Forget about the imaginary rope tied to your elbow, Don
DeLorenzo may have tied one around his neck.
Gilroy – Forget about the imaginary rope tied to your elbow, Don DeLorenzo may have tied one around his neck.
The Gilroy GC golf pro, known for his swing tips involving clever mental games as well as his dedication to the Gilroy community, plans on playing 100 holes of golf today under the brutal South Valley sun. All for a good cause, of course.
DeLorenzo’s “golf marathon” at Gilroy GC, kicking off at 6:30am, is the pro’s way of helping out the Gilroy all-star team that finished sixth at the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Ore. this week. The team, which has been on the road for several weeks at qualifying tournaments and then the World Series, incurred thousands of dollars of travel costs.
The “golf-a-thon,” DeLorenzo said, is a fun way to raise much-needed funds to defray those costs.
“If you try to ask people for a couple of bucks, it’s hard,” he said Thursday after a lesson. “But if there’s a vehicle attached to it, it’s easier.”
DeLorenzo is accepting both per hole pledges and lump sum donations. All money raised will go directly to the Little League fund set up to offset the Garlic Girls’ travel expenses. So far, the club pro said, more than $1,000 has been pledged.
“I’ve got a pretty good list of guys and gals that are contributing to me,” said DeLorenzo, author of the “DeLo’s Divots” golf advice column that appears on Saturdays in the Dispatch. “We’re probably up at about $10 a hole, so about $1,000 or more is pledged at this point.”
But for all the assistance he hopes to give to the returning heroes, who will have a parade in their honor Saturday on Monterey St., DeLorenzo is aware that he’s bitten off a lot.
“I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into,” he laughed. “I gotta be thankful that the weather’s been a little bit cooler this past week.”
DeLorenzo will cover his distinctively bald head with a hat at all times for the mondo round of golf that he expects will take him 10 hours to complete. And the swing doctor won’t be too fussed about deploying a perfect swing for each strike of the ball.
“I’ll have to sort of barrel through,” he said. “I’ve got people to clear the way for me (through other golfers on the course). If I can’t find it (a particular hole) too quickly, I’m moving on to the next hole.”
DeLorenzo, the father of Gilroy High basketball and volleyball standout Vinny DeLorenzo, said the idea for the golf-a-thon came from Roy Holt, an assistant coach with the Little League all-star team and father of first baseman Lindsay Holt.
“I’d done one (a golf-a-thon) 10 or 15 years ago, I can’t remember what the cause was,” DeLorenzo said. “Roy Holt called me and suggested doing something for the girls. (Second baseman) Michelle Sosa grew up next door to me. … I’m just a vehicle and I’m proud to do it, hopefully we can get some money and give it back to them.”
He does expect to learn something from playing 100 holes in a single day.
“I’m going to try out a different set of demo clubs for each nine,” DeLorenzo said. “My assistant’s going to let me use his irons.
“What the heck, I don’t work that hard. I’ll get a good night’s sleep and maybe I’ll find that swing I’ve been looking for all these years.”
From 6:30am or thereabouts to roughly 5pm, DeLorenzo will be out on the course, attacking the greens and moving on … a Tin Cup come to life.
“If anybody wants to come visit (the course) and give me a cheer, just bring the Advil,” he laughed.
