THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505200488
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Alan Quinnelly often introduces himself to people as a professional putter, which, understandably, evokes some quizzical looks.
Putt-Putt golf? Oh yeah, windmills and big plastic gorillas and clowns' noses, right?
Not exactly.
Quinnelly and the other competitors in the Professional Putters Association Open and National Tournaments this weekend at Putt-Putt Golf and Games at Military Circle are accustomed to a degree of ignorance and misconceptions about their sport. And they have all seen the occasional smirk when they tell people they travel the professional putting circuit.
``I'll say, `Yeah, I've won over $82,000 playing Putt-Putt. How about you, what do you do for a hobby?' '' Quinnelly said.
Although the money is nice and has more than covered Quinnelly's expenses in 13 years on the PPA tour, life between the orange rails and on the green carpet of Putt-Putt is hardly a path paved with gold.
``It doesn't matter, to be honest,'' said Quinnelly, who lives in an Atlanta suburb and is a senior marketing manager for an automobile insurance company. ``I'd still be playing even if I hadn't done as well and if my expenses had far outweighed my winnings.
``(The money) is a bonus. But deep down, the reason a lot of these people are here is the desire of wanting to be the best.''
Quinnelly, 30, is among the best players on the tour, which counts Norfolk as one of nine stops this spring and summer. Tournament director Joe Aboid describes this tournament - which has drawn 48 of the 50 players bestowed National Pro status - as one of the summer's ``majors.''
But it is not the national tournament. That event comes later in the summer in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Quinnelly was the national champion in 1985 and 1991, and is sixth on the PPA's career money winning list. Only one player ahead of him is still active.
He has appeared three times on the PPA's television series, which used to be broadcast by Billy Packer until the analyst's recent contract with CBS precluded him from appearing on a broadcast aired by ESPN. Quinnelly was inducted into the Putt-Putt/PPA Hall of Fame last year.
It's a nice resume, but Quinnelly and his fellow putters know some people view their craft as frivolity.
``In order to win a national championship at something is an honor and an accomplishment in itself that most people will never know,'' said Quinnelly, who captained his high school basketball, tennis and volleyball teams.
Viewed that way, Putt-Putt is not goofy golf. True, the competitors this weekend will play before a gallery that includes a big plastic zebra, giraffe and a monkey. But they are decorations and not part of the course, which features geometric obstructions and undulations to challenge the players.
``I would describe the courses as skillful,'' Quinnelly said. ``You're dealing with angles, you're dealing with touch. It's kind of a lot like billiards, it's really a very mental game.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by TAMARA VONINSKI
Alan Quinnelly, a professional Putt-Putt golfer at left, has won
more than $82,000 in 13 years.
by CNB