Inspiration fuels Bane's existence

When after five hours and 18 holes played in wind and cold you sign for an 80, there are reasons aplenty to spit and stew and be mad at the world. Unless you've got character and perspective, attributes that define Harry Bane.

He merely shrugged off that first round in Monday's 74th annual New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship at Captains Golf Course in Brewster.

"Forgot about Day 1," he said, proving that he has taken to heart what his parents and coaches have always told him. "Never let anything get you down, just take it one shot at a time."

Four under par through five holes Tuesday, Bane maintained great focus and went on to shoot 4-under 68, matching the low round of the tournament. At 148, the Middlebury College senior roared up the leaderboard to finish tied for fifth in a field of 221. A spirited rally from an adverse start no doubt, but then again, anyone who has had the pleasure of coming into contact with Bane's story would have expected nothing less.

His name was first introduced to me by the greatest Globe colleague ever, Robin Romano. The kid is special, she said. Loves baseball and golf, plays them both well, she told me. There was that minor detail about a rare form of bone cancer, but Robin insisted it would be no match for her pal Harry, because he was too strong, too good, too determined. She would tell me this after blowing it 30 yards past me on yet another tee ball, so who was I to doubt her?

Now, they teach you in journalism 101 to be objective, but pistachio nuts to that. If Romano, who was fighting her own battle with cancer at the time, endorsed Bane, then that's all it took for me to fall in line. I was a fan, and even from afar it was a joy to follow his progress through youth baseball in Marblehead, through high school, and into college. Earlier this fall, when Bane shot 74-70 to win the Williams Invitational, I couldn't help but think of Robin.

She was a gem, Robin was. She provided friendship and wisdom that were priceless, and when she died, a good many of us lost one of the best friends we could have wished for. She was fearless and caring, and somewhere this moment she's smiling proudly, because, well, she was right about Harry Bane. He is special, or as Middlebury coach Bill Beaney offers, "He's one in a million."

The 68 Bane put up Tuesday was pretty stout, a career best, but it was the timing of that round that made it so perfect. Two days earlier, at the annual NEIGA dinner that got the festivities underway, Bane was presented the Guy Tedesco Award as NEIGA Player of the Year, an honor he accepted in front of his parents, Tami and Rich, his sister, Hayley, and Kernwood Country Club head professional Frank Dully.

"Having them there made it even more special," said Bane, who exudes grace and dignity you wish could be bottled and sold. He also serves as an inspiration to anyone in need of it - which is nearly all of us. During his Middlebury years, Bane has on a number of occasions ventured to local high schools to tell his tale, to show pictures of him wearing that weird-looking leg brace that was a necessity back when he was an early teenager.

"I'm not sick of telling the cancer story," he said. "If I can use it as a strong inspiration, to talk about overcoming adversity, then I'm happy to lead by example."

Consider it done, Harry - just as Robin predicted.

Precious medal

With a birdie on the first playoff hole, Matt Belizze of Sacred Heart broke a four-way tie and earned medalist honors in the NEIGA Championship. Belizze (76-71) finished at 147 along with teammate Pat Fillian (72-75), Alex Daley of Bryant (76-71), and Anthony Gallardo of UMass-Lowell (79-68). Like Bane, Jason Thresher shot 80-68 to get into a share of fifth, and his efforts went a long way toward securing the team title for Bryant, which edged Sacred Heart by one stroke. Central Connecticut State finished third, five shots back . . . At the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate in Greenville, N.C., Chelsea Curtis of Georgetown University, a senior from Mashpee, closed with the tournament's low round, a 68, and finished tied for third. She was paired in one of her rounds with a WGAM colleague, Sarah Whitney of Hingham, a sophomore at William & Mary. Whitney holed out from 145 yards for an eagle on her final hole of the fall schedule to shoot 74 -229 and finish joint 19th. Kerri Connolly of Duxbury, a sophomore at the University of Maryland, also competed in the tournament . . . A round of applause for one of the local golf community's true gentlemen, Jack Neville, who'll be inducted into the NEPGA Hall of Fame Saturday night at Kernwood CC in Peabody. Jim Remy of Okemo Valley Golf Club in Vermont will also be inducted, which makes for a busy stretch for him. Next month, Remy will be elevated to president of the PGA of America.

