Not Your Ordinary PGA TOUR Event
The Bob Hope Desert Classic had more glamour, and a different format, than any other PGA TOUR event in 1970
I think that the PGA TOUR provided more action and excitement than the NFL on Sunday. Scroll down for the Clips You Might Have Missed and the PGA TOUR Wrap-Up for our take on the Sony Open in Hawaii.
The PGA TOUR is in La Quinta, CA, this week for The American Express. This event grew out of the Palm Springs Golf Classic, before becoming the Bob Hope Desert Golf Classic, one of the most unique tournaments on the schedule. It was a 90-hole tournament and featured the biggest celebrities from the worlds of sports, business, entertainment, and politics. It became The American Express in 2020.
We’ve written about the 1972 event HERE, the 1971 event where Vice President Agnew hit three people—with just two shots, HERE, and how Bob Hope saved the Desert Classic HERE.
The feature story this week goes back to 1970 when Bruce Devlin won the event and then celebrated in style. Oh, and Vice President Agnew hit another person this year—Doug Sanders. It’s a long post because so much stuff was going on at this unique event. Scroll down to read and relive the wild times that were Palm Springs in 1970.
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll, we asked you how you felt Kevin Kisner did in his debut as an analyst for NBC at The Sentry. There were 60% of respondents who felt that Kis did great and is a good addition to the booth while 40% thought he did okay but that NBC should continue the “bake-off” to see they could find somebody better. Nobody thought Kis was awful, though.
This week, let us know what you thought about the ruling that Carl Yuan received at the final hole in the Sony Open in the Tour Backspin Poll. If you didn’t see it, you can catch up HERE.
Tour Backspin Poll
This week’s Vintage Ad features the same shoes that Bruce Devlin was wearing at the 1970 Bob Hope Desert Classic. Check out the “permanent” spikes.
The swing in this week’s Swing Like a Pro feature isn’t really a pro, but you’ll still want to check it out. Scroll down to view.
We’ve got a live show this week for the Tour Backspin Music. Buy your one drink minimum, sit back and relax. Listen HERE.
We’ve also included some interesting links in the Check This Out feature.
If you like golf history, check out the Your Golfer’s Almanac podcast. Host Michael Duranko celebrates birthdays, milestones, and other accomplishments that occurred on the day in golf history. Listen HERE.
We’re playing Palm Springs Golf Classic Trivia in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Bruce Devlin Catches Larry Ziegler in the Hope
It is Tuesday, February 3rd, 1970, and the excitement level in the Palm Springs area is off the charts. Celebrities and professional golfers, and those that desire to party with them (if they can afford the $150 per couple cover charge), are dressed in their finest formal wear to attend one of the largest social events in the desert, the Bob Hope Desert Classic Ball. The elegant event, a fundraiser for the Eisenhower Medical Center and other desert service agencies, is held at the Grand Ballroom at the Holiday Inn, the area’s only ballroom big enough to accommodate the crowd.
The ball is held the night before the opening round of the Bob Hope Desert Classic, one of the most unique events on the PGA TOUR and it was dreamed up by Bob Roseburg in 1960. It is the only tournament that stretches over 90 holes, it is a pro-am event (for the first four rounds) where teams of three amateurs play with a different pro each day, countless celebrities in the field from the worlds of entertainment, politics, and business, and it is played over four courses; Eldorado Country Club, La Quinta Country Club, Bermuda Dunes Country Club, and Indian Wells Country Club. The enormous field consisted of 408 amateurs and 136 professionals. Throw in the tournament queen, Barbara Eden in 1970, and the Hope Girls to add a little sex appeal.
Plus, the Vice President was scheduled to play alongside the host, Bob Hope, who carried a 12 handicap, Senator George Murphy of California with a 16 handicap, and Doug Sanders, for at least one, and maybe two, rounds on Friday and/or Saturday. The Vice President sported a handicap of 18.
Yes, the Bob Hope Desert Classic was a one-of-a-kind tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule.
The 1970 tournament featured a first-place prize of $25,000, the largest reward in the tournament’s history. Things kicked off with the first round on Wednesday with most of the big-name professionals and celebrities teeing off at Indian Wells before moving on to Bermuda Dunes for the second round and La Quinta for the third round. The first round was played under high clouds with some sunshine and cool, comfortable, temperatures in the low 70s.
