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Having high-water mark at Masters fine with Johnstown native

Having high-water mark at Masters fine with Johnstown native

David Cannon, Getty Images
A worker marks scores on a scoreboard showing the record-high 106 strokes by Billy Casper in the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club Thursday .
Click photo for larger image.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- As far as he is concerned, Charles Kunkle is convinced Billy Casper knocked him from the Masters' record book. And Tom Weiskopf. And Tommy Nakajima.

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To Kunkle, it doesn't really matter Casper decided not to turn in his scorecard after his performance in the first round of the Masters.

"Everyone knows he shot it," Kunkle said.

106.

If you didn't see it, you heard about it.

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Fifty-seven on his first nine, a Masters record. A 14 with five balls in the water at the par-3 16th, another tournament record.

Finally ... 106, a Masters record of dubious fame. Eclipsing the old high-water mark of 95, set 49 years ago by an amateur named Charles Kunkle.

Johnstown native Charles Kunkle.

"I didn't see any of it," Kunkle said yesterday, sitting in his Johnstown home and talking about Casper's escapades Thursday at the Augusta National Golf Club. Kunkle is 91. He has lived in Johnstown his entire life. "I saw Tiger Woods go in the water. But I didn't see any of [Casper]. I heard about it."

Then Kunkle paused.

"I'll tell you one thing. I don't think anyone will break it."

Kunkle is probably right. It is unlikely anyone again will shoot 106 or more at Augusta National, at least not someone in a Masters field. Probably because the people who wear green jackets aren't likely to let a player of Casper's deteriorating condition -- ailing hip, ailing game -- walk 18 holes again. At least, not as a competitive participant.

Remember those letters Masters officials sent out several years ago, advising past champions with faltering games they should consider finding alternative entertainment the second weekend of April?

Hootie Johnson, the tournament chairman was frantically searching for them Thursday. Probably not long after Casper, who had hip replacement surgery last year, trudged the final fairway at his golf course.

Officially, though, nobody will get the chance to break Casper's record.

When he failed to turn in his scorecard, Casper's round didn't count. That means Kunkle, who shot 95 in the final round of the 1956 Masters, still gets to keep his record.

"Doesn't matter a bit to me," Kunkle said. "Hasn't come up in conversation for a long time. Forty-nine years ago, we have a few different generations between then and now."

But Kunkle wanted to emphasize something.

"I was disappointed in my round," he said. "But I wasn't embarrassed."

What that means is Kunkle turned in his scorecard 49 years ago when probably nobody would have blamed him if he hadn't. He qualified for the Masters because he was a quarterfinalist in the 1955 U.S. Amateur championship, and his scores got progressively worse. After an opening 78, he shot 82, 85 and 95 to finish at 340, which is 52 over. That 72-hole total is a Masters record.

"I was just trying to get out of there," Kunkle said. "It was very windy, the toughest conditions I ever played in."

The 95 included a front-nine 49, and that's a Masters record, too. It will not be affected because Casper's front-nine 57 was achieved on the back nine after he started on the 10th tee. But also because Casper wiped his record clean with his decision to not submit his score.

Kunkle, a lifelong amateur, never played in another Masters. And he wasn't apologizing for his one and only appearance.

"The record, that's not important to me," Kunkle said. "I earned my way there. You don't get there by knowing the right people. I was proud to have played in the Masters."

Casper's score, even if it counted, would not have been a record for a major championship. That belongs to J.D. Tucker, who shot 157 in the first round of the 1898 U.S. Open. He bettered his score by 57 shots in the second round.

Casper? He wasn't around yesterday to improve his score. He withdrew after he no-carded.

"That's up to him," said Kunkle, who hasn't played golf in three years after several open-heart surgery procedures. "He earned his right to play."

Casper did more than keep Kunkle's record intact. He preserved, for historical purposes, the ignominy of the 13 recorded by Nakajima at the par-5 13th in 1978. And the 13 Weiskopf made at the par-3 12th in 1980. Casper's 14 at the 182-yard 16th -- he pull-hooked five balls into the greenside pond -- would have been the highest score recorded on a hole at Augusta National.

When Casper reached the 17th tee, he got a hug from Charles Coody, his playing partner.

"If I had been through something like what he'd just gone through, I hope somebody would give me a hug, too," Coody said.

Did anyone hug Kunkle after his 95?

"My wife," he said.

David Cannon, Getty Images
Billy Casper, below, shoots one of his 106 first-round shots Thursday.
Click photo for larger image.  

The worst Masters performances

Although Billy Casper scored a record 106 in his first round of play at the 2005 Masters, it does not count because he did not turn in his scorecard. Here are the ten performances that scored 90 or higher, listed worst to least worst.

Player

Year

Score

Winnings

Charles Kunkle

1956

95

Amateur

Doug Ford

2000

94

$5,000

Horton Smith

1962

92

$400

Tommy Aaron

2003

92

$5,000

Fred McLeod

1955

91

$250

Charles Evans Jr

.1960

91

Amateur

Horton Smith

1963

91

$600

Frank Souchak

1954

90

Amateur

Fred McLeod

1956

90

$300

Charles Evans Jr

.1959

90

Amateur

   

First Published: April 9, 2005, 4:00 a.m.

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