van der Velde

Chris van der Velde had almost forgotten how much gear he could stuff in those massive staff golf bags commonly used on professional tours.

Then the 50-year-old managing partner of Bend’s Tetherow Golf Club began to load his bag with rain gear in preparation to play in the Dutch Senior Open, an annual stop on Europe’s 50-and-over European Senior Tour.

The room in his bag seemed almost endless.

“It’s kind of wild how much you can fit in one,” Van der Velde says with a laugh.

It has been a while since van der Velde — who played on the European Tour off and on from 1989 through 1998 — last played an event on a major professional golf tour.

His streak ends Friday, when he is scheduled to tee off at The International in Amsterdam for the Dutch Senior Open, a 54-hole event on Europe’s equivalent to the Champions Tour that features such European stars as former British Open champion Ian Woosnam. (Van der Velde, a dual national of Holland and the U.S., received a sponsor’s invitation to play in the event.)

But van der Velde, who rarely plays competitive golf at any level, is trying to keep his expectations in check.

“I’m just trying to remind myself that golf is a game, and this is not my full-time job,” says van der Velde, who is well known in Holland golf circles as both a player and a longtime coach for the Dutch Golf Federation. “It’s just a different mindset (from playing on a tour full time) and I am trying to keep myself relaxed. I play my best golf when I’m having fun and relaxed.”

When van der Velde does play, he often plays well. Last month he qualified for November’s Senior PGA Professional National Championship after he finished in third place at the Pacific Northwest Section Senior Championship at Tetherow.

Van der Velde says the Dutch Senior Open is preparation for the Senior PNC, which comes with a chance to qualify for the 2015 Senior PGA Championship.

“I DO want to do well at the national club pro in Florida and play in the major,” van der Velde says.

It turns out that the competitive fire of an old tour pro always burns bright.

Despite having two replaced knees, chronically sore elbows, family responsibilities and a golf course to run, he has not dismissed the idea of playing even more if things go well this weekend.

“It does intrigue me,” he says. “I’ve got very serious business at Tetherow and I’ve got three kids and a wife, so it’s hard to think about how much I am going to …”

Van der Velde then stops himself midsentence, aware that he is getting ahead of himself, and adds: “Let’s get to that next level first and then we’ll figure it out.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7868, zhall@bendbulletin.com.