Most of the huge crowd was at Indian Wells following the group that featured Arnold Palmer and one of his amateur partners, Lawrence Welk. The group teed off from the 10th tee at 8:40 and Palmer shot a 68 putting him one-shot behind the five leaders, Bob Rosburg, Charles Coody, Labron Harris, Bruce Devlin, and Larry Ziegler. The defending champion, Billy Casper, battled a bulky putter but still managed to post a 71. Pete Brown, the winner the previous week in San Diego, where he made up eight shots on Jack Nicklaus in the final round, carded a 70. He hit his drive on the 556-yard, par-5, 11th hole out of bounds, but birdied his last two holes. Almost one half of the professional field bettered par in the first round.
“So, I got a bogey instead of the birdie which I was actually expecting. Yes, that sour finish kind of ruined my day.”
Palmer was disappointed with his finish after he bogeyed the 9th hole, his final hole of the day, a very easy par 4.
“I hit a good tee shot at nine and then had an easy nine iron to the green,” Palmer explained to The Desert Sun reporter Braven Dryer after the round. “The ball landed 15 feet short of the green but took a big hop and bounced clear over the green. When I chipped back, I needed two putts to get down. So, I got a bogey instead of the birdie which I was actually expecting. Yes, that sour finish kind of ruined my day.”
Larry Ziegler won the 1969 Michigan Golf Classic, a new tournament on the schedule, in September only to learn that the tournament organizers could only scrounge together enough funds to cover half of his first prize check of $20,000. The PGA stepped in to make up the difference, but Ziegler didn’t receive the funds until the San Diego Open, a week before the Hope.
“Yes, I got the other $10,000 last week at San Diego,” Ziegler explained to Dryer. “And promptly failed to qualify for the final rounds down there.”
Ziegler teed off at 9:08 at Indian Wells in the second round played on Thursday under warm sunshine. Ziegler carded five birdies and an eagle to post a 65 and take a three-stroke lead. Bruce Devlin was in second place at 135 after shooting a 68 at Indian Wells. Lee Trevino and hometown hero Moon Mullins of Indian Wells were tied for third another stroke back. Mullins set a course record at La Quinta with a 65.
Rosburg, Harris, and Coody, the co-leaders after the first round fell off the pace. Rosburg shot a 75 at Eldorado while Harris shot a 74 at Indian Wells, and Coody shot a 74 at Bermuda Dunes. Palmer started slowly at Eldorado with a front nine 38 before getting back on track on the back nine and birdied the final hole for a 71, seven strokes off Ziegler’s lead.
Devlin credited his putting for success in the first two rounds.
“My putter, I guess, is the answer to my better golf,” he said after the round. “I just couldn’t putt at all down in San Diego, so I spent four or five hours on the putting green Monday and Tuesday.”
Friday’s third round was played under warm 81-degree sunshine and Ziegler kept his torrid pace going shooting a four-under 68 at Eldorado for a three-round total of 200, the lowest three round total on the tour so far for the year.
“I didn’t have a bogey during 27 practice holes either, so the streak is really 79 holes.”
Devlin also played Eldorado and, by matching Ziegler’s 68, kept the leader within range. Trevino shot a 69 at Bermuda Dunes and sat alone in third place at 206. Defending champion Billy Casper got into the mix after shooting a five-under 67 at Bermuda Dunes and sat in a tie for fourth place with Larry Hinson who shot a 66 at La Quinta. Palmer was still in the discussion after shooting a 70 at Bermuda Dunes for a three-round total of 209.
Devlin played his first 52 holes of the tournament without making a bogey before he three-putted the 17th hole.
“My putter saved me two bogeys today, on the 8th and 10th,” Devlin related to reporters. “I didn’t have a bogey during 27 practice holes either, so the streak is really 79 holes.”
Tournament officials reported that crowds were running approximately 50 percent higher than the year prior, which was the best attended event in the history of the tournament. And it was about to explode with Vice President Agnew playing the next day. Agnew arrived Thursday afternoon from Los Angeles and went to Eldorado to get a swing tune-up from the head pro, Don Fairfield.
The crowds started to arrive early, causing huge traffic jams on the road leading to Indian Wells, before the 10:20 tee time for the group of Doug Sanders, Senator George Murphy, Bob Hope and Vice President Agnew. Hundreds lined the first fairway in anticipation of getting a good view of the group. The weather was the best, so far, of the week with sunny skies and temperatures expected to reach 90-degrees.
