Part-time golfers have great stories at Mid-Amateur

No one summed up the U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier Thursday better than Jimmy Dunne. As he walked off the Baiting Hollow Club course, disappointed at having shot 76 when he knew he had a 72 in him, he said, "Both guys I played with today are working guys and I'm still a working stiff."

That is the beauty of the Mid-Amateur, which will be held at the Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton Sept. 25-30 (open to the public, admission is free). Every golfer must be 25 or older, so all of them have some experience at balancing golf and life.

For instance, there's Scott Osler of Cutchogue, who had missed out on a playoff to advance in U.S .Open qualifying in May because he had to catch a ferry for a business meeting. He qualified for the Mid-Am Thursday and was choked up. He walked down a path along the 18th fairway, alone, saying he needed to "spend a moment with Mom," who died this summer.

There was a story behind everyone who qualified and everyone who didn't. Dunne's was a match for anyone's.

At 53, he was one of the older competitors, but he still has game. He recently shot a course record 63 at Shinnecock Hills, where any golfer on Earth would be proud to hold the course record. "Billy Edwards, a great Long Island player, had shot 64, which I knew. I knew I had to get one more," he recalled Thursday, reflecting on his hole-in-one at Shinnecock's devilish No. 11 and his birdie on 13.

Shinnecock has been a special place for Dunne since he was 16. He and his best friend Chris Quackenbush painted the clubhouse and, as part of their fee, played the course. "I always thought Shinnecock was the greatest course in the world," Dunne said. "I still do."

He has basis for comparison. Having thrived as managing partner at Sandler, O'Neill and Partners, Dunne had the wherewithal to play Golf Magazine's 100 greatest courses.

"Golf always comes down to who you're with, but competitive golf is a whole different thing," he said. "It's great fun to try."

He was trying to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur on Sept, 11, 2001. He rushed to the clubhouse at Bedford Golf and Tennis Club, only to watch a nightmare. Quackenbush and 65 other Sandler O'Neill employees on the 104th floor of the South Tower died that morning.

Dunne wouldn't let the company fail that day, or any day since. The "working stiff" kept his firm afloat. He grew emotional with the mention of Quackenbush's name right after his round Thursday.

But Dunne also was genuinely frustrated about not qualifying. Having finished his round and shaken hands with fellow competitors Michael Worgul of Bethpage and Jonathan Millman of Plainview, Dunne was upset with the 8-iron that went too far on No. 7 (his 16th hole of the day). "A smarter player would have gotten in without a problem," he said.

No one in the field at the Mid-Am, though, has time for perfection. Steven Tarulli, who qualified with a 71, works in his family's recycling business. He encourages his 5- and 3-year-old sons to join him at Hempstead Golf & Country Club so he can combine dad time and golf time. "I tell them there's ice cream out there," he said.

Osler, a Cutchogue resident, helps run Advance Track Products, a worldwide railroad supply company. Jamison Friedman of Water Mill, another qualifier, spoke of stopping at Southampton Golf Club on the way home from his produce business in Riverhead. Curtis Woodworth of Manhattan, accompanied by his wife Courtney as he qualified with a 72, spoke of having been back only two weeks from his honeymoon (they played golf once in Tahiti).

They share the feeling expressed by Dennis DeBusschere of Garden City, son of the late Knicks star Dave DeBusschere. He didn't qualify but he relished the experience: "I'm obviously not playing basketball or lacrosse any more, so it's nice to get the competitive juices flowing."

One competitor did leave an impression. Dunne made three successive twos, including an eagle on a tough par 4 and a birdie on the hardest par 3. "I had never seen this happen in my 40-plus years of playing golf," said Worgul, who works six days a week for Pathmark.

Dunne said, "I gave it my best."