Firefighters keeping friendships alive

BRYCE ALDERTON

Part of the intrigue of golf is stepping onto the tee at a course

you’ve never played before.

You don’t know what to expect, making each shot a new adventure in

itself.

One of the pluses of writing about golf is receiving invitations

in the mail to play in charity golf tournaments.

Most are held on Mondays, perfect since it’s one of my days off.

In June I had the opportunity to play in a Monday tournament at

the Navy Golf Course in Seal Beach.

There I met Don Gray.

They say you can learn a lot about a person in the time it takes

to play a round of golf -- hopefully in four hours or less.

I learned that not only is Gray a pretty good golfer, but also

part of a fraternity that travels to a variety of courses six or

seven times a year.

The fraternity is the Newport Area Golf Organization for

Firefighters, an organization Gray, a retired captain from Newport

Beach Fire Department, started in the mid-1980s.

Gray, 59, a Coto de Caza resident, and other firefighters needed

indexes to enter into golf tournaments, thus prompting the formation

of NAGOFF, which started with 25 firefighters from Newport Beach.

The name “NAGOFF” arose from a round-table discussion that

included Gray and fellow colleagues after they had a few drinks.

The “NAG” part came from what wives or girlfriends would do when

we told them we were playing golf, Gray said.

Hopefully, the ladies are still reading this.

The organization has expanded to include 175 members, which

include not only firefighters from cities such as Costa Mesa and

Huntington Beach, but police officers, too.

Even non-firemen and police officers have joined, but they have to

be referred by a current member. The organization includes 10 women.

Members pay $40 a year, which gets them a Southern California Golf

Association index, along with eligibility to win prizes at

tournaments, if one gets a hole-in-one for example.

Gray said it can be a chore filling enough spots because

firefighters have various schedules.

There is one tournament each year, though, where NAGOFF fields a

squad and competes against the Orange County Fire Authority.

Golfers from both organizations square off in a two-player,

best-ball tournament with the winning side claiming a trophy that

stays in a selected fire station for the next year.

“That’s the big thing for us every year,” said Gray, who spent 29

1/2 years with the department. “Unfortunately, we’ve only won it

twice [in 12 years].”

But Gray contends that competition isn’t the only reason he

started NAGOFF.

“[Members] get to play courses they wouldn’t normally play,” Gray

said.

Members have played Mission Viejo Country Club, Alta Vista Country

Club, Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course in Irvine and Mile Square Golf

Course in Fountain Valley.

Players accumulate points during NAGOFF tournaments -- usually

individual stroke play -- throughout the year, which culminates with

December’s 36-hole championship at the Landmark Golf Club in Indio.

The championship is open to all members.

One member even has a specific tournament named after him.

Bud Bardsley, also a retired fire captain from Newport Beach Fire

Department, joined NAGOFF in the mid-1980s for the camaraderie with

fellow firefighters and the opportunity to improve his game.

Soon after joining, Gray contrived the Bud Bardsley invitational,

a 36-hole, one-day event held each year for a dozen or so select

firefighters.

Gray originally called it the Bud Bardsley memorial, but Gray’s

wife Barbara didn’t care for the word “memorial,” so Gray switched to

its current title.

Whatever the title, Bardsley and others still look forward to the

annual event.

“We wanted to make sure we kept [Bardsley] active and we wanted to

establish handicaps from the association,” Gray said.

Barry Adams, who retired from the Costa Mesa Fire Department,

handles handicaps for NAGOFF.

“[Adams] helps me a lot,” Gray said.

Bardsley’s handicap has dropped from a 22 to a 14 since joining NAGOFF in the mid-80s. He said the social ties keep him coming back.

“I get pumped up to see guys and get to know them,” Bardlsey said.

“Firemen have a special bond that a lot of people don’t have. We do a

lot together.”