Pros, locals start off big week at Air Capital Classic

Score was kept at Monday’s Air Capital Cup and checks were handed out, but competition seemed like just an excuse.

The real reason six Web.com golf players and six local professionals got together at Crestview Country Club’s North course was to put on a production.

Golf was a backdrop to playful razzing between competitors, seemingly superhuman feats and the uniqueness of Josh Broadaway, a cross-handed player that reels people in with his humor and self-deprecation.

Broadaway made up part of a perfect cast for the event, held three days before the start of the Air Capital Classic. His one-liners challenged those of Joel Dahmen and Rick Cochran III and provided a buffer between Curtis Thompson’s Herculean tee shots.

“When you get crowds coming out like this, you want to make sure you have people who interact, people who like to have a good time,” Broadaway said. “I’m never afraid of a good time.”

Broadaway has played in the event, organized by tournament director Roy Turner, “six or eight times.” Even though Broadaway and Chase Wright were beaten in the Ryder Cup-style competition by Greg Bray and Phillip Prude, the Web.com players won the match and were each awarded $300.

The tone was set on the first hole, No. 10, when emcee Don Hall made light of the fact that the 36-year-old Broadaway has been cut in all four events he’s played this season and hasn’t made any money.

Broadaway, who has never won in 229 career events but has nonetheless earned nearly $800,000 in 11 seasons, referenced his relative lack of success occasionally but mostly saved his humor for other players.

When Hall asked Broadaway what he thought of one of Dahmen’s shot that headed toward a bunker, Broadaway quipped, “I’m going to need some lotion for that beach up there.”

“The guys who run the Web.com know that these are the nicer guys,” Thompson said. “They’re going to get along with the fans. It’s more for the fans than anything.”

Thompson recognized that mentality when he amped up for the night’s longest drive on No. 18, the last of Monday’s six holes.

Thompson, one of the tour’s longest drivers and in his first full professional season outdrove the other 11 players but at least 25 yards each but later said he might not have gone for similar distance during a tournament. The drive, though, pleased the gallery of about 100 people.

Ryan Spears, a Crestview member and former Wichita State golfer, also hit several pleasing shots. He putted for the only birdie on No. 10, made a nearly perfect chip shot on No. 11, and got to the center of the green of the tee on No. 17 a par 3.

Spears said he transitioned between his lighter side and a more intense approach throughout the event, a combination that worked as he and Cochran made birdies on three of six holes.

“You get on TV and the perception of us is a little bit different,” Spears said. “When you’re trying to stay in that zone, coming out of that zone can take you out of the moment completely. For me, it’s a little different. I can shut it off and turn it back on real quick. For me to be talking to a guy, then five seconds later step up and hit a tee shot, that’s OK with me.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Pros, locals start off big week at Air Capital Classic."