Betters His Age by Five Strokes

Rick Robertson recorded nine birdies en route to a 65, Tuesday at Brainerd National, bettering his age by five strokes.

Robertson a former club champion at Brainerd who just turned 70, said that this wasn’t the first time he had posted a score lower than his age.

“I shot maybe a 67 or 66 a couple years ago but I didn’t keep a scorecard,” said the retired auto parts salesman.

Robertson didn’t even have a tee time on Tuesday and never really intended to play. He had a chipping and putting session and hit about 100 balls on the range with a 9-iron before deciding to play with whoever he could get on the course with.

“I played the other day and shot like 76, just played awful,” Robertson said. “I didn’t see this coming.”

Robertson, who kept no official scorecard and has no established handicap, said his start showed little promise. He recorded a bogey on No. 2, before rebounding with a birdie on the par-5 4th. On No. 5, he popped up his tee shot and scorched a hybrid to eight feet, for his second birdie of the round.

Unfortunately he had a PBFU on the par-3 6th, after missing his second and final green of the entire round.

Robertson hit the green in two on the par-5 8th in two shots and recorded a birdie, and backed that up with a birdie on No. 9, a long par-4 that was rated one of the best holes in Chattanooga by the Times Free Press a couple years ago.

The man went on a birdie barrage on the back side of the fabled Donald Ross-designed course, gaining a stroke to par on numbers 10, 12, 13, 17, and 18. 

“That’s only the second time I’ve had nine birdies in a round,” said Robertson, who attempted to qualify for the PGA Tour in 1979 in Titusville, Florida.