8 - The Moirisville and Preston Progress, Wednesday, July 26,1995
Tickle tells how it was
EDITOR’S NOTE: Chuck
Tickle, a Prestonwood golfer and
one of the Triangle’s top
amateurs, was the only amateur
to qualify for the Nike Carolina
Classic at Prestonwood’s'
Meadows Course in June. Here’s
the 33-year>old insurance agent’s
own account of what it was like
to compete against 143 pros.
By Chuck Tickle
My thoughts went back to 1988
when I tried to qualify for the U.S.
Open and came pretty close to
making it. I had advanced to the
second level of qualifying and was
one of about 100 players going
after 30 open spots at Woodmont in
Rockville, Md.
- Trouble was, most of the players
came straight off the PGA tour.
The two qualifying rounds took
place right after the Kemper Open,
which was played nearby, and
about 85 of the tour players had
picked Woodmont as their qualify
ing site.
I went five or six ovct par in
those two rounds and never made it
to the U.S. Open. But at least now I
had a chance to play in the Nike
Carolina Classic on my home
course at Prestonwood.
1 decided to enter a week before
the Nike and paid my $225 entry
fee. Ibat was more than I had ever
put down just to enter a tourna
ment, but I felt it was worth it since
business conflicts had forced me to
drop out of the North Carolina
Amateur in Charlotte and the
North-South in Pinehmst.
In the qualifying round at The
Neuse at Clayton, eight of us lied at
71 and had to come back the next
day to go after the four remaii.ing
spots in the tournament. In a
sudden-death playoff like that, you
shoot a bogey and you’re out.
Shoot a birdie and chances are
you’ll win or at least stay in con
tention. I didn’t make a birdie all
day, but I did make 11 straight
pars.
When I missed short putts on
four, five and six and had to settle
GALLERYITE--Gina Epperley
had a good reason to be in the
gallery at the Nike Carolina
Classic. She was following her
fiance, Chuck Tickle,
for pars, I thought I was done. At
that point, three players had
qualified and three had been
eliminated. It was down to Cliff
Benson, a pro from Raleigh, and
me. I paired five more holes and
when Benson had a bogey on the
eleventh, I was in the Nike.
I had accomplished my main goal
by qualifying for the tournament,
but I wanted to play well the first
two days and hopeftilly make the
cut. I practiced the day before the
tournament and felt pretty confi
dent. On the driving range, I
noticed that the range balls were
new Titleists, which is the way
things are done on the tour.
I called my father in Pulaski, Va.,
that night. He’s been a club
champion there and is the one who
taught me how to play. He tells me
now just to play my game, but
years ago, when I was learning the
game, he would tell me a lot more
than that.
I was paired with Gary Nicklaus,
Jack’s son, and a club pro from
Vass, Stuart Taylor. It wasn’t the
first time I had played with Nick
laus. When I was at Radford Uni-
TEE TIME-Prestonwood’s Chuck Tickle, right, and Gary Nicklaus
await their turn on the tee during the opening round of the Nike
Carolina Classic. Nicklaus is the son of golf legend Jack Nicklaus
and was a member of Tickle’s threesome along with club pro
Stuart Taylor of Vass.
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versity, we participated in a tourna
ment at Guilford College and I
played with Gary’s brother, Jackie,
■who was on the North Carolina
team.
Gary was enjoyable to play with,
but you could tell that he was at
work on the golf course. I guess
he’s got a lot of pressure on him
and there are a lot of expectations
since he’s the son of the greatest
golfer to ever play the game. I re
member seeing him on the cover of
Sports Illustrated when he was
about 13 years old.
Gary Im good length off the tee
and is good with the long irons.
The first day, he had a couple of
bad swings and went out of bounds
twice. He also missed a couple of
putts and wound up with a 76. The
next day he had a hot streak and put
together three birdies and an eagle.
He finished with a 66 but missed
the cut by a stroke.
The faa that golf is a serious
business with not much small talk
was much more evident with Gary
than it was with Stuart. He’s not a
tour regular so he tried to enjoy the
moment just like myself.
We had a 9:20 a.m. tee time for
the first round and I was surprised
that I wasn’t more nervous as I
warmed up on the driving range.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.
By the time we arrived at the first
tee, I was more nervous that I
would normally be in a tournament.
I bit a perfeci tee shot on the first
hole and paired the first two. After
the second hole, I felt more relaxed.
I then proceeded to bogey five of
the next six holes, but did manage
to play well the rest of the way.
Sometimes I guess it’s better to be
nervous.
I just never felt comfortable on
the greens. They were the same
greens I play on as a member but
the pin placements were different.
That made three quarters of the
holes seem like I was playing them
for the first time.
The greens were extremely fast,
especially compared to Clayton. I
made a mistake practicing my put
ting at Clayton because the greens
were so slow. I should have done
my practicing at FTesionwood.
But I can’t blame the course. My
problem was that I couldn’t get
focused. I would step up to the ball
NO LOVE FOR LAKE HOLE-Chuck Tickle
strolls past the lake on the 15th hole of Preston
wood’s Meadows course, trailed by the official
scorekeeper and scoreboard holder for his
threesome in the Nike Carolina Classic. Tickle,
whose second shot landed in the lake during the
second round, was the only amateur to qualify
for the pro tournament.
and not concentrate. I wasn’tthink-
ing of anything. Sometimes that’s
good but it just didn’t work for me.
It’s the atmosphere that’s dif
ferent at a pro tournament. You just
get caught up in what’s going on. I
knew this at the start but it still af
fected my play.
We had a pretty good gallery and
I guess most of them were there to
watch Gary. But I knew some
people were watching me, too, and
wanting me to do good and that
kind of thing. The gallery included
my fiancee, Gina Epperley, but her
being there didn’t r^y bother me.
I knew when I shot a 77 that first
day that I wouldn’t make the cut. I
figured it would lake a 65 in the
second round to make it, and the
best I had ever done on the course
was a 67. Sol figured I’d Just try to
play well and possibly br^ par.
We started on the back side the
second day and I felt much more
comfortable than I did the first time
around. I went one under after a
birdie on the third hole, but the
wheels were to come off soon. I hit
a thin shot on number 15, which
was our sixth hole that day, and had
a double bogey after landing in the
lake. That wasn’t the first time I’ve
been in that lake, but from that
point on I was never ^le to get
back in the groove.
I finished with a 75 for a 152 total
and wound up tied with Stuart
Taylor and three others. There were
three players below me. but at least
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I had met one of my goals and
qualified to play with the pros.
I had a good time; I just felt badly
that I didn’t score that well. When
you move up to a higher level, you
have to be at that level every day to
compete. It’s the same situation
when a Nike player moves up to
the regular tour.
If the tournament is held at
Prestonwood again next year, hope
fully I can qualify again and play
better. One thing I’ll remember
about my first pro tournament is
that Gary Nicklaus missed the cut
after shooting a 66 that easily could
have been a 64. That just reinforces
my decision to sell insurance for a
living rather than play golf.
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