For Cary's Mitch Adams, having a "senior moment" isn't just absentmindedly forgetting a lunch date or driving past his I-40 exit.

This year, it has been sharing a practice range and hitting balls with the likes of Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and Curtis Strange. It was being paired in a tournament with Fuzzy Zoeller. It has been constantly reminding himself that, yes, he is living out his dream by playing on the Champions Tour.

Last week, another senior moment was competing for the first time in a senior major -- the Senior PGA Championship on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C. Adams survived the cut and tied for 52nd along with Watson and Peter Jacobsen.

"It's something. I mean, I'm out here with guys I've watched play golf my whole life," Adams said.

'Wow factor'

So there is a "wow factor" involved, even at age 50?

"Yeah, sure," he said. "I can't say I haven't felt the nerves. But I have tried to keep it real. I keep telling myself they put their pants on just like I do."

Life on the tour for the 50-and-older set is much easier for an Irwin or Zoeller, of course. They're totally exempt on the Champions Tour after successful years -- and major championships won -- on the PGA Tour. They can play in every seniors event, if they choose. They're pampered.

Not so with Adams. After years of amateur golf, after being a regular at Cary's Prestonwood Country Club, he decided to turn professional, intent on giving the Champions Tour a try.

Adams played on the Sunbelt, Atlantic Coast and Tarheel mini-tours for two years. He honed his game while also wooing some financial backers. He was ready.

Then, he pulled it off. Adams survived both stages of Champions Tour qualifying last year, finishing 13th in the final Q-School, where the top 30 finishers earned playing rights for 2007.

"My wife and friends were all celebrating, but I told them, 'You do realize I may not play a single tournament next year,' " Adams said, laughing.

Getting a tour card didn't mean gaining exempt status on the tour. It earned Adams the right to play in 18-hole qualifiers before Champions Tour events -- the "tournament before the tournament."

Often, it's 65 to 70 guys playing for seven to nine spots in the field.

"They've made it all but impossible for guys like Mitch," said Vance Heafner, the director of golf at Prestonwood and a former PGA Tour pro. "To be exempt next year, you have to be in the top 30 money winners this year. There's no chance of qualifiers doing that."

Heafner noted Mark McNulty was 30th on the 2006 Champions Tour money list with $646,000. The math, he said, works against Adams and the other qualifiers.

"Let's say you qualify for 10 events. That's tough enough," he said. "Then you have to average more than $60,000 an event? I've had tour people tell me the chance of a qualifier getting exempt status is a million to one."

That's fine with Adams. He just wants to play. To try.

A native of Martinsville, Va., he was on his high school golf team but went to Barton College -- then Atlantic Christian -- in 1975 on a basketball scholarship. Quickly realizing there were better guards on the team, he soon shifted his efforts to trying out and making the golf squad.

"I fell in love with golf," he said.

After college, Adams became a club professional at Gates Four Golf and Country Club in Fayetteville and competed in various Carolinas PGA Section events. He left after six years to work for Izod, traveling to golf clubs in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and around North Carolina and settling with his wife, Gail, in Cary.

Adams also regained his amateur status from the U.S. Golf Association. He became a regular in Carolinas Golf Association events, winning the 2000 N.C. Mid-Amateur for players 30 and older.

"I've played many times with Mitch and he's a very good player," said Heafner, who has competed in a few Champions Tour events. "He drives it good. He's good with his iron shots.

"But Mitch probably would be the first to say he's an average putter. That's what separates the guys out there on the tour."

Played in three events

Adams has made it through Champions Tour qualifiers three times. He tied for 50th in the Turtle Bay event in Hawaii, then was 51st in the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.

"Played with Fuzzy Zoeller the last day at Boca Raton," Adams said. "He's the ultimate showman, and it was quite an experience. He was great to me, complimenting me, urging me on."

But Adams didn't play again until qualifying for the Regions Charity event two weeks ago in Birmingham, Ala. His 1-under 215 total was his best, tying for 37th, as was his check for $8,800.

Total winnings of $17,033 made Adams the second alternate for the Senior PGA. A few withdrawals later, he was in the field.

"It's been exciting this year," he said. "I'm not crazy about all the travel, but you've got to do what you've got to do.

"This has been my dream. I'm finally here."

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