Nassau's Ace

By Billy Condon

The excitement of the Ike has brought many Nassau members out to witness the golf, including the club's most celebrated and longest-standing member, Jim Tingley. I was able to chat with Mr. Tingley about his fantastic accomplishments on the golf course as well as his thoughts on this year's Ike. Now in his 52nd year as a member of Nassau, Tingley has to his credit an unfathomable twenty holes-in-one throughout his golf career. That number trumps Jack Nicklaus's 18 career aces. In fact, the two have been in correspondence regarding their friendly hole-in-one contest. The 90-year-old Tingley has five club championships to his name at Nassau and of the twenty aces, ten of those occurred at his home course, including five on the fifth hole, with his most recent occurring in 2007 at the age of 88.

Tingley was also singled out by President Clinton on his trip to Nassau last year when the President had received word of Tingley's aces and requested that Tingley accompany him in a photo on the first tee that Tingley now proudly has in his possession.

However, the hole-in-one race was not the first time that Nicklaus and Tingley crossed paths. They actually played a practice round together for the 1961 U.S. Amateur held at Pebble Beach. Nicklaus went on to win the championship.

In regards to the Ike, Tingley was impressed with the morning rounds of 68, 69 and 70. "It's a tough par-70, and any scores under par are something to be proud of," stated Tingley, who has served on the MGA Executive Committee. Between the great golf and legendary spectators, the 2009 Ike is off to a great start.