As readers of The Virtual 19th Hole will recall, the fourth hole played a prominent role in this year’s BMC highlights— it just wasn’t Braemar’s fourth hole. In fact, it was at Hazeltine’s fourth where eight-year member Tim Deutsch made a hole-in-one on August 16.
Strangely, it turns out, however, that Tim’s ace was not the only part played by Hazeltine’s fourth hole in the memorable golf experiences of BMC members (nor, as will come clear, not the only time that the BMC member in question was named Tim). So, let’s take a trip down memory lane— all the way back to the mid-1980s. The pertinent circumstances: a college golf tournament in which BMC member Tim Smith was in the final group. This Tim being a 14-year BMC member, a former BMC Senior Club Champion, a member of Braemar’s illustrious 8-Man A Team, a former BMC board member, and the longstanding league coordinator for Best Weekly.
As noted, Tim’s was the final group in the event; his foursome, however, was not– as would have been expected– the final group on the course that day. One last foursome surprisingly trailed his. And while there was a bit of mystery about how this group came to be on the course, one thing was clear: even at a casual glance, these were definitely not college golfers.
The mystery group, presumably out of respect for the event in front of them, waited to tee off at least 25 minutes after Tim’s foursome. But they nevertheless caught up to the field on the fourth tee, where there was a backup. That’s when it finally became clear who these guys were: Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Steve Carlton and Phil Nikro– the winners of over a collective 2,000 major league games!
To be sure, those four guys made for an intimidating gallery. But Tim, never one to be easily daunted, still managed to hit the green and make par. Admittedly, not as dramatic as a fourth hole ace, but memorable to be sure.
Dick Helde
Editor, The Virtual 19th Hole
helde.richard@gmail.com
612-306-3590