Page 39 - PPA National Championship 2022

Marcellino didn’t perform as well as he wanted in Montgomery, but he was

competing and learning from the best players in the game. Also, his mentor

Buddy Taylor (1977 World Champion), was making progress with his psyche.

In 1968, the National Championship was originally scheduled for St. Louis,

Missouri. Players were planning their vacations for the National

Championship weekend and making hotel reservations; however, a few
months before the National Championship was going to be played – the Putt-

Putt organization came to the disappointing conclusion that the course,

currently being built, would not be finished in time for the tournament.
Fortunately, there was a course that just finished construction and was open

for play – and it was a 54-hole course, Louisville, KY. Don Clayton and the
PPA Directors made the decision to switch the tournament to Kentucky.

Once the announcement was made it was a scramble to get to Louisville to

learn the shots, especially since it was a new course.

Marcellino was anxious to learn the course as well. As fate would have it, he

was going to attend a college in Louisville in the fall of 1968. The school’s

orientation was scheduled the weekend before the National Championship.
He and his dad decided to take a train from their home in Washington, DC to

Louisville the weekend before the tournament for college orientation, and

after orientation concluded, rush over to the course to learn the shots for the
54 holes. Upon arrival, surprisingly, the course was empty, except for one

young man playing. And he was playing as if he knew some shots.
Marcellino asked the young man to show him the shots that he knew – and

the young fella was more than happy to help by showing what he knew for

the three courses.

Marcellino was now 17, an experienced player in major tournaments, who

had come close to winning – and his belief system was channeled for the

1968 championship. After the first day of play, Marcellino was 2 strokes off
the lead. Plenty of time to catch the leaders with 4 rounds to play. The