BROCKTON, Massachusetts – Golf is full of memorable moments, wild history, funny stuff and strange facts. From lightning strikes on the course, to shooting one’s age, to hideous buddy trips, to raising funds for charity, to hole-in-one feats, to funny quotes by famous players, the game creates endless tales and tons of statistics.
Golf is a sport with hundreds of statistics with most common being tracking score, handicap, fairways and greens hit, putts, up and down conversion rate, sand saves, three-putts, and one of my favorites, three-putt avoidance, birdies, eagles, and the beat goes on.
One rather interesting golf statistic that stands out from the seemingly infinite string can be found in the City of Brockton a/k/a the “City of Champions.” As the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts, it earned the title as the “City of Champions” due to the success of native boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, as well as its successful Brockton High School sports programs.
Back in the 50s and 60s Brockton was known as “Shoe City, USA” which served as headquarters for such brands as George Keith, Knapp Shoe, M.A. Packard, E.E. Taylor, Stacy-Adams, Charles A. Eaton Co. and Foot Joy, which closed there in 2006.
Brockton hosts four golf courses – Thorny Lea GC, D.W. Field GC, Brockton GC and White Pines GC – and has a history of producing some legendary figures in amateur golf, starting with Herbert Warren Wind, Bruce Douglas, John Tosca Jr, Ed ‘Smiley’ Connell, Steve Tasho, John Hadges, Matt Parziale, Shannon Johnson and Megan Buck. Spanning 80 years, this is a rare and enchanting story about a father (John Gorman) and son (Paul Gorman).
JOHN GORMAN RECORDS TWO HOLE-IN-ONES ON CONSECUTIVE DAYS OCTOBER 26 and 27, 1953
John Gorman (1918-1995) was a popular player at Thorny Lea racking up 50 years as a member, winning a few club and regional tournaments throughout his average amateur career. When you enter the distinguished Thorny Lea clubhouse foyer a large plague on the wall reads “Honorary Members.” There are 19 names including John Gorman, who in October 1953 accomplished one of golf’s rarest feats.
The par 3 17th hole at Thorny Lea measures about 175 – 190 yards, and is listed as the 14 handicap hole. On October 26, 1953, Gorman recorded a hole-in-one while playing with Nick Tasho, John Tosca Sr. and Lou Saba. On the next day, October 27, 1953, while playing with Tohn Tosca Sr, John Jantomaso and Mike Petrone he recorded his second hole-in-one on the exact same hole.
“I knew John for 40 years and he was a valuable member of the Thorny Lea community,” said longtime pro Peter Norton, a New England PGA Hall of Fame Award-Winner. “What he did in 1953 was truly remarkable. Getting two hole-in-ones on the same hole on back-to-back days is unheard of. The 17th hole is not an easy par 3. What’s also unique is I think John Gorman golfed for 50 years and those were the only hole-in-ones he ever got. Great story and John Tosca Jr. and the club did the right thing to put a memorial stone on the 17th tee to recognize the rare feat”
Holy smokes! According to Guinness Book of World Records and Golf Digest Hole-In-One Clearing House, the feat had only been accomplished three times, up until that date. Arnold Palmer famously recorded two consecutive hole-in-ones in 1986 in a professional golf tournament, while PGA Tour pro Brian Harman did the unthinkable in the 2015 FedEx St. Jude Championship registering two hole-in-ones in the same round.
The odds of an average golfer recording a hole-in-one are about 12,500 to 1 while the National Hole-in-One Registry calculates the odds of hitting two aces in the same round as 67 million to 1. The possibility of getting two aces on consecutive days on the same hole exceed 156 million to 1.
In the mid-90s a group of Gorman’s golf buddies led by John Tosca Jr. decided the feat was so rare they wanted to recognize the feat. For the past 30 years a memorial stone sits on the left side of the 17th hole tee box where passing golfers can glimpse the engraved words: “JOHN J. GORMAN – One of Golf’s Rarest Accomplishments. HOLE In ONE 17th HOLE on consecutive days October 26 & 27, 1953.”
PAUL GORMAN GOLF BUDDY MEMORIAL BENCH AT 17th HOLE AT D.W. FIELD GOLF COURSE
Since golf relationships stir such unique relationships and lasting bonds, it is not unusual to walk around any golf course in the world and see a golf buddy memorial bench. When golf buddies collectively get together and pitch in to buy a bench, it is a deeply meaningful tribute to a deceased former playing partner and the trigger for fondly remembering the good times spent golfing together.
Paul Gorman (1956-2013) was a longtime member at the City of Brockton-owned D.W. Field Golf Course. He was a regular player in the Saturday morning Polish White Eagles golf group and multiple weeknight summer contests. Gorman, a city worker, developed golf friendships that lasted a lifetime, so when he passed away unexpectedly at age 56 in 2013, his golf buddies decided to honor his memory by buying an expensive stone bench.
The timing was right to honor three fallen golf buddies whose names on the bench also include Phil Glidden and Rob Regan. The stone bench reads: “In Memory of Three Good Guys Phil Glidden (1943-2011) Rob Regan (1957-2012) Paul Gorman (1956-2013).”
“These were three guys we had played rounds with and known very well for years,” said Peter Frasca, who organized the memorial bench that serves as a permanent tribute to a tight-knit group of Brockton golfers. “The shortest one was probably 15 years, and the longest guy we had known was probably 25 or 30 years. All of a sudden they were gone and it felt like we ought to do something to remember them. We ran a few ideas by all the guys and they suggested their own ideas. Ultimately we went with ‘Three Good Guys’ and their names and dates. That’s what they were, good guys, our guys, and guys we should not forget.”
When the stone bench was custom-built in 2014, of all the places at D.W. Field Golf Course to place the memorial bench, the golf pro, superintendent and powers-that-be chose the 17th tee. Did the ‘Golf Gods’ make that happen? Doesn’t Paul’s dad, John, have a memorial stone in his name on the 17th tee at a private golf course only a few miles away in the same city?
Golf statistics don’t record golf buddy memorial tributes. But, in the City of Champions you now know the answer to a golf trivia question that only a few golf circles in Brockton know the answer to: What is the last name of the family from Brockton that has a golf tribute in their respective names on the 17th tee at Thorny Lea for father, and, a few miles away, at the 17th tee for a son, at D.W. Field? Answer: G-O-R-M-A-N!
Golf creates some amazing, magical and eerie stories! Gone but not forgotten!
(Tom Gorman, Publisher of Pro Golf Weekly and New England dot Golf, contributed to this report.)
