Jeff Flax (third from left) with U.S. Masters Golf Team.
An article in the July 18 issue of Jewish News reported on local attorney Jeffrey Flax’s qualifying for the Masters Golf Division at the Maccabi Games in Israel. Flax returned from the competition with great news: an individual Bronze win on the U.S. Masters Golf Team and a team win that brought home the Gold. Jewish News caught up with him to get a feel for how victory tastes.
Jewish News: What was the best part of the overall experience?
Jeff Flax: Hard to pinpoint one particular thing that was the most fun. The opening ceremonies were spectacular and marching in with all of the other Jewish athletes of all ages was exciting. Also, getting to really know my Masters Golf teammates and meeting other Jewish golfers from around the world was great fun.
Being able to experience Maccabi and Israel with my family was very meaningful.
JN: What was the biggest challenge of all the rounds you played: a particular hole, the weather, the other teams, etc.?
JF: The golf course was in great condition, but very difficult. The greens were quite small with runoff areas that required a lot of precision on your approach shots and the heat over four to five days was a real factor to deal with.
JN: What were your scores?
JF: Scores for me were 73, 71, 78, and 78. The team competition counted three out of five scores each day (the sixth player only competed in the individual competition), so my first two counted toward the team Gold, and the other guys had better scores the last two days which helped us win the team Gold.
JN: When the results were announced, how did you celebrate?
JF: We knew about halfway through the last round that we had a comfortable lead in the team competition over Australia, which finished second. We all celebrated at the medal ceremony that evening. My wife, Mona, came in to Caesarea from Tel Aviv to celebrate with me at the ceremony. My boys had already left the country at that point.
JN: What does this victory mean to you?
JF: It was very satisfying to meet our team goal of Gold and I was pleased to play well enough to medal individually and to represent the U.S. and our Jewish community, as well.
JN: Do you have plans to return in another four years? If so, will you change anything in your practice or your preparation?
JF: No plans yet to return. I’ll be older and will probably have to try for the Grand Masters level. We’ll wait to see on that.
JN: Other comments?
JF: The whole experience of participating in the games was great. Seeing and being around the younger Jewish athletes who were so excited and motivated was really inspirational and gives me great optimism about our Jewish youth and their connection to Israel.