APL Attracts Wide Range Of Golfers

Washington, Mich. – The occupations and lifestyles of the competitors at the 2002 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship may vary, but their love for competitive golf remains consistent.

Walking the fairways of The Orchards Golf Club this week one may find a baseball player, a carwash owner, a casino pit supervisor, a physician and a machine repairman at a local Ford Motor Company plant.

For many of these golfers, their occupations allow them just enough time to keep playing golf at a high level. Owning a carwash "allows me enough time to do the things I want to do with golf," said Chicago native Richard Dukelow, 33. "I’m lucky in that respect."

For others, finding time to play golf while maintaining their careers is a struggle. One such example is John Zubkus, 31, a physician at Vanderbilt University who is completing his final three years at the Cancer Fellowship. "I’m hard-pressed for time to play," said Zubkus. "There’s no way to find the time to play four or five times a week."

Describing himself as "the typical weekend golfer," Zubkus' appearance at the APL is his first time playing competitive golf since high school.

For both of these players, the opportunity to compete against some of the finest amateur golfers in the nation is a welcome challenge.

"It’s an absolute honor," said Dukelow. "You have to play your best golf to compete here." Zubkus concurred, saying, "There’s a ton of talent here now with all of these young guys."

Included in this group of "young guys" are two golfers coming off a national championship at the University of Minnesota. Matt Anderson, 23, and Justin Smith, 20, helped a program that was nearly shut down by the school become NCAA champions. They now find themselves competing against each other for the Amateur Public links national championship.

Also among the talent in Michigan are many golfers competing in their first APL. None of them, however, has waited for their chance as long as Harry Goett III, 42, of Union, N.J. He has attempted to qualify 16 times for the event, and is finally making his debut this year after a series of near misses, including one year when he was the first alternate.

"It’s very satisfying," said Goett after completing his final hole. "I can check it off my list of things I should’ve done but didn’t."

Others competing in their first APL after many attempts at qualifying are Mark Beckworth, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla., and Robert Burns Jr., 35, of San Mateo, Calif., who have tried to qualify 13 and 10 times, respectively.

Despite their different ages, occupations, and experiences at the APL, the players all have one similarity that drew them to The Orchards Golf Club -- their desire to keep playing competitive golf.

Dukelow summed it up best, saying "the APL simply attracts people that love to play golf."

No matter what their background is.

Story written by Brendan Tierney. Tierney is a Fellow with the USGA Foundation. Email him at btierney@usga.org.