The 19th Hole | Cape Gazette

The 19th Hole

Gene Bleile is a retired physical education teacher, high school coach and elementary guidance counselor. Check out his fine art photography website.

The 19th Hole

Nickname Quiz

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

If you are a sports nut who likes trivia, especially colorful nicknames of famous athletes, then…

Thomas Mulligan: Man or Myth?

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

In the basement of a dusty old bookstore, I recently came across a beaten-up copy of “Mulligan’s…

‘Whose Woods These Are’

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

No, not Tiger Woods, who by the way is currently ranked No. 745 in the world, and not a 3-wood, 5-…

A secret language!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

If you missed my column last week, “Golf Without Holes,” I will give you a mulligan (a free stroke…

Golf without holes!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

For more than 4,000 years, games involving hitting an object, such as a stone, a small carved piece…

Shrimp on the barbie!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

Two weeks ago, the British Open or as the Scots call it, The Open, saw some Sunday drama. Rory…

My top 10 pet peeves!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

I have two wishes about my golf game. I wish I had taken lessons and started 40 years ago (…

Golf’s Urban Legends

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

Over the years, I have always been fascinated by urban legends, but are they true or false? Do…

This hazard will kill you!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

Over the past 25 years, in my golfing career (if you can call an ongoing 18 handicap a career), I…

Remembering Murphy’s Laws!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

I am always on the lookout for interesting aspects of golf that most medium to high…

Your kilt flaps in the breeze!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

Next time you jump out of a $2,000 golf cart and grab a $300 driver from your $150 golf bag and set…

Only one is false!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

When I was in college, I hated multiple choice questions, especially those with numerous answer…

Buck was struck by lightning!

Gene Bleile

3 years ago

“Buck” started life with the odds against him. No one outside of his grandfather, who was a…

‘Shanks’ for the memories

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Out of the clear blue it happens, without warning, like a bee sting when you are working in the…

Sir Walter And The Phillies

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Charles was born into a modest home in Rochester, New York and was the only boy in a family of five…

A $37,000 towel!

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Not many young golfers will remember the name Craig Stadler, or his nickname, “The Walrus” (due to…

Was Harry the best ever?

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Over the years, I have read many stories of future hall of famers who had to drop out of school at…

New rules for senior golfers?

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Two weeks ago, I turned 74, and I am more than ready for new rules for senior golfers. I…

Let the big mashie eat!

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Next time you jump out of a $2,000 golf cart, grab a $300 driver from your $150 golf bag and set…

Remember Harry?

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Over the years, I have read many stories of future hall of famers who had to drop out of school at…

God worked a miracle

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

Long before the War on Terror in Afghanistan, before Desert Storm or the invasion of Iraq, our…

A PGA record drive – 787 yards

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

If you are old enough to remember the golf movie, “Tin Cup,” you might recall a bet between Roy…

This shark is a hall of famer!

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

In 1975, there were two different shark stories developing – one shark was feeding off the shore of…

Danger, Will Robinson, danger!

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

If you are 65 or older and like nostalgia TV, you might catch a black-and-white (yes, kids, TV used…

You might be a golf addict if…

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

With all due respect to Jeff Foxworthy, I am going to borrow his idea about rednecks and apply it…

Did he secretly use an illegal club?

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

There is one thing I have learned over the past 25 years playing golf – being over six feet tall…

Group encourages more players on Delmarva

Gene Bleile

4 years ago

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Anthony Colicchio, playing out of Bear Trap Dunes Golf…

The great golf nickname quiz

Gene Bleile

5 years ago

If you’re a sports nut who likes trivia, especially colorful nicknames of famous athletes, then…

Free drop from a cow pie

Gene Bleile

5 years ago

Welcome to the 2021 Beach Paper summer publication season. I hope you are well and safe from the (…

Blind golfer holes two aces!

Gene Bleile

5 years ago

First the good news, if you have had the good fortune to shoot a hole-in-one, then you belong to an…

1892 Golf Predictions

Gene Bleile

5 years ago

In my quest for new and interesting topics to write about, I thought we would take a trip back to…

Moe, Tiger and Curley

Gene Bleile

5 years ago

It has been said, “Your swing is a work in progress, but a bad grip follows you to the grave.” I…

Little-known facts about The Masters

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Now that the 2020 Masters Championship has been postponed until November, I thought a look back at…

Ghosts and goblins!

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Just like the major retailers who display Halloween merchandise in early September, I am going to…

Golf without a hole?

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

For over four-thousand years, games involving hitting an object such as a stone, a small piece of…

Lions and Tigers and Bears!

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Just in case my younger readers/golfers don’t know where that quote came from, I will only say, “…

Riddle me this, Batman?

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

During my college years at the U of D in the sixties, I fell in love with an off-the-wall TV show…

The Bear honored a dying child

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

William was born into an athletic family on January 27, 1940. His dad Charlie was a pharmacist who…

The Open was closed!

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

When I first started playing golf twenty years ago, I began to take a real interest in professional…

Mr. (Sand Wedge) Eugenio Saraceni

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Eugenio Saraceni was born to poor Italian immigrant parents on February 7, 1902 in Harrison, New…

‘God could use you today’

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Long before the war on terror in Afghanistan, before Desert Storm or the invasion of Iraq, our…

He lost to himself

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

After eight years of writing this column for the Beach Paper, this has to be one of the most…

My four all-time greatest golfers

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Let me start out by saying up front that I am old-school and I hold my favorite athletes in any…

Mulligan’s Laws

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Every golfer, amateur or pro, has heard of the golf term Mulligan. Under oath, we all would have to…

Thank Evel Knievel!

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

Next time you pull out your driver and “let the big dog eat” (my favorite line from the movie Tin…

It happens without warning

Gene Bleile

6 years ago

It happens without warning, out of the clear blue; like a bee sting when you’re working in the yard…

Golf Novice: Impress your foursome!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Ok, so you’ve taken up golf as a “recreational hobby,” you went out and bought new clubs and even…

He hit thirty-eight homers!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

This a story with many different puzzle pieces, so if you like taking separate pieces of…

Money talks and missed putts walk!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Whenever my foursome gets together for a golf day, we usually stand on the first tee box and…

Don’t Leave Home Without It!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Welcome back to the beach and the start of the 2019 season for sunbathing, swimming and golf. For a…

Let the Big Mashie eat!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Next time you jump out of a two-thousand-dollar golf cart and grab a three-hundred-dollar driver…

Wee Willie!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Chances are you have never heard of Willie or his brother Mungo, but they both have one thing in…

Golf Gear Oddities

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

When I first took up recreational golf about 25 years ago, I was easily swayed by the TV…

He Died Broken Hearted

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Young Tom was a handsome man with curly black hair who liked to wear the latest fashions, usually a…

Thank ‘Old’ Tom

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

There are many golfing legends, both men and women, who have contributed to the game since its…

Francesco Who?

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

Every year I am amazed by the British Open style of play on a course that resembles an abandoned…

Unbelievable Hole-In-One Stories!

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

If you have ever hit a hole-in-one, then you know the thrill of golf's ultimate shot. But for many…

Urban Legends: True or False

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

I have always been fascinated by urban legends. But are they true or false? Do alligators live in…

A Buffet of Trivia

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

As a lifelong sports fan, I have always been fascinated with "the story behind the story"; strange…

Murphy and his Laws

Gene Bleile

7 years ago

I am always on the lookout for interesting aspects of golf that most medium-to high-handicappers…