Age no handicap for Dick Crosby

ROCKLAND – Psssst. Keep this under your hat, but the first-round leader of the Bangor Daily News Amateur Golf Tournament is a 54-year-old grandfather who, get this, took a personal day off from his job as a teacher at Bonny Eagle High School in West Buxton in order to play Friday.

“Great, now I wind up with my name in the paper,” said Dick Crosby, after coaxing a three-under round of 67 from Rockland Golf Club to assume a two-stroke lead in the 28th edition of the event. “We’re not supposed to use personal days for vacation-type activities. But heck, this is work.”

Anyone wondering what subject Crosby teaches at Bonny Eagle got a strong clue when he hauled out a 7-wood on the tee of the 190-yard, par-3 18th hole and proceeded to whistle a shot through the stiff breeze that settled softly six feet from the cup (he made the birdie putt).

“I teach woodworking,” Crosby said, straight-faced.

By leaving a couple of 20-something pretourney favorites in Brian Lawton and Troy Witham in his wake two shots back (along with 40-something Ron Brown), Crosby taught the field something besides woodworking. Namely, that age doesn’t have to be a handicap.

“My game has gotten better and better and better the last five years,” said Crosby, who didn’t take up golf until he was 27 years old and is self-taught. “I’m playing more. I used to work summers. Now I play golf.”

Crosby said he has never led so large a tournament. But he hasn’t exactly come from nowhere, either. A 3-handicapper at Gorham Country Club, he finished third in a Maine Amateur in the late 1970s and has won several club events. He also played on the golf team as a non-traditional student at Gorham State Teacher’s College (now the University of Southern Maine) from 1968-71, helping the Huskies advance to the NAIA National tourney twice.

After losing his left ring finger in a table saw accident 10 years ago, Crosby worried his golf game would disappear with the digit. Instead, his grip both on the club and the game has improved.

“I think it made me concentrate more,” he said.

Crosby attributes his strong play so far this year with two factors: a new all-graphite driver, and walking two miles every day.

“I was playing at Falmouth Country Club with my good friend Arnie Clark,” said Crosby, relating how he switched drivers this spring. “We used to drive side by side. All of a sudden he was blowing it by me. I asked him what he was hitting. It was a Mizuno. After nine holes, I went into the clubhouse and asked to try one. I played nine holes with it and hit it pure. When I came in, I knew I had to have it.”

An admitted couch potato during the winter months, Crosby said he started walking daily in April. He dropped 18 pounds and gained stamina.

“I think that’s a worthy lesson for older golfers,” he said. “I noticed it immediately when I started playing golf. I didn’t get tired after 15 holes any more.”

As for how his stamina will hold up now that he’s leading Maine’s largest amateur tournament, Crosby said he is feeling no pressure.

“I’m not thinking about winning. My goal is to better myself every time I play.

“I wasn’t nervous at all out there today and usually when you play well you’re nervous. I’m getting over that. I think I’m old enough now and have played a lot of golf,” said Dick Crosby, undoubtedly glad he took the personal day.