|
|
Got an e-mail from Jimmy Meszoros the other day. Jim and Benji Labrador coach the Bridgeport Legion and RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) baseball teams here in the city and they want to let people know that sign-ups for both teams are coming up.
This Saturday, May 22, starting at 10 a.m. at Veterans Park field, sign-ups will take place for both the Legion and the RBI teams.
For more information, you can call Jim Meszoros at (203) 257-0208.
He did it.
Three days of tournament golf (and tournament pressure) and not only did Ken Green survive, he played amazingly well. Sunday in the final round of the Champions Tour Regions Charity Classic in Hoover, Ala., Green, from Danbury, shot a 3-over 75 to finish the 54-hole tournament at 9-over 225.
Green, who was involved in a tragic RV accident last June that killed his brother, girlfriend and his dog and cost him half of his right leg, shot rounds of 74-76-75 over the 7,396 yard course using a prosthetic limb — making him the first professional golfer to accomplish such a feat.
Green’s only two goals for the tournament were to break 80 all three days and not to finish dead last and he achieved both. He finished tied for 73rd, finishing ahead of Jim Roy, Frank Shikle and Rick Smallridge.
Congratulations, Ken. Well done.
I don’t know what’s more impressive, the fact that Ken Green has broken 80 (easily) in his first two rounds of the Regions Charity Classic or the fact that he’s made it around the 7,396-yard course twice without any major setbacks with his prosthetic right leg.
Over these first two days, Green, from Danbury, has fought nerve pain in his leg and the mental pressure of wanting to play well. So far, he’s overcome both obstacles with ease. On Friday, his 2-over 74 (with four birdies) was amazing and on Saturday his 4-over 76 (three birdies, seven bogeys) was a tribute to him gutting out what had to be a tough day both mentally and physically.
“It was hard, and I got emotional at times during the round,” Green told the Associated Press after Friday’s opening round. “The four birdies I made was fantastic. I had lots of good hope out there, and I’m encouraged going forward.”
Green is tied for 74th after two rounds. The third (and final) round will be played on Sunday.
If I didn’t see the scorecard with my own eyes I might not have believed it. But there it was … 2-over-par 74. And on the card were four birdies. If anyone ever doubted the heart and determination of Ken Green, Friday’s opening round in the Regions Charity Classic, those doubts evaporated after Danbury’s own posted a round for the ages.
Playing head-to-head on the Champions Tour for the first time since his tragic RV accident last June against a field that included Tom Kite, Fuzzy Zoeller, Corey Pavin, Joey Sindelar and Ben Crenshaw (just to name a few) Green shot 74 to stand tied for 69th after the first round.
Green said before the round that he would be “ecstatic” if he could break 80 all three days. Not only did he do that, he flirted with actually playing par golf, thanks to a solid back 9.
“You’ve got to do it. I’ve got to learn,” he said in an Associated Press story Friday morning. “I’ve got to figure it out, and the only way to do it is to keep playing. I’ve got to keep playing if I’m going to get better.”
Incredible. Playing on a prosthetic leg and having to learn a brand new swing, Green not only held his own, he played damn well under the circumstances, rallying back from difficult front 9 (where he was 4-over at one point) to shoot a 1-under 35 on the back 9.
Green struggled at the start, going par, double bogey, par, bogey after his first four holes to stand 3-over, but he answered with birdies at No. 5 and No. 9 to offset bogeys at No. 7 and No. 8 to make the turn at 3-over 39.
But birdies at No. 10 and No. 13, along with five straight pars, had Green at just 1-over-par heading to 17. He stumbled there with a bogey but parred 18 to complete the 7,473-yard course just 2-over.
Wow.
What a day for Ken Green.
The 2010-11 Fairfield men’s basketball schedule is 99 percent complete. There is still one road game to schedule but everything else appears to be finalized.
HOME — Howard, Army, Vermont, Bracket Buster, Wagner@
Canisius, Iona, Loyola, Manhattan, Niagara, St. Peter’s, Siena, Marist, Rider
AWAY — Holy Cross, Florida, Penn State, Rutgers@
Canisius, Iona, Loyola, Manhattan, Niagara, St. Peter’s, Siena, Marist, Rider
NEUTRAL — Sacred Heart, Radford@, St. Joseph’s@
@ — Philly Classic. East team gets one home game and one road game. Two games will be played at the Palestra.
Great news from the Connecticut State Golf Association.
Danbury’s Ken Green will play in this year’s 76th Connecticut State Open Championship, July 26-28, at the Country Club of Fairfield. Green won State Open titles in 1985 (New Haven Country Club) and 1992 (Ridgewood).
Green, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and member of the 1989 Ryder Cup team, lost the lower part of his right leg in an RV accident last summer. He recently returned to the Champions Tour in April using a prosthetic. He was paired with Mike Reid in the Libery Mutual Legends of Golf tournament in Savannah, Ga. and finished tied for 26th out of 32 teams.
I’ve just heard that Fairfield men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley has signed a massive contract extension which will have him patrolling the Stags sidelines through the 2016 season. This is a major step by atheltic director Gene Doris and for the first time in a long time (if not ever) shows the commitiment Fairfield is now making toward becoming an established mid-major presence.
Congratulations Coach.
Copyright © 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.
