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Tom Watson, my main man. I've followed him
since 1974 and remember watching his first tour victory at the Western Open on
an old black and white television set. I saw every one of his eight
major championship wins on the tube, and his U.S. Open triumph at Pebble Beach in 1982
was a classic - I charted every shot he hit that final round, and still have the
notes somewhere. It was great to see him win his last two PGA tournaments,
the 1996 Memorial and 1998 Colonial, it made me feel like a teenager again. I love the way he plays, he's decisive, aggressive, and
confident. And Tom also appreciates the
history of the game.
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Arnold Palmer, the King. My first memory
of watching Arnie play golf was at the 1974 U.S. Open. I saw him in person
the first time when he played an exhibition match at Riverside Country Club in
Portland, Oregon in 1976, when I was 16 years old. I was enthralled.
The last time I saw him in person was at his final British Open at St. Andrews
in 1995. I was there to see him as he stood on the Swilcan Burn bridge on
the 18th hole, being photographed by what seemed like a horde of thousands
before he made his way to the green. I still like watching him because he continues to have a passion for the
game, and wih he could live forever. Back to top
Jack Nicklaus, the best who has ever played the
game. I first saw Jack in person at an exhibition match with Tom Watson in
Seattle, Washington in 1981. The man compiled the most impressive record
in golf history, with 18 professional major championships and two U.S. Amateur
titles. I also saw him at St. Andrews in '90,
the 1995 Senior U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club outside of
Washington, D.C., and the 2003 Jeld-Wen Tradition at the Reserve Golf
Club in my home town of Aloha, Oregon, which was his last top-10 finish
in a major. His 1975 Masters win was the first I watched on T.V. And his
win in the 1980 U.S. Open and 1986 Masters were unreal, I have the latter
on videotape. I'm glad I saw him win, since I was too young to see Hogan or
Jones play. I always loved watching him play with Arnold, especially
practice rounds at St. Andrews I was privileged enough to witness.
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Gary Player, a great guy. On the Champions
Tour he engages the gallery in conversation and has some fun. Last summer I followed him at
the Jeld-Wen Tradition in Oregon, and after hitting a great pitch from a bad lie in the
rough around the green, he passed by me and asked "What would you have done with
that shot?" "Either skulled it over the green or chunked it," I replied,
and he just smiled. In a practice round, while waiting on the tee, he let
two youngsters inside the ropes and gave then a lesson while they swung his
clubs. "Keep practicing and you'll be great players boys," he told them.
I'm sure those boys will remember that day for a long time to come. I remember him winning the 1978 Masters at the age of
42 with a final round of 64 and a 30 on the back side. I was a senior in high school and it is one
of my lasting memories of the game, because I was watching history being made -
it was seventeen years after first victory at Augusta.
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Lee Trevino, a great golfer and entertainer.
I loved watching him hit low shots into the sky - a great ball striker. Him winning
the PGA in 1984 at the age of 44 was fun to watch on T.V., ten years after
I saw him capture his first victory in that tourney, when Sam Snead finished
third at the age of 62! I was pulling for Sam, but when Lee won I felt the
title went to another true champion.
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Bobby Jones, a true legend. A man who was
a weekend golfer really, but when he played it was magic. When stricken
with a debilitating disease at a relatively young age, he told a friend that "We
must play the ball as it lies" when explaining his outlook on life.
To read more about Jones and his first major tournament victory in the 1923 U.S.
Open, click here.
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Ben Hogan, the way he could hit the ball!
I saw him in a "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf" program with Sam Snead and if he
could have putted like Ben Crenshaw he would have won twice as many tournaments. Almost killed in a car crash in 1949,
Hogan came back to win the U.S. Open the next
year. He had guts.
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Sam Snead, a wonder. Shot under his age on
the PGA Tour in 1979, when he carded a 66 at the Quad Cities Open. I saw him
play in an exhibition in Portland in 1977; he shot 69 with a 32 on the back
side, at the age of 65. Then, in 1986 at Peter Jacobsen's old Fred Meyer
Challenge at the Portland Golf Club, Sam and Chi Chi Rodriquez played exhibition
rounds before play began each day. He was a little less precise at age 74
but still hit shots everyone in the gallery was envious of. I consider myself blessed to have seen him in the
flesh.
