Golf Digest Expose: Former Players On The Outside Looking In

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Shipping Out: Stubbs, Cohen and Willett (L to R) once served the PAC well, but now live in exile.

For Former Players and Permanent First Alternate, It’s the Outside Looking In

May 1, 2012
Each spring, after the green jacket is donned, the golf world turns its attention from the under card event, The Masters, to the year’s top tournament, The Phi Alpha Cup. For aficionados, it is an eagerly anticipated event. For a lonely few golfers, it is a constant reminder that they are living life on the outside looking in.

Permanent Means Permanent

Per-ma-nent (adjective): Lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely

At the inception of the PAC in 2005, Jeff Cohen was honored by 98 Team Captain Dave Johnson with the title of Team 98 Permanent First Alternate (PFA) . Each year, as the first weekend in May approaches, Cohen purchases an airplane ticket. He cleans his clubs, presses his shirts and packs his gear. Each year he heads to the airport on the Thursday morning of the PAC and eagerly awaits a call from Captain Johnson. And each year, he heads back home from the airport disappointed.

In 2009, Cohen’s hopes were sky high when informed of the news that Team 98’s Stirling Bomar had been suspended for appearing in engagement photographs unbecoming a PAC member. Cohen was so confident in fact that he purchased PAC airline tickets for his entire family. The family all made their way out to NYC’s JFK airport, but again, the call never came.

In a cruel twist of irony, Cohen learned the certainty of his fate when he saw Todd Balsley in the checkout line at JFK’s Miss Annie’s Pretzels & Dogs – with Team 98 bags. Balsley was on the Atlanta to NYC to Charlotte to Wilmington flight. While this flight was certainly not direct, membership in the Diner’s Club Champion’s Circle has its benefits, and Balsley was able to earn free apps at the Columbus, OH Applebee’s for life with the extra miles.

According to witnesses, few words were exchanged during the run-in between the two. Balsley simply muttered, “Maybe next year, Chief,” flipping the misty-eyed Cohen a nickel he got back from his cinnamon bun purchase. However, not all has been lost for Permanent First Alternate Cohen. For the past seven years he has successfully lobbied the airlines to refund PAC tickets at prices greater that the purchase price, providing Cohen with yet another source of supplemental income.

A Ride Into The Past

Chandler Willett made a stamp on the Phi Alpha Cup during his 4 years of competition. In his newly adopted home of Providence, RI, Willett now stamps loyalty cards at his recently opened coffee shop, The Chan-puccino. Since leaving the PAC in 2009 for reasons still unknown, he has embraced his new life and surroundings, and has tried to make peace with his decision to withdraw from tournament competition. It’s quite a change for a player who was one of the highest profile PAC players in history.

But this change in Willett’s life mission has not been without its dark side. For 51 weeks each year Willett splits his time between coming up with new names for The Chan-puccino’s wide selection of frappes and pouring over old press clippings – such as the series of articles in 2008 covering Willett’s threat to play the entire Phi Alpha Cup with a 7-iron. But on the first weekend of May he allows himself one indulgence. Willett dons his famous 22 North hat, grabs his 7-iron and cruises the streets of Providence in a stretch limousine – a recreation of days past. However, the flash bulbs don’t go off when Willett steps out of his limo like they did between 2006 and 2009. And sadly, they never will again.

“Flipping” Out

After co-hosting first two years of the PAC in his home state of North Carolina and earning a Jeffrey J. Eaton MVP Award, John Stubbs drifted off into oblivion. It was only after receiving an insider tip around 2008 that suggested some real estate may be coming on the market that Stubbs resurfaced and began to focus his efforts on real estate investing. After turning a large trailer park into a members-only deer hunting perserve, Stubbs turned his attention to attempting a hostile takeover of The Courses at St. James, the host venue of the Phi Alpha Cup at the time. While the attempt failed, the effort itself shed some light on Stubbs’ strong feelings associated with losing his roster spot in the PAC.

Stubbs’ bitterness is not so strong that he does not still dream of the day he will be invited back to the PAC. His petitions for reinstatement sent to Captain Johnson are accompanied by hand written notes by Stubbs, with tales of determined practice. On such note Stubbs addressed the embarrassing event in 2006 when Stubbs missed the last three holes in order to ready himself for his 8pm bedtime, telling Johnson, “I have had three straight nights of 8:15 or later bedtimes. There is no doubt that I can get it up to 8:45 before the PAC starts and can thus play a full PAC schedule.” Unfortunately for Stubbs, his letters have gone unanswered.

A Few Good Men

For the privileged few who will be teeing it up at next weekend’s PAC, life could not be better. The birds chirp; the lousiest beer tastes like the finest wine. But for those former players and a permanent first alternate, it is a time filled with cautious anticipation. Tragically, they will wait anxiously for a call that will never come.