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October 29, 2004/Cheshvan 14 5765, Vol. 57, No. 9
Local qualifies for golf team
STEPHANIE N. HENSCHEL
Staff Writer
The 17th World Maccabiah Games are quickly approach-ing and Neil Ginsberg is busy preparing.
Ginsberg, 45, qualified with a third-place win for the U.S. Maccabiah Golf Team in the open division. He will be one of eight players on the team that travels to Israel for the Games in July 2005.
This isn't the first time the Paradise Valley resident has gone for the gold. In 1996, he competed on the U.S. Golf Team at the Pan-American Games. He won the gold at that event, then went on to play at the World Games in 1997. The team earned a bronze that year, and Ginsberg came in fifth overall.
"This time, I hope to at least (receive a) medal," he says.
Ginsberg called the tryouts, held near Pinehurst, N.C., in August, "intense." Having just welcomed his third child with his wife Sherri into the world, he wasn't at the top of his game.
"I was leading into the third round and I just couldn't hold on to it," Ginsberg says.
But, overall, the experience was a good one.
"The camaraderie that you experience is unusual, because golf isn't usually a team sport," he explains.
And representing the United States in Israel is "fantastic."
"It's a very exciting experience when you're playing against 20 or 30 other countries," Ginsberg says. "The experience when you walk into the huge stadium in Israel is just fantastic."
Ginsberg was the ripe age of 13 when he picked up golf and found it came easy to him. At 14, he decided he wanted to be a professional golfer.
"I tried it for a year about 22 years ago and decided it wasn't for me," he says with a chuckle.
Instead, Ginsberg, a member of Temple Solel, entered the world of real estate. Today, he is CEO of Pinnacle Diversified LLC.
The Maccabiah Games, sometimes referred to as the Jewish Olympics, began its long history in 1932. Fourteen nations and 390 athletes competed at that event. The third year's games were postponed due to world events and did not resume until 1950. The Games is an opportunity for all of the Jewish community to gather and compete in an inter-nationally recognized sporting event.
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