Secret service men were everywhere as the Vice President arrived at Indian Wells from Eldorado where he was staying at the same fairway cottage residence where President Eisenhower stayed during the winter for several years. Sanders and Agnew were the first of the group to arrive at the first tee and posed for pictures. Sanders was typically dressed in one of his flamboyant outfits which consisted of bright tangerine shoes matched with a tangerine and green outfit. Agnew wore a blue sweater over a blue shirt and slacks paired with white shoes. Hope, in a brand-new $12,000 golf cart custom-made by Chuck Barris in his image, and Murphy soon arrived at the tee and the group was ready to start their round.
Agnew was the second player to tee off following Sanders, who played from the professional tees. Playing from the member tees, he hooked his tee shot high and over the heads of the spectators about 150-yards down the fairway. Sanders went to his drive, down the right side of the fairway, and bent down to evaluate his lie. Agnew then played his second shot with a 3-wood, and it squirted dead right on a direct line at Sanders who was unaware of the approaching missile. The ball struck Sanders in the back of his head and opened a wound that would later require two stitches.
Sanders insisted that he was not hurt badly and continued his round. Agnew, on the other hand, was finished with his round after only three holes.
With the large crowds at Indian Wells, Zeigler and Devlin played at the deserted Bermuda Dunes course. Ziegler shot a 71 while Devlin whittled into the lead by shooting a 70. Zeigler held a two-shot lead for a total of 271. Hinson was at 274 while Trevino was at 277 and Palmer at 278.
Zeigler had now led, wire-to-wire, and if this was an ordinary event on the PGA TOUR, he would be the winner. But this was the Bob Hope Desert Classic, a 90-hole tournament that had never seen a wire-to-wire winner. Zeigler would have to come back on Sunday to seal the deal. The final round would be played at La Quinta and only the pros would be playing as the pro-am aspect of the tournament had been decided with the team featuring Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram tying for first with the team that featured Arch Haynes, Merlin White, and John Erickson.
On Sunday, a few hours before teeing off, Arnold Palmer was named “Athlete of the Decade” by the Associated Press. Once again, La Quinta was bathed in warm sunshine with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s.
Devlin coasted home for the victory finishing with a scorching 66, a score matched by Gene Littler and Chuck Courtney for lowest rounds of the day.
After never being out of the lead, Zeigler finally relinquished the lead when Devlin caught him after the first nine holes. Ziegler shot a 35 on the front nine, but Devlin posted a 33. Ziegler regained the lead after Devlin bogeyed the 10th hole, but his lead would not last. Both players birdied the 11th hole before Zeigler bogeyed the par three 12th hole.
Devlin put the tournament away in the next four holes with three birdies and a par while Zeigler could do no better than three pars and a bogey falling four-strokes behind. Devlin coasted home for the victory finishing with a scorching 66, a score matched by Gene Littler and Chuck Courtney for lowest rounds of the day. Hinson finished third at 347 after shooting a final round 67 while Palmer finished fourth after a final round 69.
“After all, he had won the tournament . . . or had played well enough to win all the usual tournaments, which, as you know, are 72 holes.”
Devlin became the first foreign born player to win the Hope, but he had experience winning at La Quinta. He played in the 1964 CBS Match Play Classic with Bob Charles and annihilated the team of Bobby Nichols and Tony Lema in the 36-hole match 8 and 7.
“I never played as well as this for five consecutive rounds,” Devlin said after his round to The Desert Sun reporter Braven Dryer. “I think I got the best of the draw for today. Palmer is just so popular that the fans sometimes just don’t give the others in his threesome an even break. Ziegler and Hinson faced that handicap today.”
Devlin also reflected on Ziegler’s play saying, “Psychologically I think I had the edge on Ziegler, too. After all, he had won the tournament . . . or had played well enough to win all the usual tournaments, which, as you know, are 72 holes.”
The award ceremony was a crowded affair with Bob Hope, Barbara Eden, the queen for the event, Edgar Eisenhower, brother to the late President, Vice President Agnew, and Arnold Palmer, acting as the master-of-ceremonies for the NBC broadcast, were all crowded around Devlin. Eisenhower presented Devlin with the trophy while Agnew presented him with the $25,000 first place check and Hope gave Devlin the keys to a new car. Palmer then began to interview the newly crowned winner.
“How in hell did you shoot 21 under par?” Palmer asked Devlin.
“Well, when you shoot 21 under, you sink a lot of putts,” Devlin responded before being cut off as the broadcast wound up going off the air. No matter, his celebration was just starting (see the bonus story).
