Local golf hall of fame inducts new members

By Patrick Newell

Sun Sports Editor

PLYMOUTH – The Greater Norwich Golf Hall of Fame recently inducted its 2006 class of entrants last month at Canasawacta Country Club.

David Branham and Amy Spittler, the two youngest Hall of Fame entrants, were joined by posthumous selections Rufus Perkins, who passed away in January, 2004, and Dr. M. Webster Stofer, a selection from the bygone era who was an original member of C.C.C. when it opened in 1920. Below we have listed capsules of each inductee in alphabetical order:

David Branham

The current head professional at Canasawacta Country Club, Branham won 12 straight men’s scratch championships between 1981 and 1992, and in 1991, shattered the course record shooting a 10-under-par 60. One year later, Branham was the Broome County Amateur champion and was named the TCGA Player of the Year. He teamed to win three C.C.C. member-guest championships with Tom Wheaton, and eventually turned professional after his 1992 season. He was an assistant professional at Cortland and Binghamton Country Clubs before assuming the head professional position at C.C.C. in 1999. Among his more noteworthy accomplishments as a professional was a Central New York sectional championship in 2003 that earned him an automatic spot in the 2004 B.C. Open. Also in 2004, Branham qualified for the PGA Club Pro Championships In Kiawah Island, SC. Said former C.C.C. pro, Fred Zahner: “He came from a very competitive family of golfers. They used to play a lot of games around their house growing up, and David – like his brothers – had to learn to make every shot he was confronted with. That is how he developed his shot-making ability.”

Rufus Perkins

A New Berlin High School graduate in 1938, Perkins learned to play the game at Silver Lake in New Berlin where he caddied and played with his brother Ruso. A standout player with a near scratch handicap, Perkins was the number two player on his Colgate University golf team and was captain of the team his senior year. Among his distinguished golfing accomplishments was a New York State Elks tournament of Champions winner representing the Norwich Elks Lodge. Among his teammates were Hall of Famers Stig Biviano, Dusty Annesi, Joe Rotundo, Jim Rotundo, Bob Hall, along with other team members Buff Magistro, Honk Mirabito, and Dick Johnson. In later years, Perkins all but gave up the game of golf, but in the building of the new second-hole tee at C.C.C., hit the first shot off the tee onto the green after not playing for two years. He worked for several years at the golf course before retiring in 1995. He volunteered at the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry at the Episcopal Church in Norwich, and volunteered for Chenango County Hospice.