SUPER-SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
A VISIT to a McClaskey family gathering reveals one of the secrets to Grandpa
Charles’ success on the golf course.
“One of my son-in-laws says that he never met anybody with the competitive
attitude that I have, and it has wiped off on some of my grandsons,” Charles
McClaskey said. “When we play ping pong or pool, occasionally I’ll give them a
break and let them win. But I make them work very hard to beat me. I try to beat
them as hard as I can. That makes them very competitive. My son-in-law says that
I don’t cut them any slack; I do, but I don’t want them to know. It’s going to make
my grandsons better too, knowing that I’m not giving them something.”
McClaskey made the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Super-Senior Division
work overtime to beat him in 2011. He certainly didn’t cut the field any slack,
either, capturing three of four Super-Senior Majors to secure his second straight
Player of the Year Award.
“It’s definitely rewarding, no question about it,” McClaskey, 72, said. “It’s
rewarding because you play in a whole lot more events than you win. We have a
lot of good Super-Senior players here. You’re not going to win unless you play
decent golf. No matter how well you play, you have to get a little lucky to win. I’ve
said that my whole life.”
McClaskey, who plays out of Back Creek GC, collected 685 points — 245 clear
of good friend and 2009 honoree Jay Howson, Jr. of St. Davids GC. No matter the
golf course or weather condition, he found a way to win. McClaskey captured the
Francis B. Warner Cup (Gross) at Lu Lu CC (cool and windy) to immediately claim
the captain’s chair. He never left it.
“That sets your mindset for the year,” McClaskey, of Elkton, Md., said. “After
that, I thought, ‘I’ve started off well. Now I have to maintain it.’ I really had my mind
set on winning all of them. That’s what I was trying to do.”
Next on McClaskey’s to-win list was the Brewer Cup — a title he first earned
the previous year. McClaskey qualified as the No. 5 seed at an excessively humid
Bellewood GC and marched his way into the final, where he defeated Ken Gaskill
of Rancocas GC, 3& 2.
“It’s very impressive to be on a trophy with his name,” McClaskey said. “It
means a lot because we‘re very good friends. He was one of the top senior players
in the nation for several years. He plays with high integrity. He’s a good sport and
an all-around good person.”
McClaskey picked up win No. 3 by carding a 1-over-par 72 in Chapman
Memorial (Gross) at an overcast and mild Little Mill CC. At that point, thoughts of
sweeping the Super-Senior hardware constantly swirled through his mind, so
much so that it affected his per-
formance in the Senior Amateur Cham-
pionship at Whitford CC.
