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PORT ST. LUCIE – In cold, windy weather that was more like the British Open than South Florida, it was fitting that Pete Oakley of Hobe Sound won the 65-and-older division of the Quarter Century Championship at PGA Golf Club.
Oakley, after all, won the 2004 Senior British Open at Royal Portrush in salty conditions for the biggest win of his career. He didn’t mind temperatures Thursday that dropped into the 40s with heavy winds (sorry, rest of the nation).
There he was, bundled from head to toe with five layers of clothing, on the par-4 10th tee on the Wanamaker Course in a playoff against Darrell Kestner of Glen Cove, NY. Playing from a forward tee, the 75-year-old Oakley ripped his driver 256 yards onto the green.
To six feet!
“His drive never left the pin,” Kestner said.
After Kestner hit his approach and missed his birdie putt, Oakley two-putted for the birdie to win after both players finished at 4-under 140.
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“I hit the drive perfect,” Oakley said. “I was really trying to make the eagle putt, but I hit it a couple inches and tapped in.
“The conditions were similar (to the 2004 Senior British Open). I wore the same kind of outfit at Royal Portrush. I play good when it’s miserable, and it was miserable.”
Oakley could have avoided the playoff if not for a mistake on the same hole about two hours earlier. After making the turn at a nifty 3-under, his drive at No. 10 hooked left and he made double bogey.
“I got even with that hole,” Oakley said.
For Kestner, it was the second consecutive year he lost the Quarter Century Championship in a playoff. Last year, it was to Mike San Filippo of Hobe Sound, but Kestner wasn’t complaining.
“I enjoy the competition and the camaraderie,” said Kestner, the longtime PGA Director of Golf at Deepdale Golf Club. “You get to play with guys you’ve played with your entire life, like Pete. He’s still playing good golf.”
The oldest player in the field, 90-year-old Larry Mancour of Conway, MI., made the first hole-in-one in this year’s PGA Winter Championships. He aced the 101-yard fourth hole on the Wanamaker Course with a wedge. It was his 14th career ace and he received a standing ovation when he reached the scoring area.
“It’s been a long time,” Mancour said. “I had my last one four or five years ago. We didn’t see it go in the hole because we were hitting into the sun. We started walking around the green before a rules official (Robin Curtis) suggested I look in the hole. That’s where it was.”
The PGA Winter Championships run at PGA Golf Club for the next five weeks and are open to the public.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Pete Oakley wins PGA Quarter Century Championship
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