American writer Jack London (1876-1916), who also logged years as an amateur boxer, oyster pirate and prospector during the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush was not a man to sit and wait for opportunity to come knocking on the door. Revered for classic novels like Call of the Wild and White Fang as well as for his passion for adventure, London's too brief yet prolific life was best defined by the man's own words: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." The phrase epitomizes London's vigor for life and also perfectly describes the way Carolinas PGA Professional Kelly Mitchum approached the 2006 CPGA tournament season.
At the outset of the 2006 season, Mitchum was the two-time defending Carolinas PGA Player of the Year (2004-05). The last player to accomplish this impressive feat was Carolinas PGA great Bob Boyd, who earned back-to-back honors in 1998 and 1999. But Mitchum, a former four-time All-American at North Carolina State University, was not content to sit on his laurels and reflect on these accolades or the four Carolinas PGA major titles already to his name. Instead, Mitchum had thoughts of a title defense on his mind. Mitchum, fittingly a proud Wolfpack alum, was about to turn his pursuit of a third consecutive Player of the Year award into his own "Call of the Wild," a feat completed only once before in the storied history of the Carolinas PGA (Tim Collins, 1982-84). Heeding London's words, Mitchum picked up his trusty clubs and plunged into what would become one of the most impressive seasons in Carolinas PGA history.
Mitchum, who is also the lead teaching professional at Pinehurst Resort, drew his first blood of the golf season in March at the PGA Tour Wachovia Championship CPGA Member Qualifying event. The Wolf shot the low round in the event, carding a 67 (-4) that included five birdies and only one bogey. With the low score, Mitchum qualified for the PGA Tour's Wachovia Championship held at Quail Hollow Country Club early last May. After participating in one of the premier events on the PGA Tour, Mitchum turned his gaze toward the first CPGA major of the year: the 82nd Coastal Federal Bank Carolinas Open. Much like Buck, London's wolf-protagonist in Call of the Wild, led his sled team through the tumultuous wilds of Alaska, Mitchum led the field and tournament in wire-to-wire fashion. The Wolf scored rounds of 67-66-70 (-10) to win the fifth CPGA major championship of his career by five strokes.
In June, Mitchum had a strong showing at the 2006 RBC Centura North Carolina Open (the second CPGA major) where he finished in a tie for fifth place. Mitchum then hit the trail for Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., to play in the 39th PGA Professional Championship. PGA Professionals that finished in the top 20 at the 39th PGA Professional National Championship earned berths in the 88th PGA Championship, which was to be held at the renowned Medinah Country Club in August. London penned in Call of the Wild that "a man with a club is a master to be obeyed," and Mitchum was masterful at Turning Stone, firing a 5-under 283 (71-69-72-71) in the PGA Professional Championship. The Wolf finished in a tie for sixth place, earning the right to play alongside the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and John Daly and qualifying for his second consecutive PGA Championship.
Less than a week after playing in the PGA Championship, Mitchum was back on the CPGA trail at the 55th South Carolina Open, presented by Cutter & Buck. Mitchum led the tournament by two strokes after the second round. But the Wolf was nipped in the final round by a young pup, twenty-one year old amateur Jordan Pomeranz, and finished in a tie for second place. By the end of August, Mitchum had finished in the top 5 of the first three of the four CPGA majors and competed on both the PGA Tour and in the PGA Championship. The Wolf had ample reason to be content, yet "there was about him a suggestion of lurking ferocity, as though the Wild still lingered in him and the wolf in him merely slept."
The line is from chapter 4 of White Fang, Jack London's classic adventure story about the friendship developed between a Yukon gold hunter and the mixed dog-wolf he rescues from the hands of a man who mistreats him. As the month of August closed its eyes, trees swayed as their leaves tumbled and swirled to the ground and the seasons swayed from summer to fall, but Mitchum's focus didn't waver and he was not yet satisfied. He continued to listen to the call which led him to practice and prepare tirelessly for the blue-ribbon Carolinas PGA major--the 2006 Carolinas PGA Professional Championship.
