72-year-old Tour pro beats his age (easily!) using rented golf clubs
Dick Mast was forced to rent a set of irons at an open qualifier for the PGA Tour Champions – but this didn’t prevent the 72-year-old going low…
The ability to compete in later life is one of golf’s many beauties.
The phrase “age is just a number” has never been more prevalent than in the case of Dick Mast.
This 72-year-old veteran has qualified for the Sanford International on the PGA Tour Champions by shooting 66 in an open qualifier – bettering his age by some margin.
But as Ryan French reported, Mast did so with a set of rental clubs after questioning if the Titleist irons he’d been practising with in the lead-up to the qualifier were conforming.
French wrote that Mast asked the Minnesota PGA section and the golf course if they had a groove tool to test if his club faces were legal, but there was no such tool around.
Mast went into the clubhouse at Bakker Crossing Golf Club in Sioux Falls and found another set of conforming Titleist irons but with a twist – they were standard length and his own irons were an inch and a half above standard length.
Dick Mast is 72 years old.
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) September 12, 2023
Today he shot 66 and “Monday” qualified for the Champions Tour event.
The man is a legend. pic.twitter.com/voKxe495U8
Aiming to attack the course, Mast made four birdies in five holes on the back nine to card an outstanding five-under-par score, taking him into a three-way playoff for one spot at the senior tour event.
Mast boxed a 30-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to break the hearts of his opponents. His start at the Sanford International will be his 191st on the PGA Tour Champions.
A touching detail French reported was a group of Mast’s friends from Virginia raised the money to pay his qualifying fees for the last five qualifiers, and he now has his sights set on more tour activity.
“I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t think I could,” Mast said. “My short game has always been good. If I get near the lead, I’m going to be like a dog on a raw meat bone.
“If I play well enough I can make the Charles Schwab Cup.”
The man from Bluffton, Ohio is a four-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour and has played on the PGA Tour 360 times. His first-ever tour start came at the Andy Williams-San Diego Open in 1974.
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Matt Chivers
Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.
Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.
Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.
Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spoken to the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, to name just a few.
Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.
What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.
