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Albatross shows his game is on the rise Patrick Oropallo arrived at the hole in a recent golf tournament the same way he came to the game. He did so in unconventional style. Paired with Drew Moyers, whose drive he played, Oropallo hit a 3-wood so pure from 215 yards out on the par-5 fifth hole that it didn't cut as he'd planned. "I had a sidehill, downhill lie into a little breeze," says Oropallo, "and it just bored through the wind." His ball hit the left-center part of the green and trickled into the hole for a 2 on the 497-yard hole. In a Chapman tournament, both players hit tee shots on each hole, then go to each other's drives and play a second shot. From there, they pick the best ball and alternate hitting it until the ball is holed out. Rarely is one hole played in 3 under par, however. "It was pretty fun," he says. "We jumped up and down." The shot put a charge into the twosome. They were 5 over before the albatross put them at 2 over. They bogeyed the next hole, then made three straight birdies to win the men's club event. It was the latest in a string of successes for Oropallo, who was raised by his single mom, Socorro, got his first set of Wilson starter clubs as a Christmas present from his grandfather and didn't fully embrace the game until he watched on TV as Tiger Woods took the 1997 Masters by storm. In the ensuing four years, Oropallo, a predominantly self-taught player who took a job at Oak Knoll so he could afford to play, competed for four years on the Ashland High team. He led the Grizzlies with a stroke average in the upper 70s last spring and has lowered his handicap to 4 at his home course. "He's won a lot of tournaments in our men's club," says Oak Knoll head professional Tom Kohler. "He's a pretty active young man when it comes to playing." In fact, Oropallo won every men's club tourney he entered last year and is the club's reigning champion. His plan now is to attend Southern Oregon University for two years, where he'll begin studying toward a business degree - a must, he was told, if he's going to enter the PGA apprentice program, as he hopes. Before that, however, he'd like to improve his game enough to walk on at Oregon or Oregon State. It's a scenario that puts his mother's eyes on high beam and sends her grin to the corners of her face. "I'm like a chicken," says Socorro, whose daughter, Nicole Zilfeti, also graduated this year, from SOU. "I'm all fluffed out." The family has been of modest means for years, since the death of Socorro's husband and Patrick's father. Patrick is the third Patrick F. Oropallo. Socorro was three months pregnant with her son when authorities went to her Prospect home on Oct. 7, 1981, and told her that her husband had been killed in a logging accident near Riddle. "You never think that will happen," she says, "never in your wildest imagination." The two had been married less than 11/2 years, and Socorro had been in Oregon only briefly before the accident. She moved to Ashland shortly after. "I was dealt a hand and I had to make sure I played it right," she says, adding that she wanted her "babies" to be healthy, happy and "to finish school; not just finish, but do it with some class." Arlan Foote, who taught in Ashland for 32 years before retiring and who serves as the high school golf coach, first met Patrick in the Lincoln Elementary School library. The teacher was struck by the fifth-grader's knowledge of sports. Later, the Oropallos rented an apartment near Foote, and even later, Foote ran into Patrick, then in middle school, and a friend at Oak Knoll. "I gave each one of them a golf ball that said 'Grizzlies' on it," says Foote, who now lives in Medford and belongs to Rogue Valley Country Club. "I said, 'You guys are going to be Grizzlies, so here you go.'" There was a time when Patrick sported orange hair and spent a lot of time on his skateboard. But about the time of Woods' record-setting Masters, Patrick, who is of Native American and Hispanic descent, was tuning into golf. He was enamored of his idol's powerful swing and all-around skill. But there was something else, says his mother, that touched her son. "We were watching it and it moved Pat to tears," she says. "He said 'Mom, I want one of those green jackets. I want to do that.' He thought it was so cool to see a man of color do that. It gave him super hope or something." Patrick landed work at Oak Knoll washing carts and doing odd jobs. It enabled him to play and hone his skills. When he visited his grandfather in Florida, the two went out every morning to play and didn't return till evening. He credits his grandfather for keeping him in the game, first with the starter set, then as a playing partner whenever possible. The last time they played was at Oak Knoll when Oropallo Sr. visited. He died in his sleep at age 82 in December. "I wasn't as good as I am now," says Patrick. "I wish he could have seen some of the stuff I've done lately." At 5-foot-7, 140 pounds, Oropallo doesn't hit the ball terribly long, but he estimates he puts his driver in the fairway 80 percent of the time and his short game is a strength. Except for one summer, when Foote sponsored him so he could play at Rogue Valley, Oropallo has played most of his golf at the Ashland course. "There aren't many people out there who can beat him at Oak Knoll," says Foote. At the rate he's going, few people will be able to beat him anywhere. Have a local golf story idea? Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.