Virginia Golfer November / December 2014 | Page 35

The Virginia Golfer
Conversation
(continued from page 29)

CHRIS KEANE/USGA PHOTO ARCHIVES

essential right now. I’d just like to see a
plan that’s in place where those who have
been in Cups recently, been inside the
ropes and know what’s going on, can have
an avenue to go down to shed some light
on things if warranted and if they want to.
The guys on that task force know what
they’re doing and have been captains, will
be captains or are still playing on teams. I
think it’s a great step in the right direction.
Is that going to translate into immediate
W’s? Not necessarily, but it can’t hurt.

Senior Amateur. Both wins were eerily similar.
He got into match play at the 2007 VSGA
Amateur in the 32nd spot, the lowest seed,
but proceeded to eliminate medalist Peter
Badawy, along with Decker, as he grinded his
way to the title.
At the U.S. Senior Amateur, he was in a
15-man playoff for the last 13 match play
spots and finally seeded 60th in the bracket.
He eventually became the lowest-seeded
player to win since the USGA began seeding
players at the Senior Amateur based on
qualifying scores in 1992, according to the
championship website.
Including practice rounds at Big Canyon
Country Club, Tallent played a grueling 10
rounds in just eight days.
“That’s a lot of golf even for a 25-yearold” despite using a cart, says Giles, the last
Virginian to win the event, in 2009.
Ta l l e n t a l m o s t d i d n ’t p l a y i n t h e
championship due to a balky back until his
wife convinced him they should make the
trip. He figured the window of opportunity
was closing, and as desperately as he wanted
to join good friends George Zahringer, Giles
and Simson in the USGA champion’s circle,
he wasn’t sure he had it in him.
Worn L4-L5 disks and a pinched nerve
since college had affected him to the point
that he pulled back on all golf. He just didn’t
like his back seizing up for days after playing.
But he persevered—that word again—and felt
energized after defeating decorated amateur
Chip Lutz in the first round. Tallent’s putting
was lights out throughout the week before
knocking off Norton on the 17th hole in the
final by draining a downhill 30-footer.

w w w. v s g a . o r g

“I understand competitions and who has
a chance to win and who doesn’t. And I can
tell you that I was not one of the guys at the
beginning of the tournament who thought
they were going to win,” Tallent says. “It was
so unexpected. It feels totally unexpected. It’s
indescribable that I could win that tournament
and if they had to play again, they could
probably play it a million times and the result
would be different every time.”
Going forward, he has no expectations
about the future. He thinks he can remain
competitive, even win, a few more regional
events. His longtime passion for motorcycles
that Tallent’s had dating back to his GW days
sounded like its dwindling. Just not as limber
or agile as he once was, he says.
That said, who knew 50-plus years ago
a simple concrete crack to the head would
instill insatiable desire and an unextinguished
belly fire. But that’s how champions become
champions. They persevere and salivate over
the challenge.
In typical drab fashion, Tallent made no
apologies for his competitiveness. It has fueled
him for more than 50 years now.
He summed it all up this way: “I was a
basketball player first who just happened to
play golf. Now I identify myself as a former
basketball guy who happens to be a golfer.”
Those descriptions fit him to a tee. Also add
national champion to the list.
At the end of the day, though, just don’t call
him a country bumpkin.
Author Ken Klavon is a writer from
Morganville, N.J., and a regular contributor
to Virginia Golfer.

VG: Of the things you’ve yet to
accomplish, is being on a winning
Ryder Cup team one of the experiences
you hunger for most?
ZJ: I’d say right now that’s the one thing
that’s missing that I would love to taste.
Saying that, it has been and will be—if I get
the opportunity to play more—the most
fun week I’ve ever experienced playing
golf. It’s my favorite week as a professional
inside the ropes. I just relish those weeks
more than any week in golf now. I want to
be in contention in majors and certainly
want to win more golf tournaments, but
when you represent your country with
your wife beside you and a pack of buddies