Dave Bazemore (known as "Breakaway Buck" for his tendency to leave the pack several strokes behind in the closing holes of heated competition) declared his amazement that he could be shut out of all the prizes awarded at BOFMECHIAN-97.
At one time during the day Bazemore was first in the longest putt, closest to the pin, and was certainly hitting the ball further than anyone else so was favored to win longest drive.
"I believe [Bill] Kehoe was probably the legitimate winner of closest to the pin," said Bazemore, "just because it was witnessed by that smarmy little Tomm Alsman who would rather piss himself than tell a lie, but" he continued, "how many times did [Gene] Page putt around the green before he got longest putt? What did he take on that hole, about twenty-three strokes? And who the hell picked the eighteenth to be the longest drive hole? What a joke." (The eighteenth hole at Michigan City Municipal features a huge spreading oak tree in the middle of the fairway making a long drive to the fairway a difficult proposition.) "[Jim] Colley won that with, what, a 100 yard shot to the base of the tree? What kind of tournament is this?"
Bazemore was the only first time participant in this year's BOFMECHIAN which is open only to union employees of the BOF Mechanical department of Bethlehem Steel, in Burns Harbor. "A rookie of the year award has never been presented or else it's a certainty Buck would have gotten it this year," said tournament founder and one time champion Bill Kehoe.