In 1968, Greg Jordan of Guilford won his first club championship across town at Piscataquis Country Club.

Jordan, 52, has won at least one in every decade since then, a very unusual event.

His most recent one was Aug. 16-17 in a 36-hole stroke-play format. He shot 71-72 for a 5-over-par 143 to beat brothers Brian and Alan Gaw by two strokes.

Between defeating Ken Wilson in 1968 and the Gaws this year, he added titles in 1973, 1987-89, 1992, and 1998-99 – nine in all.

And it’s not due to any shortage of competitors.

“There are a lot of good players at that course,” said Jordan, a 4-handicapper there himself. “There are a lot of challengers.”

Jordan finds that competition makes his play sharper.

“I just like competition,” he said.

The club championship gives him plenty of what he wants.

“It’s just a real nice tournament, a competitive atmosphere, and I like that,” he said.

“I focus a little bit more and I try a little harder,” he added.

Jordan has been playing golf a long time.

“I’ve been playing since I was 9,” said Jordan. “I got my first membership at 14.”

He played a lot.

“I’d play from sun up to dark,” he said.

He grooved a swing his muscles apparently have no trouble remembering.

“It’s something I’ve been able to keep up ever since,” he added, even though he only averages a round a week now.

“He’s the kind of guy who can drive up to the course in April, get out of the car, and shoot 75,” said Dave Gaw, co-manager at Piscataquis along with his wife, Freda. They’re the parents of Brian and Alan.

Can he keep his game sharp enough for a few more years to pick up a club championship in a sixth decade?

“You never know,” he said. “I hope so, [but] it’s hard telling.”

Top teachers

Golf Digest magazine has named its top 50 teachers in America and Sanford native Peter Kostis is No. 17 on the list.

Kostis, who is also an exclusive playing editor for Golf Digest and a golf analyst for CBS Sports and USA Network, will be inducted into the Maine Golf Hall of Fame on Sept. 12.

Kostis, who co-founded Kostis-McCord Learning Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., still maintains local ties with a home at Falmouth Country Club.

Golf Digest also listed the top teachers in each state.

For Maine, they are Jason Hurd at Bethel Inn and Country Club, Paul Piveronas and Douglas Van Wickler of The Woodlands Club in Falmouth, and Harvey LaMontagne, the now-retired head pro at Paris Hill Country Club.

Of local interest, Piveronas is the teacher for two-time Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf champion Jesse Speirs of Bangor and several other junior players. Piveronas himself was Maine Junior Golf Champion twice, in 1981 and ’82.

Dave Barber can be reached at 990-8170, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.