Top of the Morning, July 16, 2024

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On Tuesdays, we’ll chop it up with our Golfer of the Week. Email nominations to jrossow@news-gazette.com

Cole Taylor and Bobby Harvey first golfed together 27 years ago at Norton Knolls Golf Course in tiny Oakland.

“It was closed and plowed up a few years back — a sad day,” Taylor said. “I lived across the street from the ninth tee box. The two of us plus a couple of other lifelong friends played golf there all day all summer long.”

Teammates at Oakland High and Parkland College, Taylor and Harvey still enjoy each other’s company on and off the course. On July 6-7, they rolled to their second UI Players Cup title in Savoy, winning by 17 strokes with a 161 total.

Their secret?

“Just the friendship we have and the amount of golf we’ve played with each other over the years,” Harvey said. “(And) me knowing I can screw up and Cole will bail us out.”

Said Taylor, a member of The News-Gazette’s 2003 All-Area Boys’ Basketball team: “We know what we are going to get out of one another, so we don’t expect anything more or anything less from one another. I always count on Bobby being competitive, and he never fails me.”

Both married with children, they kept the celebration to a minimum.

“We had enough time for a beer,” said Taylor, a cabinet maker/carpenter at Plum Grove Millworks in Camargo. “It was back to our families shortly after we finished.”

Added Harvey, who for 17 years has worked in the railroad industry: “Saturday and Sunday were the third and fourth times I’ve played 18 holes this year, so I was ready for a nap.”

When will they team up again?

“I guess we will be back next year to defend our Players Cup title,” Taylor said. “Maybe try to break the scoring record again.”