younger brother’s idol. In one particularly poignant recollection, Garrity recalls a PGA Tour event in south Florida, when the younger brother lived with their divorced mother, and the older brother drove into town for the tournament. Decades later, Tommy also played Carne, and his reverie about the 17th hole inspires John to set a unique scoring goal, using just this one hole for all 18.

His repeated attempts form one of the repeating strands throughout the book.

When not trying to break 90 on the 17th, Garrity continues his search for a connection between his family’s love of golf and their origins in the old country. It takes him through much of northwest Ireland and also over to Scotland. It seems that his mother was also a very good golfer in her own right. Her side of the family also has an old connection to golf, but in Scotland. Garrity’s efforts in Machrihanish and points west of Edinburgh are less successful than in Ireland, however.

Sprinkled throughout the book are other bits and pieces of his family history, not all of it happy. His parents’ divorce was not accompanied by attempts to make him pick sides, thankfully, but there’s a certain melancholy running through these passages.

On the other hand, the passages dealing with his Irish friends and their lives are often sprightly by comparison. His description of some of the drinking establishments he visits will be completely familiar to readers who also have had a pint or dram in a warm little place in a tiny Irish village - the kind with seven houses, a church, a store, and two pubs.

There’s no one thing to recommend about this intriguing, deeply personal story. None of its parts would have been enough for a book-length treatment. Put together, however, they make for an interesting, often compelling combination, well worth your reading.

A ROUTINE PAR - Christopher Merrick sent in a short note about his buddy Dan Iezzi’s recent round at the River Marsh course near Cambridge, Md.

Iezzi whipped his 3-wood on the long par-3 17th hole, but it landed in the adjacent river. Iezzi then re-teed, and his next shot rolled right into the cup.

Not your everyday par, but as Merrick also noted, it also won all the bets.

Sometimes it’s just about the number on the card, and not how that number got there.
Golf Events »
PROGRESS FOR PROSTATE TOURNEY - The sixth annual Beebe Medical Foundation Progress for Prostate Charity Golf Tournament will take place at Cripple Creek Golf & Country Club Thursday, July 16. Registration and breakfast begins at 8 a.m. and tee off is at 9 a.m. This year’s event, with exciting new prizes, will be better than ever. There will be prizes for the hole-in-one on every par three. Those prizes include: a car on hole No. 7 sponsored by Sherwood of Salisbury; and sponsored by RE/MAX by the Sea Realty, $10,000 in cash on hole No. 16; and on hole No. 4 and hole No. 12, a choice of a Bose radio, $500 Visa Card, Nike Sumo driver or golf clubs. There’s a putting contest with a $5,000 prize and skill prizes for the longest drive, closest to the pin and the pink ball contest. There also will be a silent auction and a live auction featuring a boat trip, vacations and dinners. Registration is open to all players at $100 per individual and $400 per foursome. To register or for more information, call the Cripple Creek Golf & Country Club Pro Shop at 539-1446, Ext. 1. The tournament is the highlight of three days of activities to be enjoyed by golfers and their families and friends. Wednesday, July 15, the eve of the tournament, a reading of “The Summer of Our Discontent,” a comedy written by Bob Davis, will be held at Cripple Creek. The evening will include a pasta dinner and silent auction.  At 6 p.m., Friday, July 17, a casual evening will include a dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers and another reading of “The Summer of Our Discontent.”  The cost of each of those evenings is $25 a person. This event has raised more than $110,000 toward prostate cancer awareness programs at Beebe Medical Center. Beebe Medical Foundation was established in 1989 with the sole mission to raise philanthropic support for Beebe Medical Center. The foundation is located at 902 Savannah Road in Lewes and can be contacted at 644-2900.

