USA Today golf columnist Chris Bumbaca said it all when he wrote, “the dreams of the father were fulfilled in the land of the mother’s family,” as Xander Schauffele won the golf medal in last week’s Olympic men’s golf tournament in Kawagoe, Japan.

Schauffele, 27, has finished in the top 10 of all four majors but on Sunday last week he became the men’s Olympic champion with a final round of 4 under par 67, nearly four decades after an accident dashed the athletic hopes of his father…also Schauffele’s lifelong swing coach.

Stefan Schauffele was a French-German decathlete who dreamed of competing in the Games. At age 20, a drunk driver hit him, and in one fell swoop, he lost vision in his left eye and those Olympic aspirations.

Bumbaca, in his well crafted article for USA Today noted that Ping-Yi Chen, Schauffele’s mother, “was born in Taiwan and raised in Japan since age 4. She attended college in San Diego, where she met the elder Schauffele and where Xander was born.”

We like happy endings to great stories and with this win by American Xander Schauffele an Olympic golf medal found its way home after one’s Olympic aspirations came crashing down many years ago.

Ed’s Outlook

Golf Lessons Never Hurt The Game

Remembering way back when I asked professional golfer Joe Turnesa if he would help me with my golf game.

At the time I was a teenager at Liberty High School, and I worked all summer seven days a week as a caddy at Grossinger’s Golf Club.

I was attracted to the game early in life and after caddying at both the Sullivan County Golf & Country Club in Liberty and Youngs Gap, also near Liberty, my brother-in-law who also did some caddying at Grossinger’s while going to college got me in at the Big G.

The caddy master took a liking to me and one day asked me to caddy for Turnesa in a pro-am tournament. I said yes and the rest is history as I did a good job with the sticks for Joe, and he offered to give me a big tip but instead I asked if he would give me a short lesson. He asked me to meet him on the first tee at 9 a.m. in the morning and, instead of lessons, we played 18 holes of golf giving me tips on every shot I took.

Some three hours later he said I improved after every tip, and he asked me to caddy for him in the remaining pro-ams that summer and he gave me a nice tip for my work in the previous afternoon pro-am.

What a thrill playing with him that day and his golfing tips got me a spot as a freshman on the Liberty High School varsity golf team.

Golf Tip

By Robert Menges

One year I was on our annual golf trip to Myrtle Beach in the middle of March, when one of my good friends started to hook the ball violently. He is a good player who would hook the ball off the tee once in a while.

On this trip, which was a 3-day golf outing, he could not seem to hit a ball off the tee without it going out 50 yards and then took a sharp left turn rolling fast and furiously into the woods.

As you may have guessed it was very frustrating for him to play golf that weekend.

I finally got some time to watch him on the range the last day so I could help him try to fix his problem.

A hook for a right handed golfer is when the ball goes lower than the intended flight and turns hard to the left. This is caused by the clubface being shut and closed at impact. Before I look at a player’s swing to try and fix a problem, I like to see how they set up when they address the ball.

The first thing I noticed was his grip on the club. He had a very strong right-hand grip where the lower hand was too far underneath the club.

I had him turn his hand to the left to get the hand on top of the club more and have him hold it more in his fingers.

He was aiming too far right of his target with his feet and shoulders. This was causing him to try pulling back to his target by rolling over his forearms and hands, thus shutting the face of the club and not letting it work properly. I had him start to open his stance (aim to the left more). Then I told him to feel like he was hitting the ball to the left and hit the ball with the back of his left hand to keep the clubface square through impact.

He was able to play the last 18 holes and enjoy himself. He reverted back to his old habit a couple of times, but for the most part he hit the ball straight or even with a little fade.

I try to keep things simple when I teach.

Robert Menges is the head golf professional at the Swan Lake Golf & Country Club on Mt. Hope Road in Swan Lake. He is available for private lessons and if you have a question or subject you would like covered, he can be reached at 845-292-0323 or via email at bobmenges22@gmail.com.

Golf calendar

Aug. 6: Mamaktating K Of C, contact Tarry Brae at 845-434-2620.

Aug. 7: O.B. Outing, Swan Lake Golf Club, contact Bob Menges 845-292-0323.

Aug. 10: New Hope Community, contact Tarry Brae 845-434-2620.

Aug. 14: Youngsville Fire Company, contact Swan Lake Golf Club 845-292-0323.

Aug. 14: Pete DeVantier Memorial, Tennanah Lake, contact Dan DeVantier, 607-437-7301.

Aug. 15: Roger Bournoval, contact Tarry Brae 845-434-2620.

Aug. 16: Thunder 102 Tournament, contact Thunder 102.

Aug. 21: Carlson Outing, Tarry Brae, contact John Jaycox 845-866-6431.

Aug. 21: Drive to end Duchenne, Tennanah Lake, contact Justin Bowers, 607-348-7569.

Aug. 22: St. George’s Church, 1 p.m. Start, Swan Lake Golf Club, contact Bill Moloney or golf club at 845-292-0323.

Aug. 26: Liberty Elks Frank Finn Memorial 11 a.m. start, Swan Lake Golf Club, contact Bob Menges 845-292-0323.

