Catonsville resident Rick Sovero broke the Rolling Road Golf Club course record when he shot a nine-under par 61 on July 12.
Sovero, who has won the Rolling Road Club championship 10 times, set the record playing with George Blythe, Andy Pataki, Fred Kawa, John Sounder and Dan Ordakowski.
The previous record of 62 was held jointly by Rolling Road Golf Professional Bill Bassler Jr., set in 1985, and Carol McMaster, in 1939.
Sovero's previous low score at the club was a six-under par 64.
This time, he made nine birdies and nine pars, but didn't catch fire until the back nine when he birdied five of the final six holes.
He made a 4-foot putt on the 18th hole after holing several birdie putts on the previous holes.
"Most of the putts were 15-to-20-feet long," said Sovero, who only had 23 putts in the round. "The greens were definitely rolling smooth and my putter was extremely hot."
He said he got some advice from his son, Andrew, earlier in the week to aid his putting stroke.
"My son gave me a putting lesson on Monday and he fixed my form that day," said Sovero, whose son will swim for the University of Arizona this fall as a freshman.
As he got closer to the historic mark, most of his playing partners stayed mum.
"The secret is like when a guy is pitching a no-hitter," Sovero said. "You don't say anything to them."
Pataki let everyone know his buddy tied the course record before his tee shot on 18, but that didn't deter him.
"It was fun," said Sovero, who had never finished nine-under par on any course in his playing career. "I wasn't very nervous on 18 because I knew I was going to tie it."