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Tiger Woods, amazing. He may be the best
that ever played before he is done. I love his tenacity,
but I'm also glad to see he has been humbled a bit in the last couple years. No
great player has ever gone through a career without some down time. I like Tiger
because he wants to win every time he tees it up and has a killer instinct that great
players like Davis Love and Phil Mickelson seem to lack.
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Vijay Singh, another great player who proves
that hard work pays off. I saw him first at the 1990 British Open, when he was
playing a practice round with Lee Trevino. He seemed to me a regular
nameless pro, like a lot of guys you've never hear of before. Fifteen years
later he is one of the top five players in the world. In June 2005 I saw
Vijay again in person at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, D.C.
It was a practice round and I got his autograph. As he signed I told him I
saw him first at St. Andrews in '90. He looked at me as if to say "Do you
really think I care?" and said, "Uh, huh,"
obviously impressed with my comment. I thought that was pretty amusing.
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Charlie Sifford, a man who persevered
through discrimination and prejudice to play the game at its highest level.
I have only seen him play on T.V. a few times, but when I saw his speech last
year when he entered the World Golf Hall of Fame, I was really impressed.
His words were heartfelt and true, and I have so much respect for him. To play the game on an equal footing
with white society was a hard fought struggle. Tiger Woods and others like
him stand on the shoulders of men like Ted Rhodes,
Bill Spiller,
Charlie Sifford, and women like Althea Gibson and
Renee Powell. These men and women were pioneers, and had to deal with extreme
prejudice (including threats of bodily harm) just to play the game. Golf is a great game, but its
governing bodies were no more enlightened than the rest of the country
in the first part of the 20th century in the way they treated
minorities. The PGA of America had a "Caucasian only" clause
in its by-laws until 1961 - something it should always be ashamed of. And to think that sixty-five years
earlier,
John Shippen, an African-American, finished 5th in the 1896 U.S.
Open. For a good book on the history of this subject, read Pete
McDaniel's
Uneven Lies: The Heroic Story of African-Americans in Golf.
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Annika Sorenstam,
who I consider the greatest female player of all-time. Her swing is
machine-like and when I watch her I think this must have been what it was like
to watch Ben Hogan play. She is tremendously dedicated to the game, and
may very well break Kathy Whitworth's record (she won an incredible 88 times and
I saw a few of those at the end of her career) for most wins before she is done.
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Joanne Carner, I loved watching "Big
Momma" play, she won 43 times and was a real character. Judy Rankin,
who won 26 times and was the first woman to make $100,000 in a year (1976), I
enjoy her work now as a broadcaster for ABC. Donna Caponi, who won
24 times, including the 1969 and 1970 Women's U.S. Open, and is now a very good
broadcaster for the Golf Channel. I wish I could have seen Mickey
Wright play, and of course Babe Zaharias and Patty Berg, but
like a lot of great players, I can only read about them and see them on film.
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One of the most insightful quotes I have come
across regarding playing the game well, is from
Bob Ferguson, who won the British Open three years in
succession (1880-1882). He said: “Nerve,
enthusiasm, and practice are the three essentials to golf. But to be great
requires the gift.” I love that, to be great requires the gift.
The best of the best, Tiger Woods and all who came before him and all who will
follow, have been blessed with this gift of greatness.
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World Golf
Hall of Fame - Members
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50 All-Time Greatest
Players
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Courses
Pebble Beach. I started watching the old
Crosby tournament when I was in high school, and read a book about it called The
Crosby: The Greatest Show in Golf. What a beautiful place.
My dream would be to play it someday, even though it does cost about $500
currently. To learn more about Pebble,
click here.
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The Old Course at St. Andrews. The Mecca
of Golf, I've attended two British Opens there, in 1990 and 1995. I love
the game, I love history, it is heaven for me and I can feel the spirits of the
immortals of the game when I'm there. As with Pebble, I hope to play there
someday before I die.
Robert
Clark wrote about people from this area (Fife, Scotland) in his book Golf: A
Royal and Ancient Game, published in 1875.
