The Crosby Kicks Off The 1968 Tour
Popular tour stop moved up to the first stop of the season, finishes same day as Super Bowl II
The Bing Crosby National Pro-Am is the perfect tournament to explore on the Tour Backspin journey through the past and this week, we travel back to 1968 when Johnny Pott won in a playoff. It was quite the finish and sports fans had a full Sunday that year watching the golf from the Monterey Peninsula after watching Super Bowl II where the Oakland Raiders were taking on the Green Bay Packers. Scroll down to see how the week of the Crosby played out. Be sure to check out the video of Johnny Pott talking about that week at The Crosby.
I wrote about the 1964 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, won by Tony Lema HERE, the 1967 event, won by Jack Nicklaus, HERE, the 1966 event won by Don Massengale HERE, and the 1965 event won by Bruce Crampton HERE.
Enjoy the golf from the Monterey Peninsula this week, it should be good with the strongest field since The Sentry.
It is truly heartbreaking what is happening in Los Angeles with the wild fires. Here’s a list of organizations where you can lend a hand.
The PGA TOUR was in San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open and Harris English won with a Sunday grind. We’ve got some of the action in the Clips You Might Have Missed. I also give my take on the tournament in the PGA TOUR Wrap-Up. You are also invited to weigh in on the pace of play on the PGA TOUR in The Tour Backspin Poll. We’re bringing you Jimi Hendrix performing “All Along The Watchtower” in 1968 in this week’s Music Clip and the theatrical trailer for the 1968 film, “The Producers” starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the Tour Backspin Goes To The Movies.
We found some great footage of Bruce Devlin’s swing for this week’s Swing Like a Pro. The Vintage Ad has a 1968 ad from Spaulding about the new Executive woods and irons equipped with aluminum shafts. Scroll down to view.
The Tour Backspin Poll
We asked you last week if you would use the Club Car Tempo Walk Autonomous cart. There were 67% of respondents that said they would use it, while 33% said it would be too much of a distraction.
Dottie Pepper had some stern words for the PGA TOUR and the pace of play in the Farmers Open.
Do you agree with Dottie that the pace of play problem has gotten out of hand and players need to be more respectful of other players and fans and speed up? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
We’re playing Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Trivia in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Pott Wins Crosby Playoff Against Casper and Devlin
It’s the second week of January 1968, and the pros playing on the PGA TOUR are emerging from their holiday hibernation for the first event of the new season—the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. They tried to shake off the effects of the holiday layoff, but it was clear that they were a little rusty and carrying a few extra pounds.
Alfred Wright, writing for the January 22nd, edition of Sports Illustrated described the scene.
For the first time in its history the Crosby opened the pros' winter tour, and a lot of the regulars looked jowly and paunchy, as if they had not yet digested their Christmas turkey.
Wright went on to document the expanding waistlines noting that the weight difference between Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer was just five pounds. Nicklaus came to the Monterey Peninsula topping the scales at 202, while Palmer registered in at 197 (although he claimed to be only 190). Bobby Nichols ballooned to 212 pounds which was 12 pounds over his weight in 1967.
The Bing Crosby National Pro-Am was moved to the opening week of the PGA TOUR schedule and the fourth round would be played on Super Bowl Sunday, which, while a big game for football fans, was not yet the cultural phenomenon the game is now. Super Bowl II was being played in Miami between the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders at the Orange Bowl. It was a good weekend for Bay Area, and Northern California, sports fans.
“It’s 100% better than last year.”
The pros were very much in support of the Crosby being moved from its usual position of third or fourth on the schedule, to first on the schedule. Because the tournament was a pro-am, it was an unofficial event. The prize money won would not count towards the official money list giving the pros an opportunity to work out the kinks of the holiday layoff in a sort of pre-season akin to what baseball or football enjoyed. Officials were also hopeful that a change in the schedule would result in better weather than usually visited the Crosby, although forecasts for the week included showers for Thursday and intermittent rain the rest of the week.
The PGA tournament staff were comfortable with the maturing of the Spyglass Hill course that debuted in 1967 to less than stellar reviews by the players.
“It’s 100% better than last year,” Jack Tuthill, director of the PGA TOUR told Ed Schoenfeld of the Oakland Tribune. “The fairways, greens, roughs, everything, is improved. The grass is much thicker on the greens, so putting will be slower and better this year.”
Bill Eziniki of New Seabury, MA, a former NHL hockey star, shot the low round at Spyglass to qualify.
Both Spyglass and Pebble Beach were used for the Monday qualifying rounds with the nine lowest scores from both courses qualifying. There were 108 hopeful players attempting to qualify. Jim Weichers, a former Western Amateur champion, led all qualifiers with a fantastic 66 at Pebble Beach. After some cancellations, there were 23 qualifiers with three more spots being selected by tournament officials.
