SUFFOLK (WAVY) – Carey Hodsden hadn’t picked up a golf club in close to 14 years, until his wife, Della, offered to buy him the best 50th birthday present he could have hoped for.
That gift was a brand new set of golf clubs.
“We were trying decide what to buy him and I thought, you know what, let’s get what he loves the most,” said Della.
As things turned out, Della got a pretty good return on the investment. In May, her husband finished first out of 85 players at a qualifier in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is now headed to the U.S. Senior Open in South Bend, Indiana, at the end of this month.
“For golf professionals, it’s the epitome. It’s the greatest thing to get to,” said Carey Hodsden. “If you’ve ever seen the movie Tin Cup, it’s the thing.”
Born in Thailand and raised in Detroit, Hodsden is a real estate agent, a retired Air Force veteran, and has called Hampton Roads home for decades. He didn’t pick up the game until after graduating from high school, but always had the athletic ability and competitiveness to thrive.
Both will be tested against some of the best in the history of the game. Former Masters champions Vijay Singh, Fred Couples and Bernard Langer are all expected in the field.
But Hodsden isn’t backing down.
“Yeah, I’ve got to play against them, but I’m going to be preparing really, really hard, and they got to play against me,” said Hodsden.
