Jan 16

A brush with greatness?

Here’s a great story from the ‘You never know who might show up at the first tee’ file.
I’m gearing up to play Poppy Hills, the sporty Monterey Peninsula layout that is part of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with a friend in June, 2003, and a father and son walk to the first tee and ask if they can join us. We say sure, having no idea who “Don Levin” and his son, “Spencer Levin” are.
We eventually find out Spencer is there to practice for the California state amatuer the next weekend. We marvel at his talent. The youngster is hitting everything well until he discovers one of his wedges has been lost, possibly left at home several hundred miles away in Southern California. His dad is steamed, berating his son for losing the club and jeopardizing his chances in such a big tournament.
The two settle down, and really start putting on a show, going for par-5s in two. Smashing 300 yard drives. They’re going at it like match play at the Ryder Cup.
It’s not until we get off the course and look up the name Levin on the internet that we find out about our brush with a potential challenger to Tiger Woods. Don played on the PGA Tour in the 1980s and Spencer is one of the country’s top amatuers. If you remember, Spencer had the hole in one at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock last summer and finished as the low amateur that week, despite a brutal course setup.
Golf Digest recently ranked him as the No. 2 amateur in the country. He’s certainly one to watch for the future.
So the next time a two-some walks up to the first tee looking to join, don’t say no. You never know who it might be.

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1 comment

§ John McKenna said on : 2009-05-22 @ 19:28
That's reminiscent of my first introduction to Mr. Don Levin and his son Spencer. I was playing by myself at a Johnny Miller Design course called Whitney Oaks, when I caught up to the two of them. Don asked if I would like to join them and I said sure, not realizing I was being teamed with a former PGA tour pro, and a future one. As we played, I was amazed at the talent of both players, when I asked Don what he did for a living, he told me he was teaching golf at Lighthouse golf club in Sacramento while he was coaching his son Spence. Needless to say, I made an appointment to see him, and lets just say that Don Levin quickly became my full-time golf instructor, and to this day is without a doubt the best instructor I've ever had. I still use the swing that he taught me, and it's been about 5 years since I've seen him. I moved back to Tucson and would love to see him again. Perhaps I'll see them at a PGA tour event in Tucson sometime in the near future. One thing is for certain, with the talent of these two working together, Spence is sure to do very well on tour.

John McKenna