Weather Blows Up Crosby Pro-Am
Winds of 50 mph, sideways rain, and cold temperatures on the Monterey Peninsula
These events on the PGA TOUR that are not a Signature Events continue to deliver fantastic storylines and unlikely winners. Congratulations to Matthieu Pavon for becoming the first PGA TOUR champion from France—sort of. Scroll down for more on the first frenchman to win on the PGA TOUR distinctions and for the Clips You Might Have Missed in the PGA TOUR Wrap-Up section to learn more.
On Wednesday, the PGA TOUR informed its players that a multibillion-dollar deal had been struck with Strategic Sports Group, a private-equity consortium. The partnership announced a new commercial entity, known as the PGA TOUR Enterprises, that will operate under the control of the PGA TOUR. Scroll down to the Check it Out section for a link to learn more about PGA TOUR Enterprises.
It looks pretty wet for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week.
With no football on we can all turn our attention to the golf where we will be watching a Signature Event that will have most of the best players in the world playing on one of the most famous courses in the world.
We’ll be able to watch these great players playing in challenging weather conditions and there may be some rain delays during the television broadcast. But you’re in luck. We have a special feature story that will help you pass the time during those rain delays. We dive into the 1965 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am where Tony Lema was trying to defend his title from 1964. The tournament featured one of the worst weather days in Crosby history—and that’s saying something. Suffice to say that today’s pros would have been called in off the course because of the weather.
It’s a long post for a couple of reasons. First, the Crosby supplies so many great storylines. Second, my friend Mike Wasserman, sent me a batch of wonderful photographs taken by Matt Southard of the San Francisco Examiner from that week that I just had to use. Lastly, it is a great opportunity to write about Tony Lema. I usually avoid too much on Tony as I have written a book about his life and I’d like to, you know, sell the book. But writing about this week in 1965 on the Monterey Peninsula gave me a chance to drill down into all the details from that week that couldn’t fit into the book. If you like it, and want to learn more about Tony Lema, scroll down and mash that “Buy Uncorked on Amazon” button.
If you want more on the Crosby from the 1960s, check out our archives. We’ve written about the 1967 Crosby which featured the first use of Spyglass as one of the courses HERE, the 1966 event HERE, and the sandbagging that went on in the 1964 event HERE.
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll, we asked “who ya got?” in the NBC “bake off” competition for a new analysist to replace Paul Azinger. In a close vote, 57% of respondents chose Brandle Chamblee while 43% preferred Kevin Kisner.
The elevation of the AT&T Pebble Beach to a Signature Event meant some changes would be made. There is a trade-off between the chance to watch the best players on an iconic course versus the fun antics of celebrities in the pro-am. The changes have put more emphasis on watching the best players while reducing the antics of the pro-am. What do you think? Would you rather watch the best golf, or be entertained by the pro-am? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
Tour Backspin Poll
This week’s Vintage Ad features Tony Lema and his split personality. Scroll down to view.
Keeping up with the theme, this week’s Swing Like a Pro features the smooth swing of Tony Lema.
Journey back in time, when we lived in a black-and-white world, to a live performance of “Downtown” by Petula Clark in this week’s Tour Backspin Music. Listen HERE.
Do you know what happened today in golf history? Or which famous golfer has a birthday today? Me, neither. But I do know where to go to find out. 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 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Trivia in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Larry Baush
Lesson From Nicklaus Helps Crampton Win
It is Tuesday, January 19th, 1965, and Arnold Palmer, accompanied by his wife, Winnie, has just flown from Monterey to the Sacramento Executive Airport. The Palmer’s flight was an instrument only flight due to the rainy weather they encountered, and they were in Sacramento for Arnie to play in an exhibition at Valley Hi Country Club in nearby Elk Grove. The exhibition was a benefit for the junior chamber of commerce, and with advanced ticket sales, at $3.50, and tickets sold on-site at Valley Hi, at $5, the junior chamber turned a profit of $750 after paying Palmer’s $3,500 exhibition fee.
After playing in a downpour that lasted the entire round and required wearing full rain suits and huddling under umbrellas, the Palmers then got back on their plane and returned to Monterey for the Crosby National Pro-Am. Palmer, and the rest of the PGA touring pros playing that week, would experience some of the worst weather ever to hit the Crosby Clambake. Palmer’s rain gear would hardly have time to dry out before he would need it again.
“Man, you’re aiming too far to the right. Let me stand here a while and help line you up.”
Tony Lema was defending his Crosby victory from 1964 and was a local hero to the fans who flocked to the tournament paying $3 each for the first two days, and $4 each for the final two rounds. Other favorites included Jack Nicklaus, Paul Harney, winner of the Los Angeles Open, Billy Casper, Doug Sanders, Al Geiberger, and Ken Venturi. The huge field of 174 pros and their amateur partners required the use of three courses: the Cypress Point Club, the new Shore Course at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club, and the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
A day before the opening round, Jack Nicklaus, always one to offer a tip or two to a fellow touring professional, spent 45-minutes on the practice tee helping Australian Bruce Crampton straighten out an ugly hook.
“Man, you’re aiming too far to the right,” Nicklaus said arriving at Crampton’s station on the practice range. “Let me stand here a while and help line you up.”
