Fuzzy Zoeller and the 1974 Q-School
Inside the 1974 Q-School with Zoeller, Maltbie, and Hoyt
The PGA TOUR is back in school with the playing of the PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry at the TPC Sawgrass courses. It’s the first time in a decade where PGA TOUR cards are up for grabs. The top five finishers, and ties, will earn their cards for the 2024 season.
We’re turning back the clock to 1974 and tell the vastly different stories of three of the players in the field. Scroll down to read.
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Joel Dahman at the end. 😊
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This week’s Vintage Ad features a great Christmas gift for the golf lover in 1974. Scroll down to see.
Check out the relaxed swing of Fuzzy Zoeller in this week’s Swing Like a Pro feature. Scroll down to view.
Rock out to the songs of 1974 in this week’s Spotify playlist. Listen HERE.
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Larry Baush
The Tale of Three Players in the 1974 PGA TOUR Q-School
It is the first week of November 1974, and players who have survived the regionals of the PGA TOUR Qualifying School prepare themselves for the crucible that is the final stage. The final stage of what is colloquially dubbed Q-School is a 144-hole test of endurance, shot making, and most of all, mental toughness. Q-Schools attracted a field of big-time amateur golfers turning pro, mini-tour players, local heroes, and outright dreamers. This is the story of three of the players in the field in 1974 and how they navigated the test that is Q-School.
The first 72 holes of the final stage would be conducted over the Silverado Country Club in Napa, CA, and Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs, CA would be the site of the final 72 holes.
Ron Hoyt, of Visalia, survived the regional that was played at Rancho Canada Golf Course in Carmel, CA, to advance to the final stage. Hoyt qualified for the PGA TOUR in 1973 after finishing 16th in Q-School but did not earn enough money to get inside the top-60 money winners, so it was back to Q-School in 1974.
“If you miss out, you don’t just wait a week or two, you have to wait a full year to try again.”
Hoyt felt that his experience on tour gave him an advantage at Rancho Canada and he was counting on that advantage in the final stage, although he realized that one very bad round could destroy his chances.
“I have played in at least a dozen regular PGA tournaments, plus some mini-tour and satellite tourneys and I am convinced that the tour school is the toughest pressure test in golfdom,” Hoyt told Bruce Farris, the golf writer for the Fresno Bee. “If you miss out, you don’t just wait a week or two, you have to wait a full year to try again.”
Fuzzy Zoeller made it through the mid-west regional qualifier and was headed to Silverado with a mindset of getting his PGA card and not with the idea of winning the tournament. He had missed getting a card in 1973, his first attempt that saw him unable to move on from the mid-west regional held at Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, NC.
Roger Maltbie of San Jose, CA, failed to make it through the preliminary stage of the 1973 Q-School, but was determined to get his card in 1974 and this time, he succeeded in getting to the final stage. He would have his high school teammate, Frank Pieper, on his bag as a caddie.
These three players, along with 75 others, nurtured dreams of earning a coveted PGA TOUR card giving them playing privileges in 1975. What it really gave them was a chance in a Monday qualifying tournament where they could win a spot in that week’s tournament. If they earned a spot, and then made the cut, they would qualify for the next tournament. If they didn’t earn a spot, or missed the cut, it was down the road to the next stop on the tour.
Zoeller got off to a good start with a first round 70 and then followed up with a 71 in the second round. He was matched by Frank Conner of San Antonio who had identical scores over the first two rounds. Roger Maltbie started slowly with a 77 in the first round but fought his way back with a 72 in the second round. The low round for the second round belonged to Greg Trompas, of San Diego, CA, who shot a 68.
Bob Hoyt stumbled out of the blocks with a first round 78, a score he matched in the second round. He now had his work cut out for him if he was going to qualify for a card.
In the third round, several players equaled Trompas’s 68 and Dave Newquist of Anaheim, CA shot the lowest round of the tournament so far, a 67 giving him the lead at 211. Trompas was three strokes back at 214 while Zoeller shot a 73 and was also at 214. Maltbie helped himself tremendously with a 68 that gave him a total of 218. Hoyt shot a 73 that put him at 229 and in a very deep hole to dig out of.
