Once, while playing golf with Greg Sanders, he made a surprising admission. I had just finished telling him I heard Rob Nelson was considering returning to amateur golf.

“If he does, I’ll never win anything again,” Sanders said.

Whether he was just being humble or being a realist resigned to his fate, you can be the judge. A sports psychologist might say Sanders’ lack of belief in himself is the reason he will never beat Nelson. A cynic might say he just isn’t good enough and he knows it.

The last documented match between Sanders and Nelson was two summers ago and Nelson barely won the match. As my experience in match play grows, however, I keep learning that margin of victory is not the best way to judge a match. Therefore, it is difficult to judge exactly how close Sanders was to winning.

What I remember about Nelson’s description of the match is that Sanders missed a short putt on the 14th hole at Palmer Golf Course. It was a nervy stroke perhaps and gave Nelson all the window he needed to glide to victory. Again, you be the judge of what that means.

Sanders has won seven or eight State Ams and four or five state match plays. I could look up the number, but I’m tired of doing so every year, as he seems to keep adding titles. You get the point. Sanders is dominant on the Alaskan amateur scene. He is also ranked among the top 50 senior golfers in the world, due to his performance in tournaments throughout the Lower 48 in the winter time.

Those are reasons enough to make him a solid No. 2 with no immediate risk of falling to No. 3 anytime soon. Of course, if Dave Hamilton feels like challenging Sanders to a match sometime this summer, there may be a chance for change. We’ll see if we can arrange it.