ANNUAL ROTARY TOURNAMENT - The Georgetown-Millsboro Rotary Club is soliciting players for its 22nd Annual Clayton Bunting Golf Classic. The event will begin at noon Wednesday, Aug. 19, at the Sussex Pines Country Club just south of Georgetown. Fees, all of which are tax deductible through the club’s 501[c](3) foundation, will be $150 per golfer and $600 for a foursome. Primary beneficiary of the proceeds, as has been the case for all 22 years, will be the Delaware chapter of the American Red Cross. Major corporate underwriter will be Perdue Farms. The fee includes lunch prior to a 1 p.m. tee time and then a buffet dinner in the clubhouse after play is complete. Prizes will be awarded and each golfer can expect to receive a door prize donated by a Sussex County business. Format for the tournament with a shotgun start is “modified scramble.” Handicaps will be utilized. For more information, call Bud Clark at 227-2501, or Reid Beveridge at 684-8036.

TIDEWATER TOURNAMENT - Tidewater Utilities Inc. is sponsoring the second annual Tidewater Fundraising Golf Tournament Friday, Aug. 21, at Heritage Shores Country Club in Bridgeville. The company has partnered with Delaware Technical & Community College, Owens Campus Alumni Association to support the efforts of the group and to benefit the Environmental and Engineering Technologies programs. Titled the TUI Greener Tomorrow Golf Tournament, the event will begin at noon with registration and lunch. The shotgun start is 1:30 p.m., and dinner will complete the day. Prizes will be awarded for various contests, i.e., closest to the pin and beat the pro, and grand prizes for first-, second- and third-place gross scores. Fees range from single player at $150 which includes lunch, dinner and two beverage tickets, to a major sponsor at $1,500 which provides complimentary foursome meals, beverage tickets, tee sign and sponsor identified in all press and publicity materials. Participants also can donate a door prize or items for the goody bags. Registration and fees must be submitted no later than Friday, Aug. 7. For a registration brochure and complete information, call Alison Buckley at Delaware Tech at 855-1607, or Joe Cuccinello at Tidewater Utilities at 302-734-7500, Ext. 1014.

JUNIOR GOLF PROGRAM - The Lower Delaware Autism Foundation has announced it is starting a new golf program for children with autism ages 8 to 22 in partnership with The Rookery Golf Course on Route 1 north of Lewes. Rookery golf pro Butch Holtzclaw will instruct the children on all parts of the game from putting to driving. The instruction starts with putting at the hole and moves away from the hole until driving is taught. The groups meet weekly throughout the summer. For more information about autism or to volunteer, call the office at 644-3410 or email mgreen@ldaf.com.

TRINITY TOURNAMENT - The sixth annual Trinity Foundation Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, Aug. 22, at Heritage Shores Golf Club in Bridgeville. The tournament is a charity event to raise money for the Trinity Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2005 by the employees of Trinity Transport Inc. In 2008 the tournament succeeding in raising more than $20,000. There are two tee times, one in the morning and one in the afternoon to accommodate a growing number of interested golfers. The foundation uses the annual pool of funds to focus donations to three main causes. These are Delaware Youth Leadership Academy, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association. The morning registration will begin at 7:45 a.m. with an 8:30 a.m. tee time. The afternoon registration will begin at 12:45 p.m. with a 1:30 p.m. tee time. The cost to play in the tournament is $100 per player, and sponsorships begin at $125. Players will receive a gift pack, round of golf and a chance to win a car. There will also be food followed by awards. Anyone interested in playing with a foursome or sponsoring the event may visit ttifoundation.org, or email foundation@trinitytransport.com.

HELP A WOUNDED WARRIOR – The Korean War Veterans Association will hold a golf tournament to benefit its Wounded Warrior Fund Wednesday, Sept. 16, at The Rookery Golf Course on Route 1 north of Lewes. The scramble tournament will tee off at 9 a.m. Proceeds from the tourney will benefit wounded soldiers and their families at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center. For more information and an application form, call Ed Johnson at 302-933-0228 or John Weidenhof at 644-3889.
SHORT PUTTS
The golf course hole-by-hole handicap allocation service can be accessed at HoleByHole.com. Send your news about local tournaments, charity golf events, holes-in-one and other golf news by email to Fritz at FSchranck@HoleByHole.com.
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