BANGOR, Maine — Todd Greene didn’t pick up a golf club until he was 17 years old.
The Melville, New York, native’s hands had been primarily occupied by a hockey stick.
Just six years later, he is a professional golfer who will be making his Greater Bangor Open debut Thursday.
“I played at a pretty high level in hockey, but I stopped growing and everybody else kept growing. I didn’t need to get hurt,” said Greene, who traded in his hockey stick for a set of golf clubs, earned a golf scholarship to Hofstra University after playing just one year of high school golf and found his way to Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Golf Club and Resort and Golf Academy in Florida.
“I picked it up pretty quick. I fell love with golf, and I’m still in love with it,” Greene said. “It hasn’t become a job yet.”
Palmer was one of the people who interviewed him when he applied, and he has developed a close bond with the 85-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer, who notched 62 PGA Tour victories, including seven majors.
“He’s the greatest guy you’ll ever meet. It’s like having a grandfather around the whole time,” Greene said. “You can learn more about golf from him than from anyone, but he also teaches you about life. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.
“The coolest thing is that he keeps a pen with him at all times so he can sign autographs for people who come to see him. He makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world,” Greene added. “I can sit in the locker room with him, have a drink and talk about anything.”
Greene found his way to Bangor after his golf coach in Florida, Donny Lee, recommended the GBO to him.
“He had played in it six or seven years ago,” said Greene, who got his first taste of the Bangor Municipal Golf Course on Wednesday and enjoyed it.
“The golf course was really good. I’m excited to play here. I heard it was a good event and that they did a real good job with it,” said Greene, who is preparing for PGA qualifying school in September in Brunswick, Georgia.
GBO provides valuable experience
Another one of the golfers making his GBO debut is 24-year-old Cleveland, Ohio, native and former University of Virginia golfer Mac McLaughlin.
He also is looking to attend PGA qualifying school in the fall and said tournaments such as the GBO are valuable “because you’re coming to a place you’ve never been before, playing on a golf course you’ve never seen before and playing against guys you’ve never played against before.
“It is a good test of where your game is,” said McLaughlin, who also had a good first impression.
“It’s fun. There’s beautiful scenery, it’s a lovely state and I like the golf course,” he added.
GBO entries slightly down
GBO tournament director Rob Jarvis said the 93 entrants for the three-day tournament is slightly down from previous years, when they had more than 100.
“From what I’ve seen, a lot of tournaments are a little short this year,” Jarvis said. “There’s a Canadian tournament that is conflicting with ours. That is costing us 20 to 25 golfers. We didn’t know about it until two days ago. It is a pop-up tournament. It hadn’t been scheduled when we were making out our schedule,” Jarvis said.