With the addition of this year’s Champion’s Dinner to go along with the emblazoned shirts that go to the tournament’s winners, The    Democrat is taking on more and more traditions resembling The Masters. Many years ago, my father wrote a poem about The Masters which hung on the walls of local restaurants and which The  Democrat newspaper prints annually during Masters week. In the spirit of The Democrat Golf Tourney paying homage to The Masters, I wrote this poem about the The Democrat in the same style my father penned his Ode to The Masters. 

Ode to ‘The Democrat’

Take the idea of team best ball

Hand it to Zintel, first name Paul

Take a match-play format

And you had the first Democrat

Take the allure of the Big G

And a paltry $110 entry fee

Take the island green

And all the beauty in between

Take the Etess brothers in routs

The first two years left no doubts

Take the Kaufman brothers, Mel and Stu

The first 16th seed to beat a one, who knew

Take Dave and Dick

In the Calcutta, no one would pick

Take the Josephers, Myron and Mike

Son would always know a shot Dad didn’t like

Take a 21-year-old Ken Cohen

Won with Jimmy G and still goin

Take the Honesdale boys

Who made a lot of noise

Markowski/Howe, Annabel and McHugh

Just to name a few

Take the tense playoffs for the championship  flight

Some that finished without any daylight

Take Marvin and Chris

Who wouldn’t miss

Take the move to Callicoon

The Villa Roma was a boon

Take Marty, Paul and Matt

Who saw over every this and that

Barbecues, dinners and all you could wager

And Sullivan County had its only major

Take the Villa’s greens, which drove some mad

That is if your first name wasn’t Rad

Take Kleiners Maxx and Ben

Who made the finals again and again

Take Solomon and Jordan

Gordon and Gordon

Friedman and Levine

Gelman and Goldstein

Take a super talented Josh

Won with his 10-handicap dad, my gosh

Take the great shots under the gun

The common thread among those who won

Take Johnston and Wolcott

Who were red hot

Take Phillips and Semenetz

Two grizzled vets

Take Kort and Walter

Who didn’t falter

Take a Billard named Drew

Who won a few

Take the Elliotts, Rich and Bill

Who made the GOATS look run of the mill

Take Sean and Joe

Who’ve made The Democrat their show

Take the friends, brothers, fathers and sons

Some play for fun, some for title runs

Take the Stabberts, Fred and Freddie

Who were always ready

The Democrat is their creation

And they deserve a lasting ovation.