Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, Part Travelogue, Part Corporate PR and Part Golf Match
Tony Lema plays Chen Ching-Po in Japan for a Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match in 1963
With his runner-up finish in the 1963 Masters, Tony Lema attracted the kind of attention that resulted in opportunities to make money other than from tournaments on the PGA TOUR. Endorsements, exhibitions, and televised competitions became available to him. His first opportunity for a televised match came with an offer from the producers of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.
The Shell show was part travelogue, part corporate public relations and part golf match. The show would visit famous courses around the world and pit an American pro from the PGA TOUR with a pro, usually from the same country or region that was hosting the match.
Lema specifically asked his manager, the legendary Fred Corcoran, that he wanted to play his match in Japan. Lema served in Tokyo, as a Marine, near the end of the Korean war. He was transferred from Korea to headquarters in Tokyo when military brass realized his golfing ability and he spent the end of the war playing golf with generals and entertaining the troops with exhibitions. In 1963, Lema wanted to show his new wife, Betty, the sights of Japan.
Lema’s opponent in the match was Chen Ching-Po, a player from Taiwan who was paired with Lema at the 1963 Masters. Ching-Po could only speak a limited amount of English, but it did not stop the two players from becoming good friends.
The course used for the match, the Fuji Course of the Kawana Hotel and Golf Club in Shizuoka, about two hours south of Tokyo, was designed by Charles H. Alison and was known as the “Pebble Beach of Japan”. The course features elevated tees and uphill approach shots—and some magnificent cliff views of the Pacific.
Before filming started, Lema played some exhibitions with Gene Sarazen who provided the color commentary for the Shell matches. These exhibitions took place mostly on military bases and Lema donated a portion of the exhibition fees he received to charity. This was a custom that he continued throughout his career.
Filming of the match between Lema and Ching-Po took 12 hours as the production crew had to move the heavy cameras into position after every shot. A native female assistant would set up folding camp chairs for the players to relax in while they waited for the production crew to complete their work. The two players smoked and tried to converse despite the language difference.
Tony Lema hits an approach shot during his 1963 Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf match against Chen Ching-Po
Lema described, in his book Golfer’s Gold, a key point in the match where he had to negotiate a tough shot, but also the wait for cameras to be put into position.
“For fifteen minutes thereafter, while the cameras were shifted again and one of them moved in for a close-up of my lie in the sand, I smoked a number of cigarettes, but was damned if I was going to sit in my camp chair. I was faced with an explosion of about thirty yards that must clear the second deep bunker. Fifteen minutes is a long time to contemplate a shot like that.”
Lema handled the shot expertly, exploding out to about 12-feet from the hole. Ching-Po now fidgeted and waited as the cameras moved into position for his shot. Once he got the go ahead from the crew, he set up for his shot, and fluffed it, leaving it 20-feet from the hole.
The winner’s share of the match was $3,000 while the loser received $2,000 and the two split the $5,000 purse in the event of a tie. On the final hole, Lema needed two-putts from ten-feet to secure the victory. After holing his second putt, he flung his ball side arm into the small crowd following the match.
You can watch the match between Lema and Ching-Po HERE.
Lema would go on to film three more episodes of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf as his star ascended before being extinguished in a small plane crash that killed him and Betty in 1966.
Newspaper advertisement of the 1963 Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf Match
Bonus Story
Gene Sarazen and George Rogers were the broadcast team in the early years of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. This was not a match made in heaven. Sarazen had become suspicious of Rogers after Rogers had worked his way into a co-producer position. Sarazen thought that Rogers had too much influence in the cutting room leaving some of Sarazen’s work out of the final cut.
Sarazen also complained that Rogers hogged the microphone during the filming. Rogers, in turn, developed too much self-importance thinking that the show could not go on without him. Sarazen also claimed that Rogers had the cameramen shoot from an angle that made Sarazen look shorter than he was. It was clear that the chemistry was not working and that a change had to be made.
The colorful Jimmy Demaret replaced Rogers after the 1965 matches aired (Lema played in one match, shortly before his plane accident, against Peter Alliss in Bermuda, that featured Sarazen and Demaret). The pairing of Demaret and Sarazen was just the change the show needed. Demaret brought out the humor of Sarazen and the two provided an intimate and relaxed commentary. The pair made the banter between the shots seem second nature.
Plus, the two exhibited a stylish and colorful sartorial sense which was perfect for the technicolor era as color televisions were becoming the norm. Sarazen with his traditional tweed plus-four suits and walking stick with the folding leather strap to act as a seat juxtaposed the colorful, modern clothing worn by Demaret. With the new pair calling the action, Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf enjoyed a long run and the shows are still watchable today.
Jimmy Demaret (l) and Gene Sarazen (r) the hosts of Shell's Wonderful World of Golf
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