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♦ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2005
Forget me not
Green wants to be remembered
for his golfing accomplishments
By TOM HANSON
Scripps Howard News
Service
NAPLES, Fla. -
Hubert Green doesn’t
want to be remem
bered as the guy
who beat cancer.
Green, who was diagnosed
with throat cancer in May of
2003, wants
to be remem
bered as the
guy who beat
Hale Irwin or
Gil Morgan
or whoever
he may chal
lenge in a
Champions
Tour event.
From a
GREEN
distance,
he looks like the old Green
- the distinguished gentle
man from Birmingham, Ala.,
who captured 19 PGA Tour
events, including two major
championships.
The weak, over-the-top grip
on the club is still the same.
The short, crisp, light
ning-quick back swing that
could knock down a flagstick
with the best of them is still
vibrant.
The large-brimmed hat that
he has made famous with
four Champions Tour wins
remains on his head.
But he’s a lighter shade
of Green these days. Not by
choice.
Forced to drink his meals
because of'the loss of saliva
glands, Green has lost consid
erable weight.
He doesn’t like his frail fig
ure or the fact that he gets
tired at the end of a round.
But it beats the alternative.
It’s sure better than not being
here at all.
“That’s what my diet will
do for you,” Green sarcasti
cally said in a deep, mum
bled Southern drawl, another
effect of the cancer. “Nothing
but chemo and radiation.”
And let’s not forget the
yummy vanilla energy drinks.
About six to eight times a day,
Green punches a straw into
an 8-ounce box packed with
calories, carbohydrates and
not much flavor.
To Green, it’s a meal fit for
a king. He doesn’t switch it
up to strawberry or choco
late. It’s vanilla or nothing.
And he never gets tired of
it, although he does admit
he sometimes craves pizza or
hamburgers.
But food isn’t what he miss
es most.
He misses seeing his name
on the leaderboard. He misses
having a putt on the 18th hole
to win or lose a tournament.
He misses banging heads with
the Watsons and the Kites of
the world.
“What is fun for me is being
in contention, being in the
lead of a golf tournament,
going against the other play
ers to see who blinks first,”
Green said. “That’s what I
miss. That’s why I still play.”
This is why Green has given
Perry United Methodist Church
Jenny Jackson-Adams -Senior Pastor
Roland Fall -Associate Pastor • Josh Bizzell -Youth Minister
Krissy Pope -Pastor to Children & Director of Christian Education
1002 Carroll Street Timbre
478-987-1852 Provided
'We all have a story.
We all have been
through rough
times - no one is
perfect.'
- Pro golfer Hubert Green
himself a six-month ultima
tum.
If by July he’s not giving
the Dana Quigleys and Allen
Doyles a run for their money
on the Champions Tour, he’s
going to call it quits.
If he’s not breaking par on
a regular basis, he’ll retire to
his home in Birmingham.
Green said he played in 16
events last year for the doc
tors. He’s playing this season
for himself.
“I’m not going to enjoy
playing golf shooting 75 or
77,” Green said. “I want to
be able to win. I want to be
competitive.”
John Calabria, the director
of golf at Tuscany Reserve in
Naples, Fla., isn’t surprised
by Green’s convictions.
He first met Green at
Florida State. Calabria, a
freshman, normally bummed
a ride to the golf course from
Green, then a junior. Calabria
remembers Green behind the
wheel of his dark blue Ford
Falcon. He was as serious
as his car, especially when it
came to his golf game.
“He’s a strong-willed indi
vidual who truly believes in
himself,” Calabria said. “Back
then, he was an impressive
guy who you knew was going
to make something of him
self.”
By winning the 1977 U.S.
Open at Southern Hills,
Green did just that.
The last of his 19 PGA Tour
victories came in 1985, when
he won the PGAChampionship
at Cherry Hills by two shots
over Lee Trevino.
His record is deserving of
his recent World Golf Hall of
Fame nomination. But atten
tion is something Green - now
in remission - never sought
then or now.
