Christmas 16—MIDDLETOWN — It’s hard to tell whether the feat Sam Nelson accomplished last week or the one he will perform today is more impressive.
He deserves rousing applause for the first one and a standing ovation for the second.
On July 9, Nelson, 74, not only shot his age, but also set a record during the Men’s Senior Golf Championship at Wildwood Golf Club.
Then today, Nelson, who earned his pilot’s license when he was 16, will fly a teenage boy with a special medical condition from Middletown Regional Airport to Camp New Friends in Charlottesville, Va. A week later, Nelson will fly the boy from Middletown back to his home in Macomb, Ill.
At Wildwood, where Nelson has been a member since 1978, he shot a 3-over 74 over the 6,100-yard course, beating the other four golfers in his age group and the rest of his 34 golfers in the tournament. It was the first time a golfer in the oldest age group won the overall championship.
The tournament was divided into four age groups: 50-59, 60-64, 65-69 and 70 and older.
It was the second time during a tournament Nelson shot his age, a goal of any golfer.
Nelson was even par after nine holes and that’s when he thought he had a chance to hoist the trophy for the second time after winning it in 2002 when he was 53.
Then he scuffed his tee shot on No. 10, a par 3, lost his ball and walked off with a double-bogey.
“That got me worried,” Nelson said.
But he steadied himself and finished with a five-foot birdie putt on No. 18, a par 3.
He then walked into the clubhouse and celebrated his round with a few adult beverages. Someone mentioned that if there was a tie, there would be a playoff. His next drink was an ice tea.
Two only golfers, playing in younger age groups and with lower handicaps, both shot 75.
“It was incredible,” Nelson said of his second senior championship. “They can never take that away from me. It made my golfing year.”
Nelson, a retired Middletown certified public accountant, said he may have benefited after inclement weather reduced the 36-hole tournament into an 18-hole tournament. That allowed him to fire at all the pins “because there is no day two. I came out of the pack.”
If winning the championship wasn’t enough, Nelson will complete another Angel Flight today.
Angel Flight, a Virginia-based organization, pairs families that request air travel to medical facilities with pilots who donate their time, aircraft and fuel. Its motto is: “the shortest distance between home and hope.”
He has volunteered his services for the last 20 years and completes a flight once or twice a year. Nelson will pay the $400 in fuel.
“This gives me a chance to have a lot of gratitude for what I have,” he said.
In the fairway and in the air.