Pack tennis great taking swing at golf

RALEIGH -- John Sadri hasn't played golf as long as some in the N.C. Amateur field, and he didn't play it as well as some in Thursday's opening round.

Reed Darsie of Chapel Hill, for example, had a 4-under-par 67 at Raleigh Country Club. Darsie, who just finished his senior year on North Carolina's golf team, has a two-shot lead over Joshua Philbeck of Shelby as just nine players broke par.

But no one else in the field can say they once were ranked as high as 14th in the world in tennis. Or that they faced John McEnroe in a classic NCAA singles championship match. Or once played for the Australian Open title.

Sadri, 51, did all that in his "other life." The former N.C. State tennis All-America and touring professional didn't pick up a golf club until he was 36, but now he is a scratch golfer at Carolina Country Club in Charlotte.

"I love golf. I love it when I play," Sadri said after a first-round 77. "I used to sleep, eat and breathe tennis. Hard to believe, but I like it more than tennis."

That's saying a lot. A hard worker with intense dedication, Sadri won two ACC singles and doubles titles while at State from 1975 to 1978. In his last two years, he was 55-4 in singles matches. One of the four losses was to McEnroe -- then a freshman at Stanford -- in the 1978 NCAA championships. Sadri smashed 24 aces in the match but lost a four-hour thriller 7-6, 7-6, 5-7 and 7-6.

"I was a senior, and he was a freshman. I was physically superior, in the best shape of my life, and pretty much felt invincible," Sadri said. "But what people didn't realize was that McEnroe had gotten to the semifinals of Wimbledon the year before, in high school. He was ranked in the top 25 in the world."

Sadri laughed.

"I played him and almost beat him," he said. "Then I played him 13 more times in my professional career over the next 10 years. My record against him was 0-14.

"But nobody beats John Sadri 15 times, so he's lucky I retired. I drew the line."

One of the losses came in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. But Sadri, an easygoing type who still has a lean athletic build, noted McEnroe whipped Jimmy Connors in the Wimbledon finals in an even more lopsided match.

Sadri was beaten by Guillermo Vilas in the final of the 1979 Australian Open. But he and doubles partner Andy Andrews -- a teammate at State and another Wolfpack All-America -- won three titles on the ATP tour and contended for doubles titles in the U.S. Open and Australian Open. Sadri said he took up golf to get closer to business clients and quickly found it to be a challenge.

"One thing about tennis," Sadri said. "You can have a headache, can have a sore shoulder, and you can hit two double-faults and lose the first three games, hit two shots over the fence, and still come back and cream the guy and win.

"But in golf, you hit the first two balls over the fence, it's hard to come back. It's hard to shoot 4 under for the next 15 holes to get back to even par."

Sadri, who owns a construction company in Charlotte, said he's strictly a weekend golfer. He plays tennis only a few times a year, in charity events.

Sadri said he has played in about 10 Carolinas Golf Association events, including the N.C. Mid-Amateur, and will attempt to qualify for this year's U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Sadri hopes to find a comfort zone today in the second round. His short game, he said, is one of his strengths, so he hopes to putt a lot better.

"I look forward to it," he said. "It's golf. I love it."