Game of Love

Before slumping to 96th on the money list a year ago, Davis Love had been top 25 for 12 straight years and top 75 for a whopping 20 in a row. But with a combination of age (44), a serious ankle injury, and a deep pool of young talent making the landscape tougher than ever, Love is playing this week in his fourth consecutive Fall Finish event, the Frys.com Open in Scottsdale, Ariz. Love sits squarely on the bubble, No. 125 on the money list, and has plenty of company in this late-season push. Consider that of those ranked between 120-140 on the money list, only No. 120 David Toms, No. 123 Mark Calcavecchia, and No. 138 Joe Durant are not at the Frys. Toms and Durant both won in 2006, but their full-exempt status expires at the end of 2008. Calcavecchia won in 2007, so he's exempt through 2009 . . . How tough is it to get into even these PGA Tour Fall Finish tournaments? Check out some of the names who failed to get through a Monday qualifier for last week's stop in Las Vegas: Ted Purdy, Glenn Day, Dicky Pride, Olin Browne, Ryan Palmer, and Robert Gamez - all PGA Tour winners . . . Billy Andrade is another who couldn't get into the Vegas tournament. He did get into the Frys and is very much in need of some dramatics, given that he sits 190th on the money list . . . James Driscoll matched his best closing round of the year, a 66, and vaulted into a share of 15th in Las Vegas to earn $57,673 and push to 132d on the money list. The pride of Brookline is 22 under over his last 12 rounds.

Late-season push

OK, so there are degrees of "struggling," and making $700,933 for 21 golf tournaments may not sound too bad. But it certainly wasn't up to 2007 Masters champ Zach Johnson's high standards. With a win at the Valero Texas Open and a T-10 in Las Vegas, Johnson has made more money in two weeks ($904,300) than he had in more than nine months. He's roared from 122d to 49th on the money list . . . You may have noticed a familiar name in the results from the Las Vegas tournament - Casey Bourque. Indeed, it was the native of Biddeford, Maine, and former Maine State Amateur champion. Bourque, now the head professional at Moon Valley CC in Phoenix, got in via a section qualifier and made the 36-hole cut, though a second cut was needed after 54 holes and Bourque fell short.

Late-season fade

Perhaps Annika Sorenstam shouldn't have announced plans for her retirement. In the spring, she won back-to-back events and was seemingly putting in motion a spirited run at No. 1 Lorena Ochoa. Then came the big-splash retirement announcement and in 11 tournaments that followed, the Swede had no wins, just two top 10s, and a lot of indifferent performances . . . Speaking of No. 1, who has a bigger lead in the world rankings, Ochoa or Tiger Woods? You'd probably guess Woods, because, well, he's always a good bet, but in this case give the nod to the dynamic lady from Mexico. Ochoa is at 18.22 and has an 8.38-point cushion over Sorenstam. Idle since June, Woods has dropped to 15.05 and leads Phil Mickelson by 6.44 points . . . Woods, by the way, was back on the golf course the other day - but only to "caddie" for the winner of a Buick-sponsored contest at Torrey Pines in San Diego. We put quote marks around the word because Woods and the golfer, John Abel of New Jersey, rode in a revved-up Buick golf cart and the world's best player rarely carried more than one of his player's clubs. But he did tend the flagstick, read greens, and offer advice. No word on whether he got a tip, however, or the usual 10 percent.

Great Scots

Tied for the lead through 36 holes, the three-man team from the United States struggled over the weekend and got blitzed by Scotland, which won the World Team Amateur by nine strokes in Australia. American Rickie Fowler did secure medalist honors with rounds of 68-67-70-75. Reinier Saxton, the reigning British Amateur champion whose grandfather, Dave Saxton, lives in York, Maine, shot 72-72-76-75 to finish T-37 . . . Briana Vega of Andover shot 77-70-72 to finish joint 13th in the Duramed Invitational in Braselton, Ga. The tournament provided quite an exclamation point to Vicky Hurst's dramatic rookie season as a pro, because with a 71-69-71 performance, the teenager from Melbourne, Fla., squeezed out her fifth win in 14 Futures tournaments . . . Jeff Curl of Ellington, Conn., followed a victory with a runner-up finish in the Tarheel Tour Championship to finish the season as that minitour circuit's No. 2 money winner, with $75,924. Former University of Rhode Island standout Michael Sims was 16th, while Kevin Silva of New Bedford was 41st . . . Tom Tobey of Bay Pointe CC in Onset shot a sizzling 7-under 64 to steamroll to a five-stroke win in a NEPGA Cape Cod Fall Festival pro-am at The Ridge Club in Sandwich . . . Harry Hanlon of Marshfield CC and his partner, Bill Murphy, made four straight birdies in a second-round 69 that enabled them to shoot 141 and tie Jamie Griffiths (Thorny Lea GC) and Mike Calef (Brockton CC) in the annual Gilholm Cup at the Country Club of New Bedford. When darkness settled in after one playoff hole, the teams were named cochampions.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com.