Gary Larrabee

A few quick comments on the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl chances, now that they are in position to capture the No. 1 seed in the AFC — again — and we all know what happened when they secured the same top playoff position a year ago.

It’s all about No. 12; the guy with the Hollywood good looks (don’t be surprised if he goes into the acting business as his next career move), the world famous model and the new $15 million home in L.A.

Simply put, the Patriots’ quest for their fourth Super Bowl victory rests mainly on the shoulders of their quarterback. Review what happened in the Pats’ last three playoff losses. Tom flopped in all three: Super Bowl loss to Giants, thwarting their  bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history; first round loss at home to Baltimore; first-round loss at hcome, as top seed, to the Jets.

On all three occasions, no matter what the level of performance was from his teammates, Tom was the huge disappointment. We presumed Tom’s mission since the Super Bowl loss to the Giants has been to make up for that stunner and get Super Bowl No. 4. Ain’t happened yet.

Assuming they get these last two regular season games at home against Buffalo and Miami, the stage will be set for Brady to rise to the occasion one more time. Two playoff home games then the Big One in Indy. Forget about what the defense may or may not do. It’s all about Tom Brady (and the offensive line and his receivers, too).

As a golfer he was a duffer by his own estimation. But as a doctor, in the estimation of his colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital and beyond, Boxford’s Dr. Brian McGovern was one of America’s great cardiac arrythmia/Atrial Fibrillation clinicians. His tragic death several years ago while doing what he loved, treating patients with the aforementioned maladies, has left a hole in our hearts that will never be healed.

Mass. General has kept his memory alive by providing care in a Cardiac Arrythmia Service that’s gained national recognition, as well as by establishing the recognition awards noted in the headline above.

This year’s recipients are Carlos Fernandez-del Castillo, MD, a surgeon in the equally acclaimed Gastrointestinal Surgery unit headed by Belmont CC member Dr. Davud Rattner, another giant in the field; Rocio Hurtado, MD, of the hospital’s Imaging Infectious Disease department; and Jo-Anne Shepard, MD, of Imaging.  More than 600 physicians and guests attended the awards dinner in honor of the trio and Brian McGovern.

Winchester Country Club, always considered one of Donald Ross’s best creations in Greater Boston, should rank again among the best the region has to offer once two major projects are completed in 2012.

First, Ron Forse, the Pennsylvania-based architect who gained a claim to fame around these parts with his masterful restoration of Salem Country Club’s 53 bunkers for the 1995 season, is in the process of doing the same for Winchester’s 81 sand hazards. The club’s bunkers have shown their age in recent years. Not any more. Forse and WCC superintendent Dennis Houle are seeing to that. “We’re in the process of digging the new foundations for each bunker,” Houle, finishing his eighth year at WCC, said. “We hope to have the bunkers ready in the spring. This mild weather has certainly helped.”

Second, the club is in the process of installing a new five-row style irrigation system at a cost of $2 million. “Between the two projects, Winchester should look as beautiful as it ever has by mid-season,” Houle said. “We’re excited and grateful the membership is making such a commitment to the course.”

The club in some respects seemed to have put on the brakes for capital improvements after it spent millions to completely restore the clubhouse soon before the membership celebrated WCC’s centennial in 2002. Now, after a decade of standing pat to a degree, the membership is devoted to bringing Winchester back to its glory days as one of the highest regarded championship courses not only in the region but beyond. Make no mistake that the state, regional and possibly even the national,  golf organizations will soon come knocking on the door seeking WCC’s venue as a championship site.  Joe Monahan III and his Board got the project going. Incoming president Woody Cook and team will see it through to completion and enhancement the next couple years.

Catching up in all different directions, starting with sincerest condolences to former Salem Country Club presidents Arthur Frawley and Dan Sullivan on the deaths of their daughters, to the Santin clan on the passing of Ginny Santin, and to the Bevan clan on the death of the patriarch and a wonderful booster of all sports in Danvers, Dave Bevan. Ditto to the Thyberg family on the passing of Jack Thyberg…Our warmest wishes and prayers also go out to Devon Quigley, son of Dana Quigley, the talented Rhode Island native who became a star on the Champions Tour. Devon, who caddied for his dad when he contended at he 2001 U.S. Senior Open at Salem CC, continues to battle for his life after being severely injured in a motor vehicle accident in Florida recently.

Lots of talk last week on TV, radio and internet networks on the similariies between Patriots” tight end supreme Ron Gronkowski and North Shore favorite Mark Bavaro, the fomer Danvers High ll-scholastic. Notre Dame All-Amrican and  two-time All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion (with TD catches in each game) for the New York Giants.

