A 257 for 18 Holes Good Enough for Bad Golfing Title

Angelo Spagnolo shot a 257 here Wednesday, winning Golf Digest magazine’s title of Worst Avid Golfer in America at the Tournament Players course. His score was 185 strokes over par, and included a 66 on the 17th hole.

You can’t get any worse than that, or at least the three avid golfers who played Spagnolo for the title couldn’t.

Spagnolo of Fayette City, Pa., who lost five dozen golf balls in the process, overtook Jack Pulford of Moline, Ill., on the back nine.

“I used to bowl, but my scores were so bad I took up golf,” Spagnolo said. “Now my golf scores are higher than my bowling scores used to be. The only advantage was I lost less balls bowling.”

Pulford made the turn with a 68-over-par 104 but got better on the back nine and finished with a 208, good enough only for third place. Spagnolo had a 97 for nine holes, then turned on the concentration.

Joel Mosser of Aurora, Colo., carded a 75-117--192, and Kelly Ireland of Tyler, Tex., shot 89-90--197, the day’s low. The foursome took seven hours to play the 6,857-yard, par-72 course.

The record for 18 holes is 63, set by pro Fred Couples.

“If he had quit after his second shot on the seventh hole, he could have set the course record,” said Brian Silwanicz, Spagnolo’s caddy.

Ireland set the tone for the tournament with the first stroke of the day, a 15-foot tee shot that landed in the second row of the bleachers. Pulford followed with a 200-yard drive that sliced right into the woods.

The four men were chosen by Golf Digest as the worst avid golfers in America. They had to meet some rigid qualifications, too. Each had to carry a handicap of at least 36, be of at least reasonable physical ability and play a minimum of 21 rounds a year.

Spagnolo clinched the title on the course’s most famous hole, the 132-yard 17th, which has a green surrounded by water. He put 27 balls into the water and ended up with a 66 on the hole. Calvin Peete shot a 66 in the final round of the Tournament Players Championship on the same course earlier this year--for all 18 holes.

The foursome lost a total of 12 dozen regular golf balls and 25 driving-range balls.