The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 16

Meigs, Howell, Hovious trail It's Zachary by a shot mi and hit four consecutive shots out of bounds. He did not bother with a fifth. He withdrew. "Pin placements were tough, but not unfair," said Chris Banister, chairman of the greens committee. "Most of the pins were 10 feet off the fringe.

Maybe one placement, 18, was a little less. And the tee markers were three paces from the back of every tee. Yes, it was tough, but fair. "AND THE COURSE will play easy for the final round," added Banister. "Tees will be shorter and pins in more advantageous positions so that somebody can make a charge at the leaders." Back in the mid-Sixties, Zachary was an assistant golf professional at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst.

He regained amateur status five years ago. "When everybody else was off, I had to work," he said of his position as everybody else was working, there was nobody to play golf with. And I liked football and wasn't able to get off on weekends to go to games." Zachary ripped through the front side with a one-under 33 after rolling in a 12-foot birdie at No. 9, but bumped into trouble on the back. He had three-putt bogeys at No.

10 and No. 11 and trouble off the tee cost him bogey at No. 13. He was short on his tee shot and approach on the par-three 16th and took double bogey, and doubled again at 18 when his tee shot caught a tree and his approach caught a ditch. "IT'S AMAZING THAT I'm leading," Zachary said, "but I guess everybody played bad.

I hope this was my bad round. I think if I shoot 71 I've got a chance. For some reason it's hard to burn this course up. It's tight, and they can put the pins in some very difficult positions." Pressure? "Maybe a little, but if I win it, I win it, and if I lose it, I lose it. There are a lot of good players here and if I shoot another 76 1 don't expect to win.

I like my position. I don't mind leading. If I was behind by one shot that would be one more shot to make up." Chip Howell has a shot to make up and is quite happy about it. "I'm right where I want to be," said Chip. "I really didn't want to be leading.

I'm just a shot behind and that takes a lot of pressure off. When we 'go to the tee that guy (the leader) has got the pressure. I think I'll be a whole lot looser than he will be. "THE COURSE WILL play easier for the J'" "(See ACC golf on Page 8-C) By WAYNE HESTER Assistant Sports Editor The 1976 Men's Invitational at Anniston Country Club turned into a real horse race Saturday, and the field is tightly bunched heading into the home stretch with Atlanta's Bill Zachary out front by a nose. The leaders go to the tee between 1:30 and 2 o'clock this afternoon for the final round, and it's anybody's ball game.

Zachary, a 33-year-old pro-turned-amateur, hacked out a six-over par 76, but it was good enough to give him the lead because just about everybody else hacked it around, too. Zachary (69-76-145) will be chased by Jim Meigs (69-77-146), Chip Howell (71-75-146) and Brad Hovious (72-74-146), and, possibly, a hot shot or two farther back in the pack. THE 6500-YARD Country Club course was a witch Saturday as much as she was a pushover Friday, when five players scored par or better. Pins were tucked behind bunkers and a few steps off the front or back of the greens, and tee markers were as far back as the greens committee could place them. More than a few felt the Slap of ACC.

Pell City's Sam Woolwine, who opened with a 71 Friday, stepped up to No. 1 tee Saturday Star Photi bvLouiiSohn LEADER RUNS INTO PROBLEMS Oj 16 Zachary looks at putt, double bogeys MM MM OT MM 1C SV AtintrfOtt tar Sunday, May 23, 1976 L. 1 iiiiimiiM ill mvuMmmmmmumtm 7 Jerry's dad Bonavena shot down in Nevada The Pat Pate family is a large and lively one, residing in Pensacola, but constantly keeping in touch with friends "at home" in Anniston. 1 "If you've ever lived in Anniston," says Pat Pate, who lived here 17 years, "Anniston is home." 4 Pat piddled around the Anniston Country Gub as a one- to two-handicapper back in the Fifties and Sixties, and piddling along with his dad was a young fellow named Jerry. Things have changed a bit since those days.

1 is now nearing 50, Jerry is on his own at and where once Jerry was Pat Pate's Pat fe nnur Pato'e Hart ISA I otn At lpast that's hnw mrat npnnle lnnk at it i When Pat is introduced to someone it is as "Jerry Pate's father." And Pat doesn't mind a bit. Jerry got his start in golf at Anniston Country Club at the age of six. Gripping a golf stick with the proper three fingers, he grew into a man. There was a four-year tour under coach Conrad Rehling at the PAT PATE RENO, Nev. (AP) Oscar Bonavena, a top heavyweight boxing contender from Argentina, was fatally wounded with a single bullet through the heart Satruday in front of the Mustang Ranch brothel, police said.

He was 33. Wiilard Ross Brymer, 31, of Sun Valley, was booked without bail for investigation of homicide a short time later, a spokesman for the Storey County Sheriff's Department said. He said Brymer is employed at the brothel as a bodyguard for the owner, Joseph Conforte. Conforte's Mustang Ranch brothel is located in nearby Storey County, where prostitution is legal. Bonavena, a native of Buenos Aires, became the heavyweight champion of South America and was highly ranked by the World Boxing Association at the time of his death.

