Longboat Key Club Friars celebrate 30 years of friendship

Longboat Key
Neighbors

The word “friar” is derived from the French and Latin words for brother, frere and frater. On March 28, the Friars at the Longboat Key Club celebrated 30 years of brotherhood first, and golf second.

“The first year, we had, I believe, 24 people, and I was the youngest. They called me ‘kiddo.’ And at that time, you had to be a 14 handicap or less to join. The reason was we didn’t want to give shots on par-3s,” Matt Zito said. “Nobody can be a 14 anymore, from the original guys anyway.”

Zito, 87, is the only original member still playing after Frank Childs moved back to Iowa permanently last year.

When the group started out, the Longboat Key Club wasn’t as luxurious as it is today. The greens on Blue 6 had no grass, so members took advantage of their reciprocal memberships and regularly played other courses.

Since the LBKC rose to be a top course, the Friars golf, drink and celebrate exclusively at their home club. About 140 members, wives and widows attended the anniversary held at the Harbourside ballroom.

A decked-out golf cart greeted guests as they arrived. Rhinestone-bedazzled drivers stuck out of the golf bags in the back, and a big group photo sat on top of the windshield. One after the other, guests walked in, saw that display, and took a step back to smile. The room was filled with friendship not limited to Friars alone.

“We do have our husbands here tonight,” joked Carol Westwood.

She and Marcie McGovern have a long history of celebrating their March birthdays together.

“We have our girl group, and they have their boy group,” McGovern said.

The men meet three times a week and have had some notable members and moments over the past 30 years.

Hughes' history of the Friars

Longtime member Ralph Hughes was kind enough to jot some of the club's history in an email. Hughes ran the Friars from 2009 until 2019 when Frank Sulzman took over.

The club was established by Joe Curl, who was looking for some friendly competition. They started playing Friday afternoons, and the losers bought drinks after the games.

A few other “CEOs” ran the game in between, but when CPA Fred Smith stepped up in 1998, he changed the game from losers pay for the drinks to everyone pays a $20 ante.

“Fred ran the group with an iron fist, allowing no deviations from USGA rules,” Hughes wrote, “There were a lot of colorful Friars over the years; and by and large, most of them were notable. A finer group of guys would be hard to find. When I write this, I think of Billy Flinter, and I know he is looking down from above saying, ‘You better not forget to mention me and my triple eagle on White 8.”

Sam Seager and Herbie Epstein also received mentions. Seager was the captain of Harvard’s golf team in the 1950s, and Epstein is a former Canadian National golf champion.

According to Hughes, “Dave Gallagher likes to brag that he beat the Canadian champ, but he doesn’t always confess that Herbie was 93 when he beat him.”

And before Tom Brady, Ted Boyer was TB12.

“When Ted turned 80, his son gave him a box of golf balls that were inscribed TB; 12, 21, 300. TB for Ted’s initials, 12 for the number of holes-in-one he had, 21 for the number of club championships he won and 300 for the number of times he shot his age,” Hughes wrote, “I talk to Ted at least once every year, and now that he is in his early 90s, the number of times he has shot his age is approaching 600.”

The final fond mention went to “Carmen Trotta for driving his cart in the water more than anyone can imagine.”

author

Lesley Dwyer

Lesley Dwyer is a staff writer for East County and a graduate of the University of South Florida. After earning a bachelor’s degree in professional and technical writing, she freelanced for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Lesley has lived in the Sarasota area for over 25 years.