Salty McNulty not worried about rest

It’s been almost 20 years since Wes McNulty played his last round at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith.

McNulty said Wednesday on his way to a practice round at Hardscrabble that he hopes the course plays as difficult as ever for this weekend’s Arkansas State Golf Association Stroke Play Championship.

“I hear it has undergone a redesign since the last time I was there, so I am excited to see how much of a challenge it’s going to be,” said McNulty, the tournament’s defending champion. “The more difficult the course, the better. I was fortunate last year to draw a course that was difficult.”

McNulty, 44, won last year’s championship by two strokes over Jens Talbert at Pleasant Valley Country Club. He also has four other stroke play championships,having won the state’s premier stroke play event in 1992, 1993, 2008 and 2009.

“I haven’t played much the last three or four years, so my game is not where it should be or could be,” he said. “There’s so many young kids that can hit it so far that I don’t consider experience an advantage right now.”

McNulty, of White Hall, will try to defend his title against 56 other golfers in the amateur division, which tees off at 11:54 this morning. A total of 62 golfers in mid-senior, senior and super-senior divisions also will compete in the three-day tournament that concludes Saturday afternoon.

Arkansas Razorbacks redshirt junior Joe Doramus of Little Rock, who tied for third last year, will be paired with McNulty and Brice Howard of Hot Springs for the first two rounds of the tournament.

McNulty won last year’s tournament with a 4-over par 220, followed by Jens Talbert at 6 over and Doramus and Joey Nichols at 7 over.

No matter how the course shapes up, McNulty said he’s still hoping a little of his experience pays off if he is in contention Saturday afternoon.

“I’ve just learned it’s not the end of the world if I hit a bad shot because I have learned that a bad shot just doesn’t bother me anymore,” he said. “I have also learned I need to play against the course and not other players. I can do what I am capable of and not get too up or down.

“If that happens, I think I’ll have a good tournament.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 05/30/2013

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