Don Whitt, a 37-year tour veteran who was returning to the circuit after an eight-year absence, easily qualified with a 69 sharing the second spot with Jerry Mowlds of Portland, OR. Bill Eziniki of New Seabury, MA, a former NHL hockey star, shot the low round at Spyglass to qualify.
George Hower, the Sports Editor at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat spoke with Dean James, the head pro at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club who was playing in his first Crosby and was paired with Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip. James gave his impressions of the events after a couple of practice rounds, and he made a few predictions.
“I still think a relatively obscure player will win,” he said. “I mean someone who gets less ink than Nicklaus or Palmer. Someone like Dudley Wysong or Deane Beman still looks good. And I think that even par will win it. That would be 288. Last year, 284 won it. Second place was a 289—five strokes back and one-over par.”
Jack Nicklaus won the 1967 event by five shots. Dean would provide on-the-ground coverage during the week for the Press Democrat.
Crosby received 9,125 requests from amateurs looking for one of the 53 spots available. Some of the more high-profile pro-am teams included Ray Floyd with Rick Barry, formerly with the San Francisco Warriors, now with the ABA Oakland Oaks, who were owned by Pat Boone, who was also playing, paired with Dick Lotz. Dick’s brother, John Lotz, was paired up with Bob Newhart, Palmer was playing with his business manager, Mark McCormick, Nicklaus was teamed with Robert Hoag, Bruce Devlin was with Hank Ketchum of Dennis the Menace fame, and Bob Rosburg teamed with local football legend, John Brodie.
Lou Graham drew Father John Durkin, who was a regular partner of Tony Lema before Lema’s tragic death in an airplane crash in 1966. Bert Yancy was playing with Andy Williams, while Dean Martin partnered with Don Cherry, the nightclub singer. Phil Harris was playing with Tommy Bolt, Jack Burke, Jr had George Coleman, Jr. a major player in the book The Match, as his partner, and Ken Still was playing with Sandy Koufax. Don Fairfield had a young Johnny Miller as his amateur partner. Johnny Pott was teamed with Virgil Sherrill.
Some of the professional players showed up with new aluminum shafted “jumbo” drivers. The lighter shaft material allowed for a larger and heavier clubhead. Palmer was one of the players putting an aluminum shafted driver into play for the week.
It was time to get the 27th annual Bing Crosby National Pro-Am underway with its combined purse of $104,000 that included both the professional and pro-am purses. The winner of the professional portion of the event would take home $16,000.
Even though practice rounds were plagued by rain, Thursday’s opening round was played under clear skies. Lou Graham of Nashville, TN, opened with a four-under 68 at Cypress Point to take the lead late in the day. Graham only needed 30 putts in his round helping him to a one-stroke lead over Tommy Jacobs, who played Pebble Beach, and Dave Hill, who played at Cypress Point.
“Would you believe I was one-under going to the fifth tee?”
In an ironic spin, Graham had set a record, started in 1967, when he went 170 consecutive holes without a three-putt only to break the string when he three-putted the very first green at Cypress Point.
Palmer struggled at Pebble Beach with a front nine score of 41 that included two double bogeys. He needed birdies at the two closing holes to finish with a disappointing 76.
“Would you believe I was one-under going to the fifth tee?” Palmer asked reporters after his round.
Nicklaus opened with a 71 at Cypress Point but still felt rusty from the holiday layoff and spent two hours on the practice tee after his round.
“I was a little sloppy on the back nine,” Nicklaus told reporters including Dave Wik, a reporter with The Peninsula Times Tribune out of Palo Alto, CA. “But, all in all, I can’t complain about 71. That’s not too bad.”
Billy Casper recorded a 73, one of the three lowest scores at the tough Spyglass Hill course. Casper’s 73 was matched by Kermit Zarley and Jack Rule. Johnny Pott recorded a fine two-under round of 70 at Cypress Point to sit two shots off the lead and his partner, Virgil Sherrill, a 15-handicap out of Florida, helped the pro-am team by 11 strokes on the way to a team score of 59 to lead the field. Bruce Devlin came in with a 73.
“I’m only one shot back with 36 holes to play and now I’m on Cypress Point, on of my favorite of all courses.”
Johnny Pott played Spyglass Hill in the second round and scorched the tough layout with a course record tying 71, but according to Schoenfeld of The Oakland Tribune, Casper was the man in the driver’s seat after Casper shot a 69 at Pebble Beach.
“I feel I have a very good chance,” Casper declared after his round. “I’m only one shot back with 36 holes to play and now I’m on Cypress Point, on of my favorite of all courses.”
Bruce Devlin was tied with Casper, and Mike Fetchick at 142 after shooting a 69 at Cypress Point.