For Zeigler it must have been a major disappointment to have led for four rounds, usually good enough for a victory in an ordinary week on the PGA TOUR. But this was the extraordinary Bob Hope Desert Classic, not an ordinary tournament.
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BONUS STORY
Bruce Devlin’s regular partner at the Crosby Clambake was Dean Martin. Shortly after being presented with the trophy, the winner’s $25,000 check, and the keys to a new automobile after capturing the 1970 Bob Hope Desert Classic, Devlin received a phone call in the clubhouse from his friend. Martin informed Devlin that he was sending his private plane over to Palm Springs to pick him and his wife Gloria up and whisk them off to Las Vegas for a celebratory dinner and a show. The show? Martin’s act at The Riviera where he had started a residency in 1969.
Devlin recalled the trip to his co-host of the podcast FORE The Good of The Game.
“So, I won the tournament and hopped on the plane and flew to Vegas and sat right underneath him as he opened the show. That’s a pretty special thing to happen. I know my wife loved him. He was a sweetheart guy, too.
We got up there in time to have a bite to eat with him before he started his show. When we walked into the theater, just before he started to perform, there were two vacant chairs, right down in front, right underneath the mic. Of course, he was nice enough to introduce us before he started the show which was pretty special, too.”
The Tour Backspin Show podcast episode with Chuck Courtney is unlocked for everyone. Chuck talks about his career on the PGA TOUR that lasted over a decade, growing up at La Jolla Country Club, his mentor Paul Runyan, and his friend Carl Welty. Listen HERE.
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WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Are you on the leader board?
Congratulations to Bruce Effisimo, our 2023 WHAT HOLE IS IT? champion, who correctly identified #16 at The Ocean Course at Hokuala in Lihue, HI, in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest. Bruce beat out five other correct answers in the random drawing and a prize pack is on its way to him. Check out the new 2024 leader board that will document the race for the Herbert C. Leeds Trophy, our new perpetual trophy and scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT?
PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | The Sony Open in Hawaii
What a finish in the Sony Open in Hawaii! Congratulations to Grayson Murray for winning on the first playoff hole. After hitting his approach shot at the 18th green, the final hole in regulation, to kick-in range for the birdie that he needed to make it into the playoff, he sank a 39-foot putt for birdie at the first playoff hole. This after hitting a quick hook off the tee on the first playoff hole that benefited from a gentle kick off the palm trees. He then stood back and watched Keegan Bradley miss from 17-feet, and Ben An miss from 4-feet for their birdies.
There was also some controversy over the drop that was afforded to Carl Yuan who sent his second shot at the last hole over (or into) the grandstand suites that are way too close to the action. Even though the ball was never found, Yuan got a free drop into a friendly lie and made par.
Read the PGA TOUR tournament wrap-up HERE.
Clips You Might Have Missed
How to make a 39-foot putt to win sudden-death.
Quite the turnaround for a guy many thought was a jerk just last year.
This is gotta be worth a few steak dinners, right?
Tour Backspin Quiz | Palm Springs Golf Classic
Who did Tommy Jacobs beat in the 1964 Palm Springs Golf Classic?
Scroll down for answer
Swing Like a Pro
Bob Hope’s swing.
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
When Fred Couples takes you under his wing. From Golf Magazine.
Webb Simpson is worried about greed in professional golf and sponsors bailing from the tour. Read more at Golfweek.
Remember Kip Henly from the Golf Channel Big Break? Grayson’s Murray’s win at the Sony Open was like a gut punch. Learn more at Golf Digest.
The Tour Backspin LIVE Music
Live from the Riviera in wonderful Las Vegas, it’s Dean Martin. Click HERE to listen.
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?
Groovy sweaters, man.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Tommy Jacobs beat 53-year-old Jimmy Demaret on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
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Check out the Tony Lema 2024 Wall Calendar now available in the Tour Backspin Pro Shop.
The Tony Lema 2024 Wall Calendar features press photos from the 1964 Crosby Clambake (won by Lema) and Lucky International Open.
Vintage Ad
Final Thoughts
How much lower would your handicap be if you had grandstands surrounding the green?
I thought that Jon Rahm took care of the problem in the Blind Shot before he left for LIV.
How cool is that picture of Dean Martin and Bruce Devlin? Did you notice the Riviera Casino custom staff bag of Martin’s?