Green doesn’t want any
one to feel sorry for him. He
doesn’t want anyone to look
at him differently. He doesn’t
want his cancer to be the focal
point of his career or this
season.
“We all have a story,”
Green said. “We all have been
through rough times - no one
is perfect. We all aren’t politi
cians.”
And come July, if he’s not
competitive, he’ll quietly give
it up. There will be no fan
fare. There will be no big
farewell retirement parties.
There’ll be a final putt, a tip
of the hat and he’ll be done.
“I don’t have to be remem
bered out here as Hubert
Green the cancer survivor,”
he said. “I want to be remem
bered as Hubert Green, the
professional golfer.”
MORNING WORSHIP
9am & 11am
SUNDAY SCHOOL
10am
SUNDAY NIGHT WORSHIP
7pm
SPORTS
New NASCAR pules debut at California
By MIKE HARRIS
AP Motorsports Writer
FONTANA, Calif. - New
rules are going to make
for some big
changes for
NASCAR
Nextel Cup
drivers this
weekend at
California
Speedway.
Shorter
rear spoilers,
I NEXTEL )
Vjrgywgjw/
Auto Club 500
at California,
Sunday. 2 pm,
FOX
softer tires and a new quali
fying schedule greeted the
Nextel Cup drivers when
they hit the 2-mile oval for
two scheduled practice ses
sions Friday.
“There really is a lot to
take in,” said Chad Rnaus,
crew chief for Jimmie
Johnson. “This weekend
should answer a lot of ques
tions for everyone after all
the speculation we’ve been
going through all winter.”
The season opened last
Sunday with the Daytona
500. But the results of that
race were probably a bit
misleading because the
teams were forced to use
horsepower-sapping car
buretor restrictor plates
and had rear spoilers 6 3/4
inches high for stability
on the 2 1/2-mile Daytona
International Speedway.
In Sunday’s Auto Club
500, the unrestricted
engines will produce consid
erably more power, but the
spoilers will be cut to 4 1/2
inches and there also will
also be a new generation
tire to contend with. Both
changes, to be implemented
everywhere except Daytona
and Talladega, are intended
to slow the cars in the turns
by giving them less down
force, thereby making pass
ing easier and improving
competition.
Nearly everyone test
ed the new aerodynamics
package here and at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway in
Hartley heads west; Perry hosts Bowman venue
Charles Hartley,
Houston Springs
head golf pro, is
headed for west and then
some. He will visit Singapore
March 8 for a three-month
stint of teaching and exhibi
tions in a stay he said might
be extended to six months.
Hartley hopes to return
to Houston Springs when
his contract is up.
BUILDING HOPE: Houston
Springs is also in the plan
ning stages for the next nine
holes, moving its schedule
up.
Houston Springs Country Club
988-8200
Perry Country Club
is holding Poker Night
Saturday. For a $5 dona
tion, players can try their
hands at cards from 7 to
11 p.m. Sign up is limited
to the first 27 players and
with the date so close, bet
ter hurry.
FAITH AND PITTING: PCC is
hosting the Gene Bowman
Scholarship Fund for
Ministers Tournament for
Truett-McConnell College
« iP.
NASCAR
Jeff Gordon celebrates his Daytona 500 win this past
Sunday. He will be gunning for two straight Sunday and
added NASCAR's new rules taking effect this weekend
will give a pretty indication of how the season will go.
January, alleviating many
of the concerns. But there
wasn’t any racing.
“Until we get around
other cars in race condi
tions, we’re really not going
to know how much of an
effect the reduced spoiler
height and the new tire
compound will have,” said
Tony Stewart, who led
a race-high 107 laps last
Sunday before slipping back
to seventh at the end.
“It didn’t seem like it
was a huge change for us,”
L NOTEBOOK
Compiled by Joe Sersey
Mar. 14.
The fund is named in
honor of the Reverend Gene
T. Bowman, former minis
ter of First Baptist of Perry
and current interim pastor
at Unity Baptist Church in
Bonaire.
Bowman said $36,000 had
already been raised and the
tournament was designed
to add to the cofers.
