Amateurs, pros share the green

Yesterday was the day for the amateurs to play like the pros. Well, to be a bit more accurate: it was the day for the amateurs to play with the pros.

The pro-am for the Constellation Energy Seniors Players Championship was held Wednesday at Baltimore Country Club’s Five Farms course in Timonium. As well as they played, there was no mistaking the amateurs with the pros they were sharing the course with.

In all fairness, the pros probably couldn’t manage annuity funds for a multi-national bank, but today was about 9-irons, not dividends. As expected, the pros drove the ball 300-yards down the heart of the fairway while the tax attorney shanked his drive into the bushes at 17.

Oh well, it’s not about the competition, it’s about the purity of the game. Right?

Try telling that to the hospital administrator who hit it into the sand trap on 18. "You gotta be kidding me," he said, slamming his club into the turf, to another player in his foursome.

"That’s the best shot you hit all day," his partner replied.

They stopped talking as the pro lined up his three-foot birdie putt.

The Players Championship tees off for real today.

—LOUIS LLOVIO, Business Writer