In the final round at Silverado, before the players moved on to Canyon Country Club for the final four rounds, Peter Oosterhuis, of England, who started the day at 216, added a 68 to take the lead at 284. The fourth-round scores were high due to cold and damp weather and only five other players besides Oosterhuis were able to equal or better the par of 288. Newquist, the third-round leader, shot a 75 and was two shots back of Oosterhuis.
Zoeller finished with a 74 for a total of 288 and was in a good position heading to Palm Springs. Hoyt, on the other hand, shot a 74 and sat at 303, well down the leaderboard.
“He’s a great player and you have to watch him in every event.”
Oosterhuis came to Q-School as the winner of the Order of Merit on the European Tour after he captured the French and Italian Opens, beating Johnny Miller. His win in the Italian Open featured a final nine of five-under-par. He also won the El Paraiso Open in Spain and finished second five times and third twice on the European circuit.
“He’s a great player and you have to watch him in every event,” Miller said after Oosterhuis’ Italian win. “He showed how well he can play a couple of years ago in the Masters.”
“I would really like to have a real go at the American tour with all its huge purses,” Oosterhuis said to Nelson Cullenward, the San Francisco Examiner golf writer. “If I qualify in Palm Springs this week, I think I’ll be missing a lot of British tournaments next year. I want to give myself a chance playing against the best tournament players in the world in this country.”
Before play began in Palm Springs, the PGA TOUR announced that cards would be awarded to the top 18 players, and ties, at Canyon Country Club. In Tuesday’s first round, the fifth round of the tournament, Alan Tapie of Newport Beach, CA, added a 70 to his 287 total from Napa to take the lead by one stroke over Bob Risch of La Puente, CA. Oosterhuis shot a 75 while Bobby Watkins, brother to Lanny, shot a 72 and Rex Caldwell matched par with a 72. All three players were tied for third.
“The pressure wasn’t that great, but it will get tougher the next few days.”
Zoeller sat at 360, three strokes off the lead tied with Newquist, while Maltbie shot a 75 and sat at 367. Hoyt did not gain any traction despite shooting a 72 as he sat at 375.
“The pressure wasn’t that great,” Tapie said after his round to Gene Lube, the sports editor of the Desert Sun. “But it will get tougher the next few days.”
On Wednesday, Risch shot a two-under 70 and grabbed the lead at 428. He held a one-stroke lead over Oosterhuis (70), with Watkins at 430 after shooting a 71. He was followed by Taipe who shot a 74. Zoeller added a second straight 72 and was four shots off Risch’s pace. Maltbie came back with a 72 for a total of 439, 11 shots off the lead. By this time, Hoyt was so far back that he did not register in any press coverage of the tournament and disappeared, just another a hard-luck story whose dreams of playing on the PGA TOUR again had gone up in smoke.
“I told my girl, ‘Just give me a one-stroke lead and I’ll win this thing.’”
On Thursday, Caldwell came out blazing shooting a five-under-par 67 and vaulted from ninth place into the lead, by one shot, over Oosterhuis. Then the 24-year-old proposed to his high school sweetheart, Margie Landers.
“I told my girl, ‘Just give me a one-stroke lead and I’ll win this thing,’” Caldwell said after the round, and the proposal. He said he planned on returning to Lompac, CA, after the tournament and getting married within two weeks.
“Sure, I felt the pressure. But I knew the others were feeling it too.”
Zoeller shot a 71 and sat in good position just two strokes back of Caldwell. Risch shot a disappointing 76 and sat another stroke back at 504. Maltbie shot a 74 for a total of 513 keeping his dream of earning a card alive.
Zoeller took control of the tournament in the final round when he made five birdies and shot a 69 for an eight-round total of 572 and won the event.
“Sure, I felt the pressure,” Zoeller said after his round. “But I knew the others were feeling it too.”
The 23-year-old won $4,000 for the win, but more importantly, he won a card to play on the PGA TOUR. Risch matched Zoeller’s 69 to finish second, on shot back. He missed a 12-foot putt that would have sent him and Zoeller into a sudden death playoff. Oosterhuis finished with a 73 and a total of 575, one shot behind Cadle and one shot in front of Tapie. Caldwell stumbled home with a 77 but his total of 578 was good enough to qualify for a PGA card.