“Here we breathe an atmosphere of pure golf; in
which no living thing that does not play golf, or talk golf, or think golf, or
at least, thoroughly knock under golf, can live.” For more on St. Andrews,
go to my "Photo Gallery" section or
click here.
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Vernonia Golf Club, Vernonia, Oregon.
Never heard of it? When I was a kid it was a nine hole, 2,800 yard fun
little course, amidst pine trees and hard by the Nehalem River, halfway between
Portland and the Oregon Coast. I loved that place, I can still smell the
pine needles and feel the breeze at my back. I broke 80 for the first time
in a tournament there in 1977, when I was a junior in high school. Shot
36-41 and was in hog heaven. Did I really do that? Quiet
countryside, no houses, turf in spots like you find on links land, firm and
sandy. The 3rd green tilted about 35 degrees from back to front and downhill
putts would roll off the green. Had a lot of fun on that course, and my memories live on inside
me.
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Oakhurst
Golf Links, White Sulphur
Springs, West Virginia.
Never heard of this course either? If you ever wondered what it was like
to play golf a hundred years ago with hickory shaft clubs and the old
gutta percha ball, this is the place to go. Take a step back into
time by
clicking here.
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Books
Reminiscences of Golf at St. Andrews Links, by James Balfour (reprint of
1887 edition). A very nice little book that recounts how the Old Course looked
in the mid-1800's, along with a discussion of some of the famous players,
equipment, and ball makers of the time. I took this book with me to the
Open championship in 1990 and 1995, and was fortunate enough to have it signed
by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Arnold Palmer.
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Scotland's Gift: Golf by Charles Blair
Macdonald (1928). Macdonald was the first man to win the U.S. Amateur
championship in 1895, and was also a noted golf course architect. He also
played golf with the likes of Young Tom Morris when he was a young student in
Scotland in the 1870's, and talks about that era with grand style.
The Story of American Golf by Herbert Warren
Wind (1975 edition). Wind made the people and events come alive for me, I
felt as if I was actually there as he told his story of golf's past.
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Gettin' to the Dance Floor: An Oral History
of American Golf by Al Barkow (1986). This is a great book with a lot
of wonderful stories from players who made golf what it is today, told in their
own words. A very interesting read.
The Scrapbook of Old Tom Morris by David
Joy (2001). David Joy is a performer who does a one-man show based on the
life of Tom Morris. This fantastic composite of old news clippings and
photos has the look of a real scrapbook, and covers the life of Old Tom and golf
at St. Andrews in the 19th century (including Allan Robertson). There are many articles and images I
had never seen before, and looking at the facsimiles of original articles made
me feel like I was reading the morning newspaper 150 years ago. A wealth
of information is contained in these pages.
Ben Hogan: The Man Behind the Mystique
by Martin Davis (2002). Hogan is one of my idols in the game,
knowing where he came from - seeing his father commit suicide when he was a boy,
finding success in golf only after practicing until he hands literally bled,
then almost dying in a car crash when he was 36 years old. This is a
beautiful book that chronicles Hogan's career with wonderful photographs
that were new to me
the first time I read the book, and a touching and insightful
introduction by his wife, Valerie. It also includes two separate foldouts
of Hogan's swing, a special section on his great year of 1953, and his complete
tournament record from 1932-71. If you like golf history, this is one of
the best books you could ever hope to own.
Hogan by Curt Sampson (1996). The
best biography of Hogan written to date, and one that sheds new light on this
most intriguing man. Read this and Afternoons with Mr. Hogan by
Jody Vasquez (2004) and you will be well served in knowing as much about Hogan
the man as is possible.
The Greatest Game Ever
Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf by Mark
Frost (2002). One of the best books on golf I have ever read. Like
Herbert Warren Wind, Frost brings the reader back through time and into the scenes he
describes. Frost's description of Harry Vardon's early life and later battle
with tuberculosis is a part of his life nobody had ever explained to me so well.
Golf in the Kingdom
by Michael Murphy (1972) and The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven
Pressfield (1995) are two fictional works that take a mystical look at the game,
and you will probably either love them or just not "get" them. In Murphy's
book, the main character Shivas Irons
demonstrates how the swing reflects the soul, and takes us on a very interesting
journey around the golf course. In Pressfield's book, the main character
Junah plays a match against Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen and is haunted by his
past and own inner golf demons, but is saved by his caddie Bagger Vance, who
helps him find his "Authentic Swing" - which is, of course, a metaphor for
self-discovery. (The book is MUCH better than the movie was, trust me.)
