At 92-year-old Chippewa, Tabbert sets course record

If you’re a golfer, you’ve been there before — had the round of your life, or maybe a hole-in-one, an eagle, or even a double eagle.
For Woodville resident and Genoa High School graduate Nathan Tabbert, 38, it happened at Chippewa Golf Course in Curtice, where he has worked as a manager and teaching professional since 2014.
Despite a strong wind, the left-handed Tabbert shot a 9-under par 28-34—62 from the back tees, setting a course record at Chippewa, which dates back to 1928. He says a golf professional from Findlay shot 62 years ago, but that was before owners changed the layout.
The whole round was “magical” from the start, Tabbert said, starting with his two-under par eagle on the first hole.
“I got off to a good start, hit driver to about 195, and I hit a six-iron in there to about 30 feet and knocked it in (for eagle). I thought, ‘Here we go.’ You know, the par threes are pretty tough out there and you’re crossing the creek 15 times. Two and three are really tough, so I went par-par, which is fine. My approach shots were 200 yards (out) and the green is tiny, but I got through those couple holes and I usually eat up the par fives out there.
“I got to four and I just missed the green and I pitched it up there and made birdie there. Then the long hole (par 3) by the road there by 579 — it was playing like 220 but I stuck it close. I hit a hybrid to about three feet, and I thought, ‘Well, something is sparking here.’ After I eagled one, I birdied four, five, seven, eight and nine, finished with 28 on the front and made probably over 100 feet worth of putts.
“A funny story is, I get done with nine holes, I’m fist-pumping, here we go and my pro shop guy comes up and says, ‘Hey, a guy has three clubs to re-grip.’ I’m looking at him and I go, ‘This isn’t the time.’ So, I went in there and I took care of the guy, who had come in about a week ago, and I said put the clubs there and I’ll get them. So, I get three grips done for a guy and back out I go,” Tabbert continued.
“I was trying to refocus and birdied 10 right out of the gate. I parred 11, birdied 12, and then I parred out. I kind of petered out there at the end. I hit 16 out of 18 greens (in regulation), and both greens I missed I pitched up close and knocked it in. It was unbelievable.”
Tabbert, who led his Genoa golf team to the state tournament as a senior in 1999, was golfing by himself, but he broadcast No. 18 on Facebook Live. He provided his own play-by-play and some of his friends were watching. As of last week, there were 20 views and 130 comments.
“I had a 10-footer and I went on Facebook Live with it. I was on the last hole, and I thought, ‘I hope I know how to do this.’ I put Facebook Live on and I had a lot of my friends watching, and I had a 10-footer for a 61 and I just missed it. I was OK with it though,” Tabbert said.
“I videoed most of the round. When I went live on the last hole, I thought, ‘this is unbelievable, after all the years of golfing.’ It seems like every five years I get a round going like that and finally I finished it.”
Tabbert reflected on some of those rounds that were not quite as good.
“That is my lowest score. I got off to a good start last year — I had 19 eagles, which is awesome. I’ve had three career 63s and a 29.I haven’t been playing a whole lot this year. I’ve been teaching because the demand is pretty high with COVID going on, which is surprising. We’ve definitely been really busy,” Tabbert said.
“I’ve had rounds like this before where I just didn’t finish off. I choked. One of the owners was out there playing with a men’s league, and when I was seven under through 13, I started thinking about it, you know, and ended up bogeying coming in and shooting a 66. From my experiences of having good rounds, nine years ago, I shot 29 on September 29th at Detwiler, which is a par 36, which was amazing. But when I played the other side I ran out of time.”
Tabbert is also an avid hunter and is on the pit crew for Troy Hahn and Team Twenty Racing, which races late models on the dirt track at Oakshade Speedway in Wauseon. However, teaching the game of golf is his “dream come true.”
“I’ve been teaching a lot of juniors this year, which is actually nice because I’m a self-taught player. I’ve never had a golf lesson, so it’s kind of nice for me to give back from the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years,” Tabbert said.
“It comes down to basic fundamentals. You’ve got to keep it simple. It is hard for guys to break habits, but it just goes back to your grip, alignment, and posture. Arnie Palmer said, ‘Swing your swing.’ Everybody swings different, and that’s kind of my philosophy — to make it better with what you’ve got.”
He also got four years of instruction from his high school coach, Genoa hall-of-famer Tom Pickerel.
“Obviously, he was more of a short game type of coach — chipping and putting,” Tabbert said. “What he taught me in high school, I teach a lot of that. He used to teach that bump and run, and I teach that a lot to these kids. It’s chipping with your nine and eight-iron. You know, everybody pulls that loft wedge out of the bag, and we teach a lot of the bump and run. Short swing — less problems, you know.”