The vast, hilly Red Course of Bethpage State Park, devoid of fans and media coverage, was a quiet, serene locale for a tense struggle last Monday, August 17. Almost nobody came to watch them compete, but 62 golfers desperately tried to squeeze into the only four slots allotted to Monday qualifiers in the 72-man field of senior professionals who will play in the Northville Long Island Classic this Friday through Sunday.

The qualifier is the forgotten leg of a tournament, now in its 12th year, that has spawned several Cinderella stories. The most recent suitor of the glass slipper was Dana Quigley, who shot the best round of anyone in Bethpage last year when he qualified on Monday and won the Classic six days later. His name was echoed more than once from several Northville volunteers and a few curious spectators as some of the scores began drifting in around 1 p.m.

"It goes to show that anything can happen in a tournament," said Senior PGA Tournament Official Bill Clemmer. "Once you're in the field, you have as much of a chance as anyone else."

It is as if Quigley proved that from the unglamourous, unglorified moments of golf, fruitful and life-changing results can emerge. For many golfers, a tournament victory spells the welcomed end to gaining sponsor exemptions and struggling to balance one's sport with a more financially sound second career.

"He's certainly an inspiration to everyone," admired 51-year-old Tad Boyce of Kingston, New York, who shot a 65 on the par-70 course - "the round of my life," he said - to easily qualify for the Classic. Boyce is familiar with the concept of a double life. He owns an auto dealership, Par-3 Auto Center, which features used cars for sale.

A revved-up Boyce was overjoyed with his performance, overcoming a double bogey on the first hole and a "case of the jitters." Boyce settled down after his initial mistake, which he said angered him and made him more focused. Soon after, Boyce discovered that he had excellent control of the putter that day, something that had been eluding him lately. "To know you have your putter with you makes a real difference," he said.

The 5-under-par was especially surprising because Boyce had wandered in and out of the sport for the last three years because of what he termed an "attitude problem."

"I decided that if I didn't have the attitude to play, I wasn't going to play," Boyce stated. The Northville is one of the first tournaments for which Boyce has attempted to qualify since his comeback.

Spotting Boyce on the course will not be too difficult a task, as the pony-tailed, earring-studded, self described "free-spirit," whose community lies just outside of Woodstock, doesn't feature the conservative, clean-cut look of most senior pros. But while he doesn't entirely conform with them, he said that he greatly respects these golf legends, adding that at some point he will have to "take out my autograph book."

Equaling Boyce's mark of 65 was Dan Wood of Winter Springs, Florida. Others, however, whose performances were less dominant, were not quite so sure they were going to make it as they turned in their scorecards. Austin Straub of Cold Spring Harbor was one of these pessimists who, after completing the Red Course, was seeing red.

When it was suggested that his 68 was a competitive score, a disgusted Straub responded, "No it isn't. I bogeyed the last two holes...And there were some in the first nine I should have had."

"I don't anticipate it holding up. Maybe it will be for an alternate spot, but I wasn't going for that," continued Straub, who, like many unestablished pros, mostly attempts to qualify for tournaments which take place in convenient proximity to his hometown.

Little did Straub know that he and four other golfers would end up tying for the third-best score, forcing a playoff after which only two-fifths of the participants would be blissfully bound for Jericho.

After all five players parred the first and second holes, Straub was the first to separate from the pack when he birdied hole three. One hole later, William Thorpe of Danville, Virginia became the final qualifier after birdying.

Still others were disappointed to learn that they would have to look toward another day for the chance at their big break.

For Richard Sasz of Holbrook, his disappointing score of 80 meant it was time to resume focus on his second career as an electrical contractor for a while. Sasz, who has attempted to qualify for Northville for the past four years, acknowledged that a full-time job makes practicing and qualifying very tricky; however, he remains hopeful that he will eventually find success.

"It'd be a nice thing. I'm going to make it by the time I'm 70," said the light-hearted Sasz.

Tad Constant, who was a Tad less fortunate than Tad Boyce, stood around for a while at the scorer's table, with the fleeting hope that he would somehow slip his way in with a 71. His score was particularly frustrating, he said, because he missed good opportunities for birdies several times on the first nine. "We're not talking about 15-footers. We're talking nine-footers. Ones I should be able to make," he said.

By mid-competition, Constant's presence was a constant no more, and he departed, knowing he was eliminated.

Meanwhile, the other Tad was "three feet off the ground," eagerly anticipating his challenging debut at Northville, with visions of Quigley's glory dancing in his head.

Said Boyce, "Every course presents something you have to overcome. Certainly, this course does." And he also knows that just by conquering Bethpage, he has already overcome an obstacle from which very few advance.