John Schlee Wins Inaugural Q School
Grueling 108 hole tournament includes a 150 question classroom exam
The PGA TOUR is at Tiburón Golf Club in Florida for the QBE Shootout, another unofficial event on the schedule. This tournament was known as the Shark Shootout after Greg Norman, who hosts the event. Perusing the PGA TOUR website concerning the tournament, there's no mention of Greg Norman. Wonder if his involvement with LIV Golf Investments who is trying to form an upstart tour to compete against the PGA TOUR and the European Tour, has anything to with his absence as host.
We're turning the clock back to 1965 and the first PGA Tour School, known as "Q School" and the winner that week, John Schlee.
We did not have a winner the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest from last week.The 15th hole at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo was not identified. We have an easier hole this week for you. The third Thursday of the month, is a Guest Post hole. WE NEED "GUEST POST" PICTURES. Send us that pic on your phone of a great golf hole, tell us a story on how you conquered it (or how it kicked your butt) and if we use it, you'll win a prize. Send the pic to larry@tourbackspin.com. Check out the WHII leader board below.
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John Schlee Wins Inaugural Q School
In 1965, The PGA of America introduced a new tournament, the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, that would bequeath playing privileges on the PGA tour, to the top 17 finishers. Players in the qualifying event also attended lectures and studied business, rules, and public relations before taking a 150-question exam which they were required to pass before they even got a chance to compete for a tour card. The classroom aspect of this event gave birth to the name “Q School”.
That competition was a grueling 108-hole tournament that was a test of endurance, both mentally and physically. The top 17 finishers in the tournament earned their “tour card” which gave them the right to Monday qualify to get into tour events. Monday qualifying pitted many players vying for a limited number of spots into that week’s tournament. Players who finished in the top 60 on the money list in the previous year, as well as players who made the cut the week prior to an event, were exempted into the field. Any remaining available spots in the field were available to the Monday qualifiers.
If a player Monday qualified, he was then required to play in the Wednesday pro-am preceding the tournament. The Monday qualifier’s week would include six, high pressure rounds, taking a toll on players who were lucky enough to qualify.
At the inaugural Q School, Earl Stewart, a former player on the tour and club pro from Dallas explained the need for the qualifying event.
“It is designed,” Stewart explained, “to take the burden of making a judgement on a proposed player’s talent away from the local level.”
Previously, Monday qualifiers were becoming crowded with players who had no chance of qualifying but were nonetheless promoted by the local PGA chapter gaining access to the event. Q School ensured PGA caliber players would compete in Monday qualifiers.
John Schlee won the first Q School, held at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Schlee finished three strokes better than the runner-up, John Josephson. As Adam Lazarus and Steve Schlossman, authors of Chasing Greatness detail, Schlee, with tour card in hand, wasted no time Monday qualifying for the season ending Cajun Classic.
In his first round as a card-carrying tour member, Schlee shot a first round 69, matching Jack Nicklaus. Schlee finished the week in a tie for eleventh place earning $850. Despite the great start, he struggled with the demands of the tour during the first stages of his rookie season. He made the cut just twice in his first 13 tournaments. He turned his year around in July and was able to finish in the top-60 in the 48th spot to secure his exempt status for the next year. He was named Golf Digest Rookie of the Year.
John Schlee
Check out the bonus fact below for more about the John Schlee.
The playlist this week is all about songs from 1965. Easy to forget how great these tunes were. Listen HERE.
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Tour Backspin Quiz | The Price Is Right
How much do you think the Munsingwear shirt that Dow Finsterwald is wearing cost in 1964? The Price Is Right rules are in play -- you can't go over on the price.
Answer below
Bonus Story
John Schlee was not your typical touring pro. He was into astrology and the study of biorhythms. He experimented with triangular shaped drivers with adjustable weights. He was among the first to try the fiberglass Wonder Shaft from the Shakespeare Company. He constantly tried different putting methods including crosshanded.
His upbringing in Seaside, Oregon, was both a fairy tale and a nightmare. His golf earned him acclaim and notoriety in the region, but he also felt that it earned him privilege. This feeling of privilege led him to wind up on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion.
In 1957, just after graduating from high school, Schlee was set to compete in the Southern Oregon Open, a high-level regional match play tournament. Needing money to make the trip, Schlee snuck into the storage shed of Charlie Cartwright, the owner of the Seaside Golf Course, and benefactor to Schlee who he housed at the time and stole hundreds of brand-new golf balls.
He then drove to the nearby Gearhart golf course and convinced the skeptical pro there to buy the purloined balls. He and a friend then drove to Medford, Oregon, where the Southern Oregon Open was being conducted at the Rogue Valley Country Club. Charlie Cartwright discovered the theft the next morning and then notified the police. The police investigated by conferring with the pro from Gearhart who made it clear that he bought the stolen balls from Schlee.
The state police were dispatched to the golf course in Medford where they found Schlee and promptly arrested him. He spent the night back in Seaside in the town’s small jail. The next morning, when Cartwright discovered who the culprit was, he refused to file a complaint.
The police chief, whose daughter Schlee had just broken up with, was furious that Schlee was not going to be prosecuted. But, in an informal arrangement that was not uncommon for the day, Schlee escaped serious jail time by enlisting in the military.
The new feature where we recommend things you should check out. So check it out!
If you're into the stories and the era we cover here at Tour Backspin, then you'll enjoy Fore The Good of The Game podcast. Hosted by Michael Gonzalez and Bruce Devlin, the show features in-depth interviews with many of the great names in golf from the same era we cover. Check it out HERE.
Blind Shot
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Quiz Answer: The shirt Dow is wearing cost $5 in 1964. You can get one very much like it from Nordstrom today for $69 (free delivery).
I'd love to hear your feedback! Email me at larry@tourbackspin.com.