The Bobby Jones Story: From the Writings of
O.B. Keeler by Grantland Rice (1956). Of the biographies on
Bobby Jones I've read, this is still my favorite, because it seems to get closer
to its subject since Keeler was a good friend of Jones's and followed his career
from its beginning. Of course, Down the Fairway, written by Jones
in 1927, is an excellent autobiography of the first twenty-five years of his
life.
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Bobby: The
Life and Times of Bobby Jones by Sidney Matthew (2005).
This is a wonderful book for those interested in a photographic journal
of Jones' life. Many images are rare and this book is a treat to
read. Jones' career record is also recorded, which, as strange as
it may sound, is hard to come by in one book, as most focus only on his
major championships. Matthew has done a great job capturing the
man and the player and all I can say is that in my 30 years of golf and
research into golf's history, you won't find a better single volume that
graphically portrays Jones. His return to St. Andrews in 1936 is
particularly poignant.
Golf Anecdotes by Robert Sommers (1995).
A great anthology of golf's history, with funny and sad stories that will
entertain and enlighten. A very enjoyable and easy read.
Golf: The Greatest Game by the United
States Golf Association (1994). This coffee table book was published for
the 100th anniversary of the founding of the USGA and contains beautiful photos
to accompany its text. It takes us from the beginnings of golf in America
to the age of Tiger Woods, and is well done.
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The Golf Handbook: The Complete Guide to the
Greatest Game by Vivien Sanders (1989). This book, written by the
first winner of the British Women's Open in 1977, is great because it covers
every aspect of the game and is a wonderful reference guide for the beginner, or
any golfer who wants an overview of the game in one volume. In brief
sections, she covers things like the history of the game, famous players,
strategy, technique, wind/weather, positive thinking, exercise, handicapping,
and the rules.
Bibliography of Golf
Books
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For those interested in a
purchasing a good book for beginning
golfers that I contributed to,
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etiquette and rules, choosing the right golf equipment (and how to care for it),
the fundamentals of the golf swing and short game, how to practice, and how to
play the game and “manage” the golf course. It also includes helpful tips, a
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Golf History
I have enjoyed studying the history of the game
since I began playing it (which makes sense, since I am also employed as an
archivist, so I deal with history and old stuff everyday -
click here to see my
professional résumé). You can look at my bibliography of books (above)
for an idea of the scope of my interests. I have collected books on the
game since I was 14, and I'm also getting into
collecting old clubs and balls. So far my prize possession is a circa
1910 Brown-Vardon putter made by William Gibson, from Edinburgh,
Scotland. My father gave it to me almost thirty years ago, when he found
it abandoned in a home the construction company he worked for was remodeling.
I hope to have a nice collection of 19th century equipment and ephemera before I
am through. I also make my own clubs from
component companies such as Golf Works and Golfsmith, which is fun and very
economical.
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I enjoy looking back at
golf's past. Consider Tobias Smollet, who wrote a book
called Humphry Clinker in 1771. In it he described golfers he encountered in Edinburgh, just north of
St. Andrews, who "....divert themselves at a game called Golf, in which they use a
curious kind of bats tipt [sic] with horn, and small elastic balls of leather
stuffed with feathers, rather less than tennis-balls, but of much harder
consistence. This that they will fly an incredible distance. Of this diversion
the Scotch are so fond, that, when the weather will permit, you may see a
multitude of all ranks, from the senator of justice to the lowest tradesman,
mingled together in their shirts, and following the balls with the utmost
eagerness."
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For more on golf history, go to my "Golf Links"
section or
click here.
If you have a specific question regarding the game's history, please send me an
e-mail and I'll
get back to you promptly.
