SoCal Golf INSIDER

COVER STORY SoCal GOLF INSIDER A FEAT FOR THE AGES Los Serranos teaching pro John Powell breaks record by shooting 22 shots below his 86 years • BY RANDY YOUNGMAN G olf history apparently was made on June 1, but nobody knew the feat was historic – not even the guy who did it. That's why it took so long to publicize it. John Powell, a teaching pro at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills for nearly 40 years and a PGA Life Member, shot a 7-under total of 137 at Indian Springs Golf Club in Indio to win a 36-hole Southern California PGA-sanctioned tour- nament. According to the summer issue of "Program," the official magazine of the SCPGA, the event was the Desert Section's "2 Day Pro-Pro" tournament. Powell won the individual title in the Super Senior division (65-and-over) as well as the Senior Team competition with partners Mike Mitchell of Hide- away GC and Charles Craven of California Oaks GC. Powell also won $1,250 for those two wins. But that's the extent of the information about the event in the magazine. The historic component of Powell's victory was contained in the results sec- tion on the SCPGA web site, requiring several clicks to find the Super Senior results. There it was, and is, for all to see: John Powell, Los Serranos-North, 73-64 – 137. But even those numbers didn't tell the whole story. Most of the guys competing that day knew that Powell shot under his age, but the big story that day – the history – wasn't uncovered until August. Turns out, Powell was 86 years old when he shot 64. That means he shot 22 strokes under his age. The significance? According to all of the avail- able research on "age shooters" – golfers whose scores match or better their age – Powell broke the previous all-time record of beating one's age by continued on the next page >

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