Maltbie Picks Up the Check

Roger Maltbie with the winner’s check 40 years later (photo by Ron Green, Jr.) By Ron Green Jr. NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS | For 41 years, Roger Maltbie thought he’d lost the $40,000 check he received for winning the 1975 Pleasant Valley Classic. It made for a great story, a fun-loving Tour pro having a huge night after winning for the second consecutive week only to wake up the next morning in Massachusetts wondering where he’d left his prize money. “Turns out I really didn’t lose it. I just misplaced it for 41 years,” Maltbie said after the original check was returned to him Saturday by Paul Parajeckas, the head pro at Pleasant Valley Country Club. To fully appreciate the story, it’s necessary to go back to where it started – a bar called T.O. Flynn’s not far from Pleasant Valley. That’s where Maltbie went to celebrate two PGA Tour wins in a row – he’d won the Quad Cities Open the week before. He’d made the cut on the number at Pleasant Valley then shot 67-66 on a windy weekend to win. “The next thing I know, I’m coming to the next day and it took a little while before I [...]