Congrats to Haverhill native and Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein, not just for the extraordinary young man he and the missus raised in Peter, who just announced he’ll turn pro after the holidays and skip his one remaining semester needed to graduate at Oklahoma State, but also for another phenomenal year running his billion dollar enterprise based in Fairhaven, Mass. Based on PGA Tour equipment usage statistics from the past season, Tileist was No. 1 in golf balls (by a zillion miles, as usual), irons, wedges and putters, second in drivers and faiway metals, third in hybrids. In fact, Titleist balls were played by 66 per cent of the field weekly and its Vokey Design wedges held a 2-1 advantage over every other brand…More congrats to The Nicks of St. John’s Prep golf. Nick Pandelena was named Salem News Golfer of the Year and Boston Globe Division 1 Player of the Year. Nick McLaughlin joined Nick P. on the Globe all-star team with Masconomet’s Charlie May, while Masco’s Ben Hodges was named Division 2 Coach of the Year after leading the Chieftains, who will be loaded again next fall, to the Cape Ann, Division 2 North and Division 2 state titles. The aforementioned players made The News team along with Pingree’s Sam Cregg, Hamilton-Wenham’s Luke Farley and Ryan Richard, Peabody’s Athan Goulos, Masco’s Alex Kane, Swampscott’s Trevor Massey, Peabody’s Athan Goulos, Beverly’s Brandon Mitchell, Salem’s Tim Richmond and Marblehead’s Andrew Scholnick. Personally, this may be the strongest all-star golf team I have EVER seen published by The News, and I picked those teams myself for 25 years, ending in 1995.

Did you see the reference to Thomas Lake, Sports Illustrated’s youngest senior writer, in the November 28 cover story on “Sport in America?” Thomas’ heartbreaking cut from the Gordon College basketball team is mentioned as an example of the ups and downs we all experience as fans or participants in the wild and wonderful world of Sport. It’s a masterful piece you must read by editor Terry McDonnell…Please also read the “Think Young, Play Hard” story in the January 2012 issue of Golf Digest.

The same issue issue of Golf Digest lists America’s 75 toughest courses. The only Greater Boston course to make the cut was No. 62 The Country Club, based on its composite course. Locally, here on Boston’s North Shore, my top 5 would be, from the tips, sans stimpmeter readings above 11, but with the toughest pins possible, for professional and hacker alike, at least today, December 20, as follows: 1. Salem 2. Ipswich 3. Winchester 4. Vesper 5. Bradford.

Best wishes to Bay State’s Mr. Amateur, Frank Vana, the North Andover roommate of MGA Communications Director Becky Blaeser, on his upcoming corrective surgeries: December 28 to take care of his shoulder, January 10 to make his cranky knee good as new. The two-time Mass. Amateur champ and multiple-time Player of the Year recipient, nearly won another Mass. Amateur in July, losing in the final to Ryan Riley, despite ongoing issues with his shoulder and knee. His surgeon has all but assured Frank that he will be better than knew come golf season; a good thing as his 50th birthday approaches in less than a year. These operations should make Frank the odds-on favorite for the 2012 Amateur at Tedesco.

And…. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to one and all. The 2012 golf season will be here before you know it.

Their high school and junior tournament careers behind them, the standout golfing Nicks from St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Pandelena and McLaughlin, are preparing for what lies ahead as their college freshman seasons approach ever so slowly.

Only partially satisfied with their schoolboy careers, since they brought only one Division 1 state title (2010) to the Prep’s dynastic history, Pandelena and McLaughlin regret they didn’t do better collectively as arguably the  biggest and best 1-2 punch in Prep golf annals. That statement is to be taken figuratively and literally. At 6-6, 185 pounds (McLaughlin) and 6-4, 230 (Pandelena), they were imposing with their talent and their physical attributes.

They each won a State Division 1 individual title and each fared well on the junior golf circuits near and wide. Next up: Division 1 NCAA competition, Pandelena for Boston College, McLaughlin for the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference  and the University of Virginia.

McLaughlin, from Newcastle, New Hampshire, where he played out of Wentworth By-the-Sea (and Far Corner en route to two Massachusetts Golf Association Junior titles, 2011, 2009), is playing this week at the Jones Cup in Sea Island, Georgia, then won’t play for a month or so before spending a week practicing, also at Sea Island (where his grandfather lives).

Rcently turned 18 (September 15), he is gearing up to play next summer at the Massachusetts Open at Walpole and the Massachusetts Amateur at Tedesco. He is exempt for both events.

“I’m grateful I have so much to look forward to next season and when I go to college,” said McLaughlin, who knows he’ll have to step up his game to qualify for the Cavaliers’ fall schedule. “I expect to improve between now and next September and I realize I’ll have to if I want to play in any tournaments as a freshman.”

A second team All-AJGA player this past summer, a national honor, McLaughlin is proud of of the exceptional four-year run he and Pandelena and company enjoyed representing St. John’s. His primary goal between now and next September is “to make a few minor swing changes and get stronger and a little heavier. It’s not all about distance but filling out some more would serve me well by next fall.”

McLaughlin continues to work with his only teacher, Beverly native and Cape Cod-based Jane Frost, considered one of the best PGA instructors in the country, male or female.

Pandelena is currently preoccupied with the Prep hockey team as one of its top players, but is anxious to resume his golf career as soon as the Eagles’ state championship run (they lost in the Division 1 state final last March) is concluded.