Maltbie finished with a 73 and a total of 586 which was good enough to earn a card. Other notables who earned their cards included Bobby Watkins (580), Bill Rogers (578), and Danny Edwards (586).
Oosterhuis won the 1981 Canadian Open, his only win on the PGA TOUR. Maltbie won five tour events earning over $2 million over a 20+ year career before becoming the on-course reporter for the NBC PGA TOUR coverage. Zoeller won the 1979 Masters, the first to do so in a first-time appearance in 35 years. His other major championship was the 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and he won another eight tournaments on the PGA TOUR.
Ron Hoyt’s career in golf went unnoticed as he became just another dreamer with a story of what might have been.
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BONUS STORY
In the final round, the eighth round of the 1974 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, Roger Maltbie teed off on the final par-5 of the Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs, CA. He pushed his drive into the right rough. He and his caddie, a high school friend named Frank Pieper, examined his lie and his options. Pieper quickly held out an 8-iron with instructions to hit a little punch out, then wedge his next shot onto the green for a birdie putt. The worst he could do was make par.
Maltbie was having none of it. He thought that he could take a regular swing with a 3-wood and although the club would snap against the tree on his follow-through, he could get the ball onto the green. He currently sat comfortably inside the number it would take to earn a PGA card, but that could change if he made a stupid mistake that would result in a disastrous number coming down the final holes.
Maltbie recalled the incident for David Gould in his excellent book Q School Confidential detailing the disagreement between him and his caddie Pieper.
“Look, I don’t care if it breaks because I’ll be up there lookin’ at two putts for a birdie,” Maltbie explained to Pieper. “We’re not gonna need the 3-wood after this, so hand it over and let’s go.”
“Hit the eight,” Pieper said. “This is no time to try some crazy shot.”
The two went back in forth and the discussion got quite heated. Finally, Pieper had had enough and with a menacing look dropped the bag. Maltbie, facing the real possibility of getting punched in the face, back downed, accepted the 8-iron, punched out, hit his wedge onto the green and made a par. He went on to easily qualify for his tour card.
“That’s the kind of thing that can happen at tour school,” Maltbie told Gould in 1998 as he took a break from covering that year’s Q-School for NBC. “You get goofy, like guys on a desert island. Jesus, can you imagine another tournament where a guy would try a shot knowing the club was gonna break in his hands?”
Q-School can bring nightmares or miracles. Here’s a miracle from the Champions Q-School.
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More Clips You Might Have Missed
Dahman is in this one, too.
Tour Backspin Quiz | PGA TOUR Q-School Trivia
Who was the first person to be medalist at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament (Q-School) to go on to win a major championship?
Scroll down to for answer
Swing Like a Pro
The relaxed, yet powerful, swing of Fuzzy Zoeller.
Good afternoon Larry,
Thanks for all of your efforts in putting together Tour Backspin. And also for the book that you sent me awhile back - all greatly appreciated!
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Larry:
Your story [Doug Sanders Oversleeps, Still Wins]. Great one.
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I got this in my Xitter notifications:
Now, I’m getting messages from the account shilling cyrpto. I’m blaming Elon.
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Tony Finau and Jon Rahm go in seperate directions. Read it HERE from Golf Digest.
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1974 songs that rock. Click HERE to listen on Spotify
Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema tells the story of one of the tour’s biggest stars in the mid-1960s. A fascinating glimpse into the traveling caravan that was the PGA TOUR during an era where the fields were full of “Mad Men” era personalities. From a hardscrabble youth spent on the “wrong side of the tracks” in the Oakland suburb of San Leandro, to the temptations of Elko, Nevada, to the bright lights of the PGA TOUR, Uncorked tells a story of determination, redemption and, above all else, a love story that documents how Betty, Tony’s new wife, provided the direction and motivation for him to become a top star. Order on Amazon.
WHAT IS HIP?
The Beatles and the Stones go golfing.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Jerry Pate was the first medalist of Q-School to win a major. Pate was medalist at the 1975 Q-School and won the 1976 U.S. Open. Fuzzy Zoeller was the second medalist to win a major when he won the 1979 Masters.
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Final Thoughts
Who would be getting two shots a side? The Beatles or the Stones?
How good is that “wow” kid gonna be?
Do you know Ron Hoyt? Let me know, I would love to talk to him.
Would you rock those Kirkland irons?