Stories, Jokes, and
Anecdotes
- For those who label themselves golf enthusiasts, consider
one Alexander M’Kellar, who was
known as the “Cock o’ the Green.” M’Kellar was a tavern owner in
Edinburgh, Scotland, in the late 1700s, but his wife ran the business
while he played golf. “When the weather would permit he generally spent
the whole day on Bruntsfeld Links; and he was frequently to be found engaged at
the ‘short holes’ by lamp light [after sunset].....his almost insane
devotion to golf was a matter of much amusement to his acquaintances.” This
original golf nut, who was so devoted to the game that his wife would often
bring his dinner to him on the course, died around 1813.
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-
How to Line Up Your 4th Putt
by Bobby Rusher -
click here to read more.
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- "Golf is 20% mechanics and technique.
The other 80% is philosophy, humor, tragedy, romance, melodrama, companionship,
cussedness, and conversation." - Grantland Rice (taken from a
golf mug my sister gave me - a great description, don't you think?)
- Another pretty apt description of the game is
attributed to Winston Churchill: "Golf is an ineffectual endeavor to put an
insignificant pellet into an obscure hole with entirely inadequate weapons."
- Here's an old joke I still think get a kick
out of it:
A guy gets home from a day on the course and his wife asks him how his game went.
"It was a bad day. Harry died of a heart attack on the 5th hole," he says.
"That's terrible," says his wife. "You're telling me! All day it was
hit the ball, drag Harry, hit the ball, drag Harry."
- Another joke, courtesy of Golf Digest:
"What's the difference between an anniversary present and a golf ball?
Guys will happily spend five minutes looking for a golf ball." For
some of "Murphy's Laws of Golf,"
click here.
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- For those of you who have a bad day on the golf course
and shoot a huge number, take heart. Meet
Angelo Spagnolo, who was "winner" of
Golf Digest's Worst Avid Golfer, with a score of 257 for 18 holes.
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- Even golfing icons are human. Old Tom Morris,
winner of four British Opens back in the 1860's, shot 107 in the first round of
the 1895 Open, at the age of 74. And Billy Casper, a man who won 51
PGA tour titles, including two U.S. Opens and a Masters, had a 106 at the 2005
Masters before withdrawing from the competition.
I admired how he kept his sense of humor after such a
debacle. Said the 73-year old Casper: "I got this thing figured out along about dark. If I aim for the trees, it goes on the fairway. If I aim for the
fairway, it goes in the trees." He’s a human being like the rest of us, and there is
some comfort in that, because we have all had days like he did, when disaster
strikes. When asked if he
had thought about quitting at any point, he said "None whatsoever. I came here
to play. I had to get it out of my system and I got it out of my system. I did
it for my own satisfaction. And for my family and my friends." What
about the
card from his round? With good humor he said, "I'm going to frame it."
I have to admire him for that.
-
"Golf Truisms" - a PowerPoint show a nice guy from Canada sent me recently
after seeing this website. I like it.
- The
all-time grand prize for infamy goes to one Chevalier von Cittern, who on a course in
Biarritz, France in 1888, shot a cool 316 for a round.
- Tommy Armour, who won the
U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA championships, and is in the World Golf Hall of Fame,
hit 10 drives out of bounds on a hole and took a 22 in the 1927 Shawnee Open.
John Daly made an 18 at the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational. So we are not
alone in our misery when it come to the game of golf.
- When you think I'm joking about golf being a game of a
lifetime, consider George Smith, who at age 90 shot a 75 at the Cypress Lake
Golf Club in Fort Myers, Florida in 1988.
- In an article titled "The Psychology of Golf," which
appeared in The North American Review in 1897, Dr. Louis Robinson
described a golfer new to the game practicing his swing with no great success:
“At length - usually when his
humiliation is complete - by a lucky chance he makes an effective stroke, and
the ball springs away from his clubhead like a thing of life and flies an
incredible distance. It was the one thing needed to weld the fetters of golf
slavery. He goes home with blistered hands and aching shoulders, and before he
sleeps he has re-struck that miraculous stroke a hundred times. Next morning
finds him again upon the links….He buys sundry handbooks on golf and spends a
small fortune in lessons from the club professional. All his thoughts and
conversation are saturated with golf, and his friends sum up his condition by
saying that he has 'got it badly.'” The moral to this story - the
more things change, the more they stay the same! This could be a
description from 2006, not 1897.
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