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Golf is a tough sport. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way, no matter how hard you try, something Doug Solliday is all too familiar with.
Solliday has been repeatedly denied at the Columbia Senior Golf Championship. Entering this weekend’s event at Lake of the Woods Golf Course, he has been the runner-up three times and finished third four times. Coming that close and falling short would be crushing to most people. But not for Solliday.
- Jeff Osborne wipes the handle of his driver before teeing off at hole one of the Columbia Seniors Golf Tournament just before 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 14. About 35 golfers participated in this year's two-day tournament that finishes play on Sunday.
“It’s really fun to be in the hunt,” he said. “Jerry McCarty (who beat Solliday all three times he finished second) played great. There was nothing I could do.”
It seems like coming so close to a title just makes Solliday want to play more.
“I want to play well,” he said. “I like to compete.”
Solliday usually plays at least one round per week, but he says he will be at the golf course sometimes four nights per week practicing. He plays in all the local tournaments he can, hoping to improve his game. He is hoping that all of this practice will pay off this weekend.
Solliday says being the outdoors is one of the reasons that he goes out and plays.
“It’s unbelievably beautiful out,” he said grinning. “The trees are beautiful, the grass is mowed, it’s great.”
Not only does he enjoy the outdoors, he enjoys the game in general. Even though he’s playing in a competitive tournament, he can often be seen joking with his playing partners.
After the first round of play on Saturday, Solliday was in a familiar place — second. John Weston leads after shooting a 70. Solliday trails by a stroke, and defending champ Dee Sanders is two back.
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