Enjoy - Spydie
By TOMMY DILLARD
Staff Writer
After Megan Pendergraff sank a putt on the back nine en route to her Championship Flight quarterfinal victory Thursday morning at the Women’s Kentucky State Amateur, she returned to her golf bag to be greeted by an old, familiar friend.
But Pendergraff didn’t receive any lavish praises, celebratory high-fives or even a nod of acknowledgement from her friend. That’s because Pendergraff’s companion is a canine club head cover she calls Scruffy.
Pendergraff and Scruffy, which she identified as a Jack Russell terrier, have been through a lot together in two years of collegiate golf at Western Kentucky, so it’s no wonder they have such a tight bond.
“She’s my favorite,” she said. “She stays on there all the time. I call her my best friend.”
Scruffy is the strong, silent type, and her stoic demeanor on the golf course as well as her uncanny ability to keep Pendergraff’s driver shielded from the elements helped boost the Madisonville native to victory Wednesday over Laura Caniff and Scruffy’s own nemesis in the match, Rameses the Ram.
Caniff, a rising senior golfer at North Carolina, said she keeps Rameses with her on the course to show off her Tar Heel spirit. Though a tar heel is not a ram, the university’s mascot is, she said. This is because in 1922, the Tar Heels had a stellar running back who was nicknamed “the battering ram” for the way he plunged into lines. The school decided to link a mascot with the back’s moniker, and Rameses has patrolled the sidelines at North Carolina athletic events ever since.
Scruffy and Rameses are just two of many furry club head covers to make an appearance at Miller this week. A quick cart ride around the course will quickly enable the attentive viewer to see all sorts of wildlife, from dogs and rams to bears, turtles, monkeys and much more.
While Pendergraff and Caniff employ just one animal as a head cover, some go a little farther. Take Christina Dages, for example, who has three fuzzy head covers, a monkey, gorilla and a duck, which was using sunglasses to shield its eyes from the late morning sun Thursday during Dages’ Second Flight Consolation Bracket matchup.
But don’t make the mistake of calling the large ape a gorilla, or prepare to be corrected.
“It’s a Gore-illa,” Dages said of the ape, which has professional golfer Jason Gore’s signature embroidered across its belly. A fixture on the Nationwide Tour, Gore burst onto the radar of the average golf fan at the 2005 U.S. Open in which he entered Sunday in second place. A final-round 84, however, plummeted him to 14th, and despite a victory in a minor tournament, the golf world hasn’t heard much from Gore since.
When asked if she was a fan of Gore, Dages replied, “No, I just like monkeys.”
Dages said the duck was given to her as a good luck gift when she became the first girl from her high school, duPont Manual in Louisville, to reach the state tournament.
Apes and ducks aside, if a favorite animal could be found at Miller, it appeared to be man’s best friend. Dogs were also the most common variety of head covers to bear names.
Karen Puckett, playing in the First Flight Consolation Bracket, was proud to show off her canine counterpart, Tubby Gillispie. Formerly known simply as Tubby, the pug underwent a sudden name change when Kentucky basketball coach Tubby Smith resigned and Billy Gillispie was hired as the next coach of the Wildcats. The pug’s name was changed to Gillispie, but its ensuing identity crisis made Puckett take mercy on the creature.
“We decided he’s too old to change, so he’s going to be Tubby Gillispie now,” she said.
Jessica Castleman, formerly of Heath High School and now a junior golfer at Bethel College, added a bulldog to the mix at the amateur. Does she have a live bulldog as a pet?
“I don’t have one,” she said, “but I want one. They’re expensive, though.”
Castleman’s opponent, Katie Gunterman, decided dogs were too mainstream for her taste, and opted for a Grateful Dead-licensed turtle and bear. Unlike Dages, Gunterman actually has an appreciation for the entity her head covers represent.
“I like them a lot,” she said. “I love Grateful Dead stuff. I have a bunch of T-shirts.”
With enough animal head covers around to transform Miller into a pet store, a few decided to keep their head covers a little more traditional.
Jessica Grace, 2000 Murray State graduate and Championship Flight competitor, used the same head covers she’s used since her playing days as a Lady Racer – blue covers emblazoned with “MSU” in gold writing.
“I got them when I first came to Murray State,” she said. “They look a little shaggy now.”
Grace’s opponent, Marsha Bordas, got in the spirit of the Fourth of July with a patriotic look – she covered her driver with an American flag head cover.
With the final round of competition set to tee off Friday morning with championships matches in all flights, the action is ripe for spectators. But approach Miller with care – it’s a jungle out there.
No comments:
Post a Comment