Verdura sets world record for playing golf

John Verdura is living the golfer?s dream. He plays golf morning, noon and night, and he plays day after day.

And the best part is his wife doesn?t even mind. In fact, Karen Verdura is the one who suggested her husband play so much golf.

It?s all part of a nearly completed, year-long quest by Verdura to set a Guinness World Record for the most holes of golf played in a single year.

The former Farmington Hills resident has the record. That issue was decided back in May. The only unknown is what the final tally will be when Verdura plays his last round July 31.

He is certainly within reach of his goal of 14,000 holes. As of July 18, the 63-year-old retiree who now lives in Garland, Texas, had played 13,688 ? an amount equal to 760-plus rounds of 18-hole golf.

Verdura obliterated the old record of 11,000 that belonged to Richard Lewis of Irving, Texas.

?I really didn?t think I would shatter it,? Verdura said. ?I thought I could break it. I just started playing and tried to get in as many holes as I could.

?The gentleman who had the record averaged 30 a day, and I?m trying to average 36. If the opportunity was there for me to play more, I took it because I knew there would be days I wouldn?t get in 36.?

When he started Aug. 1, 2012, it seemed like such a daunting task to Verdura. After he played 72 holes Sept. 28, spending 12 ? hours on the course, his spirit and confidence soared, however.

?I wasn?t even tired that day,? he said. ?Right then and there, barring any injury, I knew I could do it. Now, here I am!?

The idea for the record-setting effort came from Verdura?s nephew, Jeff Guy of Farmington Hills, during a visit to Texas last summer. On the airplane, he read a magazine article about Lewis and his record.

?He said, ?You know, uncle John, you wouldn?t have to change your lifestyle to break this record,? because he knew I was playing a lot of golf, too,? Verdura said. ?Karen heard that and jumped right on it. She said, ?Starting Aug. 1, start bringing those score cards home to me.??

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Karen Verdura, who still works full time and was transferred to Texas three years ago, thought it was the ideal endeavor for her golf-playing husband.

?I thought that would be pretty fun,? she said. ?I mentioned it to John but, as soon as our daughter, Sara, said she thought it would be cool, suddenly that changed everything. He started figuring it out and what would have to be done.?

When people hear about Verdura?s golfing exploits, he knows what the first questions will be for him.

?They want to know, ?Are you married? What does your wife say??? Verdura said. ?I tell them, ?She didn?t discourage it; she encouraged it!? She?s been very, very supportive toward trying to break this. Heck, I think there are times she?s more excited about it than I am.?

Verdura, a former teacher who coached the Farmington High girls basketball team in the mid 1990s, has had to document all of his golf, too. When he?s done, a signed score card for every round must be produced to verify his effort and confirm the record.

?That?s where Karen comes in,? he said. ?She?s the organized one. All I do is golf and bring the score cards home. Karen has put them on a spread sheet. Eventually, we?ll email them to the Guinness people.?

The Verduras live right next to a 63-hole public golf course, which has offered John a nice senior package for greens fees and, also in terms of proximity, enabled him to play a lot of golf.

?Everything fell into place,? Verdura said. ?We moved down here and found a home on a golf course. Obviously, the climate was in my favor.

?(The large course) gives me the opportunity to play and move around. If it was 18 holes, it would be too crowded to play a round and get that many holes in in a day.?

?We had a very mild winter in Texas, so that made it a good situation,? Karen Verdura said. ?Everything does have to line up ? geographically, where you can play the year round and the weather does have to cooperate.?

Verdura has had to play in some bad weather, however. He had to play whenever possible to keep pushing forward and taking advantage of every situation.

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?I?ve got a cart with a cover and a heater,? Verdura said, adding he could rack up the holes on bad days because there were so few people on the course and he could move quickly.

?There was one day when it was windy and cold and it had rained. The course was open and I was playing. I was the only car in the parking lot.

?You have to play on those kind of days if you?re going to do this. If I wasn?t doing this, I wouldn?t be playing on those days. But, since I made it a goal to do it, I was out there playing.?

Besides sleet, snow and cold, Verdura has played in the extreme heat, too. When he started last August, the temperature was over 100 degrees on 12 of the first 13 days.

?We we were like, ?This might be a little harder than we thought,? Karen said. ?He?s an extremely disciplined guy. When he sets his mind to doing something, he does it.?

Verdura, who has averaged 38 holes per day, had played 87 consecutive days as of July 18. That was his longest streak during the run. He was in Michigan a week earlier for a wedding and ?only? played 18 holes twice.

?I don?t get tired of it,? Verdura said. ?I get up every day excited about going to the golf course. Sometimes, I come home depressed, depending on how I play. But I like going there. It?s not like it?s work or anything.?

Verdura, who has a six handicap, has had four hole-in-ones in the last year, too. He got the first of five overall in 2008 during a visit to Texas.

?Sixty years in Michigan and I never had a hole-in-one,? he said. ?If you take enough shots, sooner or later you?re going to get lucky.?

It?s not luck that will put Verdura, who taught and coached at Gabriel Richard, Shrine, St. Alphonsus and Aquinas high schools, in the Guinness Book of World Records. It was commitment and dedication to a goal that did that.

?Without my nephew stumbling upon it, heck, I would?ve never even thought about it,? Verdura said.

Source: http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20130721/SPORTS06/307210092/1002/SPORTS

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