A homecoming for golfers

Craig Caringer was headed to Poplar Bluff this weekend to play some golf.

In a few weeks, he will be inducted into the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame along with Brent Little, Don Martin and Ashley Williams. Caringer helped the Mules win two state titles in golf, earning all-state honors three times, including Poplar Bluff’s first state medalist, before playing at the University of Missouri and winning the Missouri Mid Amateur title.

He’s in the field for the 74th annual Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational this weekend but he’s not exactly looking to add to his resume.

“I’m signed up for the tournament, but I may withdraw,” said Caringer, who had to stop after nine holes from the last tournament he played due to an injured hip.

“I mainly come down to see people,” Caringer added while making the trip from suburban St. Louis.

Caringer said he’s looking forward to seeing friends and remembering stories of Tom Hoover, who died two years ago this month, and Caringer’s old teammate Steve Shock, who died in May.

Shock, who was on the 1980 state championship golf team, was a longtime board member of the Missouri Golf Association, serving as president, an avid golfer and historian of the game, as well as serving as president and board secretary at Westwood Hills.

Poplar Bluff’s golfing community also lost Chad McCoy recently. The 32-year-old was a regular at Westwood Hills and the Ozark, a member of the Mules 2006 team that placed fifth at state and also worked at Ozark Ridge on the grounds crew and the clubhouse.

“Poplar Bluff lost a good one there. We don’t have enough Chad McCoy’s in the world,” Bobby Godwin said. “He put a smile on everyone’s face. Always courteous, just a special individual for my family and all the families who played golf.

“It’s as tragic a deal as I’ve experienced in a long time.”

Perhaps fittingly, Shock and McCoy both would have celebrated birthdays this week as the greens at Westwood Hills were getting faster for the tournament they loved to play.

Normally held the last weekend in April, the Ozark is something of a homecoming event in Poplar Bluff.

It’s also one of the first big tournaments of the amateur golf season in Missouri, with players earning points toward the Player of the Year award, which makes it a lot like The Masters as golf’s first major championship — always the same time of the year at the same course.

“That’s the way I always described it to friends,” Caringer said.

At 6,427 yards, Westwood Hills is not a very long course, but the greens make it a tough one. It will test a golfer’s putting skill and punish any miscue on approaches not properly placed. Players from around the country, and other countries, have played here. They all have day jobs (movie star included) or are retired, and have a passion for the game.

The Ozark has been apart of this community since 1947 and only seven players from Poplar Bluff have won it. Buddy Godwin (nine wins), Ben Godwin (4), Jim Parkin (3), Carr Vernon (2), Bobby Godwin, Bob Reeves and Lee VanDover account for 21 titles while no local players have won the senior division since it was added to the tournament in 2009. Even when adding region players from Dexter, Kennett, Malden or Cape Girardeau, the locals have won less than half of the time.

Rolla’s Ken Lanning dominated the 1950s, winning five straight. Jim Holtgrieve of St. Louis won four times in the ’80s. Rob Long of Clarksville, Tenessee, won four times in a decade ending in 2005.

Long holds the tournament record at 10-under par in 2004 when Caringer shot 7-under. That would have won any other year with the exception of the three times it would have forced a playoff. Caringer ended up third, a shot behind Ben Godwin and one in front of Bobby Godwin. The following year Caringer finished third at 3-under, along with fellow PBHS alum Todd Metz, as Long won at 7-under.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Caringer said.

Last year the top local finisher was Colby Robertson, a member of the Sports Hall of Fame, who missed a playoff by a stroke.

Poplar Bluff High School has claimed six state titles in golf.

“It should have been more,” said Caringer referring to his senior year, one of five runner-up finishes by the Mules who have 18 top-four showings at state.

Poplar Bluff golfers have earned 45 all-state medals with Caringer (1980), Brent Pennington (’86), Robertson (’94, ’96) and Tyler Hillis (2004) winning as individuals. Unlike today, none of them had the chance to play the Ozark while in high school.

“It seemed like we always had a natural advantage in spring golf because it would warm up earlier in Southeast Missouri,” Caringer said.

Weather has always been a factor at the Ozark, but with the tournament postponed from the spring due to COVID-19, it will be a different tournament.

“It was rare you had two sunny days,” said Caringer, noting this weekend’s forecast.

The rough is now thicker and so the course may be tougher to play.

“This time of year, the golf course is probably in as good of shape as it has been in a long time,” Bobby Godwin said earlier this week.

By the time the last putt drops Saturday, much of the field will be out of contention but everybody will be enjoying their Ozark weekend in Poplar Bluff.