Page 37 - PPA National Championship 2022

Marcellino turned professional at the age of 16 in 1966, one month after he

finished second to William Hammock of Macon, GA in the amateur division

of the 1966 National Championship – played in Charlotte, NC. One of his first
major events as a professional was in Cleveland, Ohio at the 1966 Northern

Open. The courses were full of players, but Marcellino

followed Vance Randall, Ricky Smith, and the
Stricklands (Herman, Carl, Evelyn and Ricky) to watch

the shots they were playing. But he also had the good
fortune of practicing with Buddy Taylor. He knew

Taylor from playing in tournaments at his home

course of Hyattsville, Maryland. Taylor would make
the trip from Baltimore to play in the Sunday events to

sharpen his tournament skills and in doing so,

befriended the young Marcellino. Marcellino’s dad
Buddy Taylor
was also playing in the Northern Open that year, but
he missed the cut; however, instead of dad following his son – he followed

another young player - Ricky Smith. During the drive home dad and son
talked about the level of concentration and focus

Smith maintained throughout the tournament.

This was an impressive conversation on the
young Marcellino, and in 1967, in Greenville,

South Carolina, he would finish in 28th place with
Paul Garrison (1962 National Champion) – nine

strokes behind Vance Randall as Randall forced

his way to the first of his two National
Championships. In the Northern Open of 1967,

nd
he tied for 2 with Chuck Schafer and Willy
Edwards, 2 strokes behind the defending
Rick Smith
champion, Gary Love. At the age of 17,

Marcellino was developing confidence.