April 12, 2005

CALIFORNIA, MD — The sun loomed overhead as rookie Jason Simmons lumbered slowly through the 18th hole of a long, long day.  Tilting over carefully, he stuck the ball into the hole to finish his round at Ceder Point.

"I always get this thing figured out at the end," says Simmons, managing the slightest of smiles.  "It was a nightmare today."

Not long after that, it was mercifully over - one the highest-scoring rounds in Jason Simmons history, turned in by a once-great player who just wanted to play a round of golf.

For those who might be unfamiliar with the term, that's known as a quadruple-bogey.

Simmmons scored four snowmen and three hockey sticks on the back nine of Ceder Point Golf Course on Friday.  He returned on Saturday and scored four snowmen and three hockey sticks except this time they were spread across the entire round.

Not that this was a day for worrying about details like double-bogeys, triple-bogeys and quadruple-bogeys.  Simmons took the disaster graciously, fully aware that he had not scored well in the past.  But a few months ago, he got the urge to play again.

"I had no concern about my score today," Simmons said. "I just wanted to be back out there, experiencing golf and the surroundings.  And besides, Mealey tells me I will be getting plenty of NOOG points."