Nicklaus had a disappointing day at Spyglass Hill coming in with a 75 and despite what Jack Tuthill said about the greens, Nicklaus struggled with his putting and blamed the greens. He missed five putts from short-range including two of just 18 inches.
“We play a lot of bad courses during the year,” Nicklaus declared to reporters. “But at least they give you some kind of a chance on the greens. On six or seven of the greens on Spyglass there are no level places for good pin positions. If your putt misses the hole, you don’t know when it will stop.”
Pott and Sherrill continued to lead the pro-am portion of the event, but Ron Cerrudo and E. Harvey Ward were closing on them after a 61 put them two back.
Pott was one of the players who put an aluminum shafted driver in his bag for the first time that week and it was paying dividends.
“I’m driving extremely well,” he told Shoenfeld of the Oakland Tribune. “I only missed two greens today so it’s only four for the tournament.
Pott fattened his lead on Saturday after touring Pebble Beach recording a one-under 71. His three-day total of 212 gave him a three-stroke lead over Billy Casper, who played at Cypress Point and shot a 73 and Bruce Devlin who had a 73 at Spyglass Hill. Jack Nicklaus was another shot back at 216, tied with Bobby Nichols who had a 72 at Cypress.
The team of Cerrudo and Ward surged to the lead in the pro-am after a 63 that gave them a three-day total of 190. They were followed by the team of Marty Fleckman and John P. Cain who were at 191 after shooting a 60 in the third round, and the team of Pott and Sherrill who came in with a 67 and a total of 192.
Pott, who last won on tour at the 1963 American Golf Classic, may have been feeling the nerves of leading as he gave up three strokes to par over the front nine. Casper, on the other hand, made the turn in two-under shaving Pott’s lead to just one shot. Devlin kept pace as the tournament boiled down to a three-man affair.
“I was plain cold robbed on that one.”
Pott’s challengers kept the heat on and passed him on the back nine. He was two shots behind both Devlin and Casper with just two holes to play before he was able to turn it around and catch the two with back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. He nearly birdied the final hole as well when his putt lipped out.
“I was plain cold robbed on that one,” he declared to reporters after his round.
Casper put his approach shots close on the last four holes but could not convert any of them into birdies that would have won the tournament for him.
Devlin made great par saves on the 16th and 17th holes to go to the 18th locked with Casper and Pott. He hit his tee shot on the 16th wildly into the trees and onto a road on the left of the hole before hitting his approach over the trees and salvaged a par. He snap-hooked his drive at the 17th nearly into the ocean, but again saved par.
Both Devlin and Casper came in with 70s while Pott shot his first over-par round of the tournament, a 73. With all three players tied at 285, they headed out to the 15th to begin a sudden-death playoff. The par-4, 15th hole measured 406-yards, and it looked like Casper was going to capture the title after he put his approach to six feet from the pin. Devlin was on the green albeit 50-feet away from the pin, and Pott missed the green to the right and was in the rough.
“I was going for the hole all the way,” Pott said about his 8-iron approach shot. “Casper looked like he had a cinch birdie, so I had to go for it. My second shot was bad. I just pushed it a little too much. I guess the smart shot for me would have been to just get close and settle for second place, but I played it to win.”
“But it was a lucky shot. If I didn’t hit the hole, it would have gone eight feet by.”
Pott selected his pitching wedge to hit his 25-foot chip and then made perfect contact with the ball, although he hit it a bit too firmly. The ball carried the rough landing on the green and then raced towards the hole. It was perfectly online running towards the hole before hitting the hole and diving into the cup for his birdie.
“I hit a good chip,” he said after his round. “But it was a lucky shot. If I didn’t hit the hole, it would have gone eight feet by.”
Before Pott’s heroic shot, Devlin had left his 50 foot putt short and placed a coin down to mark his ball. Once Pott’s ball went in for a birdie, Casper told Devlin to pick his coin up—he was out of it. The stage was now left to Casper who had to make his six-footer to extend the playoff. Just as he had in the last four holes of regulation, Casper was unable to convert his short birdie putt giving Pott the title. Pott and Sherrill also won the pro-am portion of the event marking the first time since Art Wall won both the professional and pro-am titles in 1959.
Pott was able to shake off the rust from the holiday layoff to tame the three courses on the Monterey Peninsula and persevered in a sudden-death playoff to capture one of the most coveted, although not official, title in one of the most coveted tournaments on the PGA schedule.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Johnny Pott for the Tony Lema documentary we are working on. Here he tells us what he remembers from that win in 1968 at The Crosby.
BONUS STORY
Jon Peri the sports columnist for The Stockton Record passed on to his readers a story from Sports Illustrated concerning the sand at Pebble Beach. The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), a sponsor of the color broadcast of the final round of the 1968 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, wanted to jazz up the broadcast.