He fought most of the big names in boxing, but none for the world title. Saturday's shooting marks the second time this month that Brymer has been arrested in the vicinity of the Conforte brothel. He currently is charged by the Washoe County District Attorney's office with one count of displaying a weapon in a threatening manner and two counts of battery the result of a May 5 arrest by the Washoe County Sheriff's Department just north of the brothel grounds and just across the line from Storey County. Bonavenva was associated with the Confortes. The brothel owner's wife, Sally, was the prizefighter's manager of record.

His last fight was a 10-round decision victory over Billy Joiner in Reno on Feb. 26. The 5-foot-ll Bonavena had complained to Storey County Sheriff Bob Del Carlo six days before his death that his Look-wood, trailer home had been broken into and that some property, including his passport, had been destroyed. Del Carlo said Bonavena apparently was shot from about (See Bonavena on Page 8-C) University of Alabama; there was a Men's Invitational championship right here at the country club when Jerry was just 17; there was the blockbuster, a United States Amateur Championship, when he was 20; and now there is a life of luxury as well as hard knocks on the PGA tour, where Jerry is a rookie. The family tree As the age line goes, Jerry is number four among Pat and Joyce Pate's six children.

"There are a couple of other golfers, a tennis player and a fisherman or two," Pat says proudly, naming each one "Jeff, who is 27 and works with Coca Cola Bottling in Ft. Walton Chris, who is 25 and works in insurance in Pensacola; Carol, 24 and married; Jerry; Nancy, 18 and on tennis scholarship at Alabama; Scott, 16, in high school." Pat was quite an athlete when he was younger, playing golf at the University of Georgia and basketball at Mercer University in Macon, while serving in the Navy. Golf was always his favorite sport. He now manages about a round a week and plays to a handicap of six. StarPhtft by UullSohn ROUGH DAY AT ACC FOR BIG $IM MEIGS to 77, but trails only by a shot Visiting the Anniston Country Club this weekend for the Men's Invitational Tournament, Pat spends a lot of time shaking hands and renewing old acquaintances.

He enjoys it, Sports Editor George Smith is on vacation She may make it Janet fails; AJ. offers 'new life' fa quite obviously. And without exception, every old and new friend he meets asks about number four son. "We lived right back up there' said Pat, waving a hand in the direction of No. 1 fairway.

"We lived here from '52 until '(9. Jerry was just a little bitty boy when he started coming to the course and following Jimmy Meigs, Chris Banister and Billy Hamilton around. Those guys helped Jerry, and 4 sort of monkeyed with him a little myself." Somebody did something right. Those who really know Jerry Pate know him first as a young gentleman, second as a promising golfer on the pro tour. The tour can be rough "Jerry has worked hard," says Pat, "In college he hit 200 or 300 golf ballsevery day.

He called one Saturday from school, and Iemember the weather was bad and I asked what he'd been doing. He said he had hit 900 balls. He had 100 balls in his shag bag and he hit them nine times. You know winning the Amateur really changed bis life. It helped his confidence, he played on the Walker Cup team, played in the Masters.

Then he went on to the tour school at Disney World and was one of 297 golfers who put up $300 apiece to try to earn one of 22 places. He not only earned one of the places, he won the thing. He's the youngest card-holding player on the tour now. "But the tour has been rough on Jerrjr at times," admits (See Wayne Hester on Page 8-C) mile average of more than 180.045 m.p.h. that is needed to make the field right now.

Since she apparently cannot qualify in the Vollstedt, she may be able to switch into Foyt's Coyote without jeopardizing her contract. Miss Guthrie, the first woman entry in the Indy 500, reached 173.611 in practice Saturday, an" unofficial closed track record for women. The official record is 172.366, set several weeks ago by Paula Murphy in a Dodge stock car at Talladega, Ala. But whether she could go much faster in the Vollstedt is doubtful. Teammate Dick Simon could do no better than 174 in it.

The final qualifying session will run from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. As of now, the slowest qualifier is Jan Opperman at 180.045. Meanwhile, Charlotte Motor Speedway officials joined Miss Guthrie in denying reports the track had offered her a ride in the World 600 stock car race to be run the same day as the Indy 500 should she fail to make (See Janet Guthrie on Page 8-C) INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Janet has been unable to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in her Vollstedt car, has been offered A.J. Foyt's backup machine for a shakedown run Sunday and possibly a qualification attempt for the May 30 classic.

"A.J. is going to let her take it out tomorrow," a U.S. Auto Club official told The Associated Press Saturday night. "She is in his garage right now being measured for the cockpit." Foyt posted the fastest practice time of better than 191 miles an hour in the Coyote on Friday. If Miss Guthrie likes the machine, the USAC official said, she may attempt to qualify for the race in it.

And if she does, she is considered almost a cinch to make the 33-car field in the final qualifying session because of the Coyote's capabilities. Miss Guthrie Is reportedly under a three-year contract with Rolla Vollstedt. But the fastest she has been able to reach in that car has been 173.611 m.p.h., and it is almost certain she could not record the four-lap, 10- AP WlrwtwM I SAD FACES IN GASOLINE ALLEY owner Vollstedt and Janet Guthrie 4.