The final CPGA major of 2006 was contested in October at the Club at Longview, one of the most prestigious golf facilities in the Carolinas. A Jack Nicklaus signature course, The Club at Longview challenged competitors on every hole, leaving PGA Professional Tag Wylie referring to the eighteenth hole as "a monster, perhaps the scariest hole I've ever played." After the first round, Mitchum was not the top dog, finishing with a one-under 71 and five shots back of Tar Heel alum Lance Reid. Reid shot an opening round of 66 (-6), a new course tournament record, to take the lead after the first eighteen holes of play. The Wolf was in a tie for eighth place.
Mitchum was not panicked nor did he feel the need to make an aggressive charge in the second round. Like a wolf that tracks an injured moose for days before cutting it from the herd, Mitchum took a club in his hands and patiently preyed upon many of the players in front of him on the leaderboard. Putting well and reading the greens as most men read books, Mitchum carded a 69 to finish the day in a tie for third place and only two shots off the pace. Reid, who was four over par after the first six holes, rebounded from his early round mishaps to play the remaining twelve holes three-under par to remain on top of the leaderboard. Reid was not the only Tar Heel that proved to be a formidable opponent for the Wolf. Bryan Sullivan, University of North Carolina alum and 1999 Carolinas PGA Player of the Year, was alone in second place after the second round.
The final round, which is now regarded as the most exciting of the 2006 CPGA tournament season, featured winds that cut like a white-hot knife and resulted in many wayward drives and over-par scorecards. Reid was a victim of the blowing winds on the front nine, collecting back to back bogeys on holes six and seven. Sullivan stumbled as well, carding a 5-over par 77 and falling off the pace. The hiccups by the pair of Tar Heels left the door open for Mitchum, who took full advantage and made the turn at two-under par to tie with Reid.
While the other players cursed the winds and watched in dismay as their scorecards filled with bogeys, Mitchum thrived. He was ruthless and seemed to be able to perceive, determine, and respond to the challenging conditions all in the same instant. The best example of the pluck the Wolf displayed in the final round came on the par-5 seventeenth hole that stretched the muscles. Mitchum clawed to successfully save par after his third shot was lifted by the winds into a deep green bunker. "I thought I had hit a pretty good shot, but the wind decided otherwise, and I found myself in a bit of trouble instead of on the green," Mitchum later noted. The Wolf responded to the possible calamity by blasting his ball out of the bunker and then draining a fifteen-foot putt to save par. "My putter came through and I was lucky to dodge a bullet," Mitchum said. Mitchum carded an even-par 72 on Thursday and Reid finished the final round with a two-over 74. When Mitchum made par on the eighteenth hole to finish tied at four-under par with Reid, it guaranteed that the 2006 CPGA Professional Championship would not be won in regulation.
As the competitors returned to the eighteenth hole to begin the sudden-death playoff, a vast silence reigned over the course. Several PGA professionals lingered around the scoreboard, spectators searched for spots of grass with the best view, and club members brought their golf carts to a halt on the path wrapping around number eighteen. Even the trees seemed to lean toward each other to watch the sudden-death duel between the Wolf and the Tar Heel. On the first playoff hole, Lance Reid hit his approach shot into a water hazard. Mitchum completed his kill with a cautious par to seal the victory. In the final round, Mitchum went from nipping at the heels of two Tar Heels, to a deadlock, a playoff, and finally to the top of the leaderboard. With the scrappy victory, Mitchum wrapped up Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive year.
Kelly Mitchum now has six CPGA Major Championships to his name. In addition, he is now exempt into the three 2007 PGA Tour stops in the Carolinas: the Verizon Heritage, Wachovia Championship and the Wyndham Championship (formerly the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro). "I'm very excited to have the opportunity to play in such prestigious tournaments," Mitchum said after the CPGA Professional Championship, with a smile of boundless delight. "I'm looking forward to representing the Carolinas PGA section in these PGA Tour events to the best of my ability." The 2006 CPGA tournament season is in the books and Kelly Mitchum has again finished as the leader of the pack. But his ambitions have not yet been tamed. The Wolf still hears the call, and has turned his eyes toward 2007, and the possibility of becoming the first player to be named Player of the Year for four consecutive years in the history of the Carolinas PGA.