They wanted to supply the sand for all the bunkers at Pebble Beach, pastel shaded sand that would make the color television picture more attractive, at least in their view.
When the Del Monte Properties heard about 3M’s plans, they put the kibosh on it right away. Del Monte Properties were in the sand business themselves and provided the white glistening sand found in the bunkers at all three courses used for the Crosby event, as well as at other courses in Northern California.
The executives would have to be content with the color pictures broadcast on national television where the bunkers looked pretty darn good with the usual white sand.
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Congratulations to John Lewis III for winning the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest last week by correctly identifying #5 at Torrey Pines South Course in San Diego, CA. John beat out five other correct answers in the drawing and we’ve got a gift discount code to The Tour Backspin Golf Shop coming his way. We are sending discount codes to the winners of WHAT HOLE IS IT? in 2025 so that they can choose their prize from the offerings in The Tour Backspin Golf Shop, including the Tour Backspin 19th Hole Hot Sauce. Multiple winners can combine their discount codes to use on a single order, and the codes never expire. When the code is redeemed, the prize will be sent with free shipping, so getting your prize will not cost you anything. Check out The Tour Backspin Golf Shop HERE.
Congratulations to Doug Posten, our 2024 WHAT HOLE IS IT? champion! Doug’s name will be engraved on the Herbert C. Leeds Trophy, the perpetual trophy for WHAT HOLE IS IT? We’ll send it to him for a visit and post a champion’s picture of him with the trophy.
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We told you about getting our hands on a treasure trove of film that we are cleaning up and digitizing for the Tony Lema documentary. Some great footage of Tony in action and even home movies. Below is home movie footage of Tony, and his new bride Betty, leaving the church on their wedding day. The driver of the car is Jim Malarky, Tony’s sponsor on tour. This is the only known footage of Malarky that I’ve been able to find. (clicking on link will open this post on the web, scroll down to video player).
Click on image to open video player on the web.
You can now help get Tony Lema into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sign the online petition HERE.
Clips You Might Have Missed
Nice timing.
Cleeks Golf Club of LIV Golf has a new promotion video.
Max Homa responds to the Cleeks promotion video and LIV strikes back. I love a good back-and-forth.
Shane Lowry is already enjoying himself on the Monterey Peninusla.
Tag a friend who would drive the ball into the ground on this shot.
Nice par.
Tiger becomes first TGL player to incur a penalty because of the shot clock.
PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | Farmers Insurance Open
In a Saturday finish, to leave the stage open on Sunday for the NFL Conference Championships, Harris English entered maximum grind mode to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. In a final round that was plagued by pace of play issues, Harris came back from two early bogeys to putt together a string of pars that put him into the winner’s circle.
Players averaged a pace of 20 minutes per hole, and even though the leaders teed off at 11:11 am, they were in danger of not finishing before darkness arrived at 5:15 (PST). A Sunday playoff was certainly a possibility.
Sam Stevens was the only player who was able to put some pressure on English posting a 4-under-par 68 for a 7-under total.
Despite hitting only four fairways, and eight greens in his round, English scrambled to secure a string of pars. His clutch two-putt from 56 feet at the 17th hole and a safe par on the 18th after he was forced to chip out to the fairway after another wild drive, was enough to secure the title.
Here are the highlights of the final round:
Tour Backspin Quiz | San Diego Open Trivia
What was the first year that the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am was nationally broadcast on television?
Scroll down for answer
Swing Like a Pro
The sweet swing of Bruce Devlin.
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
The TGL on Tuesday night faced a sticky ruling. Josh Schrock explains it all in Golf.com.
Tour Backspin Music Clip
Jimi Hendrix plays “All Along the Watchtower” live in 1968.
We’ve got a bonus music clip relative to the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. Watch Phil Harris and Glen Campbell perform from a tee at Pebble Beach.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
The first Bing Crosby National Pro-Am that was broadcast nationally was in 1958 with Bing himself acting as the M.C.
Thank you for reading this far, I know your time is valuable and choosing to spend some of it on what I’ve created is gratifying. If you want to help support the work we’re doing, please consider upgrading. It’s just $36 a year and you’ll be helping to tell the stories from one of golf’s golden ages.
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Final Thoughts
Phil Harris was so much fun. He was a close friend of Tony Lema.
Did you play with aluminum shafts?
It’s been a while, but we’ve got a new episode of The Tour Backspin Show that will drop for paid subscribers next week. We’ll also have some content from the PGA Show in Orlando that will drop for paid subscribers before it will be available for all subscribers. Seems like a pretty good time to upgrade to a paid subscription.
My grandfather gave me his set of aluminum-shaft clubs when I graduated from high school. I played them with good success, until the DOD contract movers stole 'em when I returned from deployment in Germany in 1979. (Those wankers also stole my cavalry saber and stetson!)