“I love both sports,” says Pandelena, a resident of Atkinson, N.H., “and that’s one reason I chose Boston College, plus the great academics, the location and the coaches.”

Pandelena got his golf genes — at least some of them — from his dad, who shot around 90 when he was young adult. When Nick got exposed to the game when he was 10, he was hooked immediately and credits his rapid development to noted Merrimack Valley PGA instructor Marc Spencer, first when Marc was instructing at Garrison in Haverhill.

He was not serious about playing in college until he finished 10th at the Callaway World Junior in San Diego last summer. The week before he’d shot a 64 at a Challenge Cup junior event in Rhode Island. Nick was no longer a secret among Division 1 college coaches. Maryland, Duke and North Carolina expressed interest, but he opted for The Heights of Chestnut Hill, where he will most likely major in math or physics. McLaughlin? He’s undecided, though history is his favorite subject.

Considered a golfer with unlimited potential by his Prep coach, the legendary Larry O’Neill, Pandelena hits balls indoors at Atkinson Resort a few days a week right through hockey season. After that he plans to play more of a regional tournament schedule next season. He’ll hopefully be good enough to play for the Eagles’ NCAA powerhouse hockey program too.

Westford’s Alison Walshe, the Vesper product, closed out her 2012 season in impressive fashion, finishing T-7 and earning $13,750 Euro (close to $20,000 US) after shooting 70-74-68-69-281 at the Dubai Ladies Masters in the United Arab Emirates.

Walshe is fully exempt for 2012 after winning $90,000 and finishing 73rd on the 2011 money list.

Indian Ridge product Jaclyn Sweeney is still trying to find her game after finishing T-69 at the LPGA School and 33rd at the Dubai Ladies Masters.

Sweeney stumbled to a closing 82 at Tour School, when a 72 would have put her in a playoff for the final exempt slot for the 2012 Tour. Her 375 total, insytead, put her in precarious position for 2012.

Another Andover product, Briana Vega, missed the cut after 72 holers, shot 306, and will have to endure early week qualifiers or play the Futures Tour.

Even after a jarring 76 opening round, Rob Oppenheim, the pride of Andover and Indian Ridge Country Club, nearly earned his place on the 2012 PGA Tour at Tour School qualifying in La Quinta, California. Rob finished T-38 after the six-round marathon, shooting 76-71-68-74-69-68 for 426, three shots out of the 25th and final slot for a berth on the Big Show. But Oppenheim was far from discouraged. He still has the Nationwide Tour — no small stuff — to set his sights on for the new season.

It was a long week, especially after I started with 76, but I knew there was lots of golf to play, where I could catch up, and I pretty well caught up all the way.

“Am I discouraged? Definitely not. It was a good learning experience, dealing with the pressure. I expect it will make me a better player for 2012, hopefully get me on the PGA Tour for 2013 without going to Q-School.”

That would be by finishing in the top 25 money wnners next season, ideally in the top 10. Best scenario of all? Oppenheim could win three times on the Nationwide and earn what they call a battlefield promotion (automatic and immediate entry onto the biggest Tour of them all).

Rob was five over after four holes in the 108-hole test. He played the last 104 holes in 11 under par. He seemed to be in gear when he shot 71 and 68 in rounds 2 and 3, but a 74 in round 4 under windy conditions, as in round 1, doomed him.

“Coming to 18 in that fourth round I was even for the day, but I made double bogey from the middle of the fairway 140 yards from the green,” Oppenheim related. “A very bad mistake that shouldn’t have happened.”

Rob knows better days are ahead, starting long before he tees it up in the opening Nationwide event in 2012. He’s getting married New Year’s Eve in Florida. Need we say more. It will indeed be a great 2012 for Rob Oppenheim. It’s simply up to him to determine how great.

He was looking golden with 18 holes to go at the Champions Tour Q-School in Scottsdale, tied for fourth place and five spots available to compete weekly with the big boys in 2012, but a closing 76 sent former Salem Country Club golf director Kirk Hanefeld in a tailspin that placed him tied for 16th when it weas all over, and uncertain what he will do in 2012.

“I have an opportunity to go bck to work as a club professional,” Hanefeld revealed, “but I don’t expect to make a decision to do that or give the Tour another shot until sometime in January. Even if I take the job, I’d expect to play several Champions Tour events, at least try to with the Monday qualifying routine. I’m exempt into the PGA Pro National Championship for life (after winning it twice) and I’m exempt into next year’s PGA Senior Championship anyway.”

No matter what he decides, Hanefeld will shoot for Monday qualifying at the first four Champions Tour events next year and go from there.”

Hanefeld, 55, is also exempt into next summer’s British PGA Seniors.

In Scottsdale, Hanefeld said he “kept his mistakes to a minimum for three days, but made too many the last day and kind of gave my position away;” not a pleasant experience. He was 69-65-67-201 after 54 holes. “But it’s a four day grind, senior professional golf at the highest level, and you can’t mess up even one day or you’ll regret it.”

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-Gary