Aug. 28: Napanoch Elks, Tarry Brae, contact Larry Navitsky, 845-706-0541.

Sept. 3: Inaugural Do Good Golf Outing, Tennanah Lake, Visit DoGoodSpirits.com.

Sept. 5: Sullivan West Football Tournament, Tennanah Lake, contact 607-498-5000.

Sept. 11: Monticello Rotary, contact Tarry Brae 845-434-2620.

Sept. 12: 1 p.m. Jeffersonville Lions Club, Swan Lake Golf Club, contact Doug Immoor 482-4061.

Sept. 18: A.O.H. Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day. 11 a.m start. contact Ed O’Malley, Swan Lake Golf Club 845-649-0911.

Sept. 19: Liberty Faculty Association 11 a.m. start, Swan Lake Golf Club, contact Liz Fuentes 631-560-6866.

Sept. 25: Monticello Basketball 11 a.m. start at Swan Lake Golf Club, contact Chris Russo 551-655-8281.

Oct. 2: Summitville FD, Tarry Brae, contact Tim Koestler 888-2007.

Oct. 9: County Cup, Tarry Brae, contact 845-434-2620.

Ed Townsend is a Public Relations Consultant to the sport of golf and brings over 65 years of sports journalism experience in writing and compiling the information for this column. If you have league or tournament information, shoot a hole-in-one or score your age, let Ed know at 845-439-8177 or email at bghtnews@aol.com.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

American Xander Schauffele wins the golf championship in the Olympic Men’s Golf Tournament.

Twin Village

Monday Mens

1. Husson & Husson 176.5
2. Thomas & Hendrickson 156.5
3. Brock & Brock 155.5
4. Reed & Odell 150.0
5. Templin & Lee 143.0
6. Rampe & Clancy 142.5
7. Bennett & Rowan 141.5
8. Green & Glantzis 140.0
9. Tallman & Ackerly 139.0
10. Tucker & Smith 135.5
11. Clark & Mooney 135.0
12. Murphy & Townsend 129.5
13. Madera & Diaz 128.0
14. Ryder & Ryder 127.5
15. Darbee & France 127.5
16. Haas & France 127.0
17. Harris & Spalding 125.5
18. Wood & Brosius 104.0

Twin Village

Tuesday Ladies

1. A. Husson & B. Ackerly 139.0
2. Y. Rowan & T. Stark 123.5
3. C. Bowers & S. Feeney 109.5
4. L. Hendrickson & M. Ross 107.5
5. E. Casey & E. Carlson 101.5
6. S. Ferber & J. Husson 93.0
7. D. Tallman & C. Routledge 91.0
8. S. Clark & K. Ahart 80.5
9. K. Harris & S. Green 74.5

SWAN LAKE

Tuesday Night Birdie Division

1. M. Welsh & S. Duquette 112.0
2. P. Clifford & A. Hauser 109.0
3. Todd & Taylor VanKeuren 106.0
4. T. Ditmar & N. Rusin 105.0
5. H. Keherley & J. Rhupert 102.5
6. D. Luczynski & M. Garigliano 99.0
7. K. Torrens & M. Lagatutta 94.5
8. D. Byrne & T. Byrne 93.0
9. J. Merklin & W. Huebner 90.5
10. N. Bell & M. Freaney 87.0
11. N. Huggler & M. Murphy 85.0
12. C. Hicks & B. Garber 81.5
13. A. Atkins & R. Festa 75.0
14. T. Merklin & S. Austin 70.5
15. T. Osterhout & B. Meyer 58.5
16. M. Williams & D. Divita 58.0

Tuesday Night Par Division

1. C. Schadt & W. Mall 100.0
2. J. Finn & J. Russell 98.5
3. E. O’Malley & T. Ellison 98.0
4. K. Wheeler & S. Hamlin 98.0
5. T. Gallo & C. Roth 97.0
6. C. Roth & C. Roth 90.5
7. J. Sazoff & S. Ottino 90.0
8. J. Rusin & R. Ellison 88.5
9. J. J. VanKeuren & T. Nieman 80.0
10. J. Frankie & R. Frankie 80.0
11. Walter & Quitin Herzog 79.5
12. J. Tanous & J. Wilhelm 76.0
13. K. Clifford & B. Menges 73.0
14. P. Fanning & A. Marciano 69.5
15. P. Donovan & K. Scheibe 63.0
16. M. Diehl & A. Bradley 61.5

Wednesday Night

1. R. Schmidt & B. Russell 136.0
2. E. Stratton & M. Brand 127.0
3. F. Barrett & D. Hendrickson 125.0
4. J. Hinkley & P. Alden 113.0
5. D. Kuebler & R. O’Mara 113.0
6. W. Mall & F. Stabbert 111.0
7. T. Martin & T. Martin Jr. 106.0
8. P. Wegman & R. Lennon 102.0
9. R. Meihoffer & T. Doughty 98.5
10. R. Heyman & J. Weinstein 92.5
11. J. Fink & J. Graham 90.5
12. D. Immoor & H. Tighe 88.5
13. G. Ziegler & J. Wunder 88.0
14. R. Espsito & D. Hoskings 72.5