The four-person scramble
is scheduled for a 1 p.m. shot
gun start. A noon luncheon
will precede the event. The
cost for the tournament is
SSO per person and includes
lunch and cart.
Perry Country Club
987-1033
Robert Swinford hit a
hole in one on Waterford
Golf Club's 160-yard par
3, second hole Monday. He
used a 7-iron for his ace.
NICE MILITARY Waterford
Golf Club sponsors a mili
118
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\lt * ' 1 1
f/il 1 I 4 •
( #
/ i'll., * *
Fb
Proceeds From The Tournament Benefit
Pastorial Ministers attending
Truett-McConnell in honor of
Gene T. Bowman
For More Information 988-2478 or 987-1033
he said. “Things are going
to change constantly, and
no matter what changes,
you’ve got to learn to deal
with it and learn to make
the best of it.”
Some drivers have looked
forward to the changes
because they expect them
to make the cars harder to
drive.
“I’ve lain in bed at
night wondering if it will,”
Stewart said. “We really
won’t know until we get a
little deeper into the sea-
tary appreciation day the
first Thursday of each
month. The cost is $12.84
for military members. That
is half the usual price.
Waterford Golf Club
328-7533
International City is
sponsoring its Glow Ball
Tournament March 19. It is
a four-person scramble and
costs $35 per person and
includes cart.
Play begins on the first
nine holes at 4 p.m. A cook
out will follow and then the
final nine holes played after
dark. Both will begin with
shotgun starts.
International City Golf Club
322-0276
The Landings still has
two spots for 11 and up
in its after school golf pro
gram. The program will run
Tuesday through April 29
and costs SIOO per person
for members, sllO for non
members. For more infor
mation, call or visit goggin
golf.com.
TRJUMVERATE: Three golfers
f Gene T. Bowman
> Scholarship Golf Tournament
r
I
Perry
March 14th at
18 Hole Scramble
Lunch Served 12noon
■
loin Shotgun Start
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
son. I’m hoping so.
“Two years ago, we were
in situations where track
position was everything and
you could run 150 laps on
a set of tires and be just as
fast as a guy with 30 laps on
his tires.”
Stewart would love to see
the competition revert to
what it was when he set a
slew of rookie records in
1999.
“Back then, you had to
really pay attention to your
tire wear and not over
drive the car too early,” he
explained.
The weekend could also
play into the hands of expe
rienced drivers.
Beginning this week, and
at about two-thirds of the
remaining tracks, qualify
ing has been switched from
Friday to Saturday. The
cars will be impounded by
NASCAR immediately after
time tests and race the next
day with the same tires,
chassis setup and fuel load
on which they qualified.
“With the new deal you
have to think primarily
about the race,” Kyle Petty
said. “So you have to be
right where you want to be
with the car when it comes
time to qualify.
“It’s going to be interest
ing to see how things shake
out in the race. You’re going
to have to make some pret
ty big decisions by Saturday
morning off what you did in
a couple of hours of practice
Friday afternoon.”
Jeff Gordon said Sunday’s
race is going to tell everyone
a lot more about the season
than the 500.
“I think you’re going to
see more lead changes,” he
said. “I don’t know if you’re
gong to see as much side
by-side racing with the new
rules. But what you saw at
Daytona is not what exists
anywhere else other than
Talladega.”
scored aces at the Landings
during a four-day span.
Ron Lee hit his Saturday
from the Trestle blue trees
on number three, using a
3 iron.
Bill Payne used a 6 iron
at Bluff number four white
tees and Larry Campbell
scored his ace Tuesday from
Bluff number four white
tees with a wood.
SCRAMBLING DUO: LGC is
alos sponsoring a two-man
scramble championship
Mar. 5-6.
The field will hold 60
teams with tee times
between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
both days.
The cost is S2OO per team
and includes carts both
days, practice round Friday
(carts extra), closest to the
pin and long drive prizes,
and range balls.
Landings Golf Club
923-5222
Pat Thomas notched her
a hole in one on 157-yard
number 12 last week.
Pine Oaks Golf Club
923-7334