Monday, June 14, 2010

BloggeRhythms 6/14/2010

This is the week of the U.S. Golf Open Championship. It's being played at Pebble Beach Golf Course in Monterey California and starts Thursday. To me, it's the second most important event of the PGA's year, the first being the Master's at Augusta.

The first U.S. Open round I attended personally was in 1959. The course was Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY. Although I saw practically every player at some time or other during a very long day, including Billy Casper, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Bob Rosburg, Cary Middlecoff, Gene Littler, Dow Finsterwald, Jack Fleck, Don January and Art Wall, I really went to see only one -Arnold Palmer.

I became an Arnie fan while he was still an amateur at Wake Forest University on a golf scholarship, and was very familiar with his story. Born in Latrobe,PA he learned the game from his father, Deacon, head professional and greens-keeper at Latrobe Country Club. He left Wake Forest after the death of his closest friend Bud Worsham, and enlisted in the Coast Guard. He won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 1954, turned pro and won the Canadian Open in 1955.

Arnie's game coupled with his charisma is credited as the spark that ignited the PGA Tour which grew to become one of the most popular and lucrative aspects of professional sports, particularly through television. He's also thought to have secured the status of the British Open, now a prestigious member of professional golf's four "majors," along with the Master's, U.S. Open and the PGA Tournament.

I won't mention the name of another golfer known today, because it doesn't belong on the same page as Arnie's, but that self-serving weasel lowlife has accrued almost a billion dollars from the sport that Palmer put on the map. But to give you an idea of what Arnie began with, the winner of the 1959 Open I attended, Billy Casper, won $12,000. Arnie finished tied for 5th and took home $2,100.

There are many differences in almost all aspects of professional golf tournaments today, the most significant to me being the size of the crowds. I learned early on that even way back then, trying to walk along with a particular player is quite difficult to do. Crowds generally form at the tees and greens, so even if you manage to keep pace with the strides of PGA players, you have to worm or bull your way through all those others at each spot and consequently, the more popular your player, the less chance of glimpsing their shots.

And, speaking of walking. I don't think you can get any idea from watching TV exactly how fast these pros "walk." But even at eighteen and in very good shape from all the sports I played myself, trying to keep up with a guy like Arnie, who smoked tee to green to boot, I often had to lope or trot.

Yet, above it all and with a particular exception or two, I believe pro golf is still closer to its fans than any other sport. Aside from anything else, it's not played in a stadium, arena or closed space so the player's and fans walk the same ground around the tees and greens. Fairways of course, and tees and greens themselves are roped off and kept pristine.

Then, there are the practice tees and greens. Here, before their tee times, players practice their shots and at almost all golf courses fans can stay a reasonable distance away, but watch whomever they want. And it's there that most pro's though concentrating on their games will often talk to the fans. And, even today, they'll autograph fans items with a smile. That's one of the reasons, for example, that there isn't a real golf fan in the world right now who doesn't love Freddy Couples.

But now, back to Arnie. So in 1959 there I was at Winged Foot hanging around the practice tee and green, waiting for Arnie to arrive and watching many others. Then he got there and I watched him practice but never got really close. After that I saw his first tee shot, then moved on as best I could around the course, seeing shots and putts here and there. Frankly, I'd have seen all of his game had I stayed in the clubhouse and watched one of the screens, but it's not the same.

The amazing part, though, was when his round was over. After he'd finished for the day, handed in his scorecard and stepped outside the scorer's tent, there was a sizable crowd of waiting fans. Arnie started smiling, shaking hands and taking whatever he was given to sign and signed each and every one. There was no hurry, no pushing or shoving, just a polite, personable guy whom everybody immediately understood would get around to everyone before he left, however long it took.

As for me, I gave him a large score-sheet to sign. That sheet held the name of every player, many of whom I'd stood close to that day. But, I only wanted one signature and that's what I got. It still hangs today in a frame over my desk as I type here, a score-sheet from Winged Foot golf course, Saturday, June 13, 1959, and one broad signature on it's top left-hand corner -Arnold Palmer.

That's it for today folks.

Adios

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