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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2014
Longfellow was 2-up and split the fairway with a booming drive and then leaned on a 4-wood that rolled up onto the green 25 feet from the hole. After poking around the trees to find his drive, Gitchell signaled to Longfellow to pick up, conceding the hole. That was the turning point. “I could feel my driving coming back on that fifth hole,” Longfellow recalls, “It’s funny how one shot can mean so much to a player’s confidence.” Although Gitchell got a hole back on No. 8 with a tap-in birdie, he admitted later he felt “shaky” over that three-incher. Longfellow had no such problems with his putter as he calmly dropped a five-footer for par on the ninth hole to go up three. On the walk to the 10th tee, Longfellow kept his head down, reminding himself to hit quality shots and not to force anything. He did both, winning the 11th and 12th holes with solid pars and forcing Gitchell to take some chances that didn’t pay off. With a five-stroke lead, Longfellow halved 13 and 14 with pars and on the 14th green Dr. Gitchell extended his hand to a relieved and exhausted Longfellow who prevailed 5 & 4. The two got an appreciative ovation from those following the match. At Lakewood Country Club, Longfellow’s friend Bob Clark Jr.—whose father, Bob Sr., and brother, Billy, had both previously captured the State Match Play—popped the cork on buckets of champagne in the clubhouse. The clinking of glasses could be heard into the early summer evening. Longfellow defended his Colorado Open with a fifth place finish in 1975, but never again cracked the top ten. He did capture a second CGA Stroke Play Championship in 1978 and Match Play Championship in 1987. The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inducted him in 1990. After retiring from United, Longfellow flew for NetJets, but clipped his wings for good last December. “I accomplished something that I initially didn’t set out to do,” he reflects. “But sometimes fate hands you an opportunity and it’s up to you to see how far you can go with it. I got it going pretty good back in the summer of ’74. When I think about the fact that no one else has been able to accomplish what I did, it still amazes me.” CAG Arvada-based writer Scott N. Gardner caddied for Gary Longfellow at the 1974 Stroke Play and Colorado Open.
8/31/2012 2:31:42 PM
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