At the 1964 St. Petersburg Open, Nicklaus did the same thing. On the second day of the tournament, he gave a two-hour lesson to Australian Bruce Devlin helping him straighten out his swing which had gotten too flat. The next day Devlin shot eight-under-par to grab the lead and then went on to win the tournament beating Nicklaus by six strokes. Nicklaus informed him that the lesson he received would be his last.
Thursday’s opening round of the Crosby Clambake featured sunshine for most of the day before rain started falling late in the afternoon. Doug Ford fashioned a nice 66 at Monterey Peninsula while Dave Ragan matched Ford’s 66, and Don January shot a 67. Both Ragan and January played Cypress Point. Palmer opened with a 73 at Cypress Point while Nicklaus, celebrating his 25th birthday, shot a 72, also at Cypress Point. The spectators around the tee at the famous 16th hole serenaded Nicklaus with a lusty rendition of Happy Birthday. Lema began his defense of the title, also at Cypress Point, with a 72.
All of the big stars opened on Cypress Point so that they would be at Pebble Beach on Saturday for the television coverage.
Ken Venturi shot an 81 at Cypress Point, but his amateur partner, San Francisco disc jockey Jim Lange, playing to an 11 handicap, helped the team by 20 strokes to tie for the lead, at 61, in the pro-am part of the competition. They were tied with Doug Sanders and his partner, Los Angeles businessman Lloyd Pitzer. Both Venturi and Sanders won the $1,000 prize given to the daily leaders in the pro-am portion of the tournament. The suspected sandbagger Lange would begin his stint as the host of The Dating Game later in the year in December.
Tony Lema and his partner, Father John Durkin opened with a 64. Lema, a former Marine, met Father Durkin, an Air Force chaplain, when they both served overseas during the Korean War. They played in the first three rounds with Dave Hill and his amateur partner Phil Harris, a good friend of Lema’s. Lema and Father Durkin finished 2nd in 1964 and were looking to improve by one spot in ‘65.
“You’re going to have to go to confession after that, Father.”
Before teeing off in the second round, Father Durkin paused on the first tee of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club and pointed at his partner.
“He’s a sure winner,” the catholic priest said.
“You’re going to have to go to confession after that, Father.” Lema retorted.
But the father might’ve known something as four hours later, Lema walked off the 18th green after shooting a course record 65.
“I don’t think I’ll be leading at 136,” Lema said after his round. “I’ll sure have to shoot two good rounds the next two days to do any good.”
He then departed for the Highlands Inn in Carmel for a nap instead of going to the pressroom, as was customary for the daily leaders. It wasn’t long before Doc Giffin, the press secretary for the tour, was calling and waking Lema up from his peaceful nap and informing him that he was the leader and was expected in the pressroom. A surprised Lema took only 20 minutes to make the return trip and review his round for the scribes assembled.
Lema birdied six of the first nine holes, turned in 30, and offset his one bogey on the backside with a birdie to match the par of 35. His 65 shaved one-stroke off the course record. He held the course record alone for only a few hours before Don Massengale, who shot a 74 in the first round, matched Lema’s 65.
Charlie Sifford shot a second round 68, at Monterey, for a 131 total, and was tied with Bill Collins, who also played at Monterey and shot a 70. They were three strokes behind Lema, and eight other players, including Nicklaus, Casper, and Sanders, were another stroke back. Bobby Nichols was at 141. Bruce Crampton opened with a 75 but a second round 67 placed him at 142. The pre-tournament lesson from Nicklaus was starting to pay off for Crampton.
Dark, ugly clouds gathered early on Friday raising concerns amongst the players that conditions were deteriorating. Palmer birdied his first hole at Monterey and then laughed at the weather gods as he sung “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’” on his way to the second tee. He was so into his song that he didn’t notice a low wire in his path, tripped, and fell on his face and injured his hip slightly. He did not score another birdie the rest of the day and had a two-round total of 145.
The weather did worsen on Friday, but it was nothing compared to what was coming for Saturday. The weather forecast was for gales, storms, and rain falling sideways. So, of course, the morning arrived quite calm and Rocky Thompson, a rookie from Texas, teed off early at Monterey, considered the easiest course of the three being played, and posted a 68 rocketing him past 32 players in front of him on the leaderboard. He then retired to the clubhouse for a sandwich.
“It was absolutely the worst conditions I’ve played under since St. Andrews last year and that was an easier course.”
Just about this time, the real weather arrived, and the wind started to blow, first to 30 mph, then 40 mph, and then to 50 mph. For a reference on how the wind affected play, Al Mengert made a hole-in-one on the famous 7th hole at Pebble Beach, a hole that usually only requires a short iron. Mengert made his ace with a 3-iron. Paul Harney, one of the longer hitters on tour, hit two drivers and could still not reach the 367-yard 17th hole at Cypress Point while Mason Rudolph hit driver, 3-wood, and an 8-iron to reach the same green. Reigning PGA Champion Bobby Nichols shot a 90 in the worst of the weather.
Scores started going up faster than a Saturn rocket from Cape Kennedy.
“It was absolutely the worst conditions I’ve played under since St. Andrews last year and that was an easier course,” Lema said after his round at Pebble Beach. He was referencing the conditions when he won The Open Championship in 1964 at St. Andrews.
Lema’s family made the trip down from San Leandro, just outside of Oakland, to watch Lema’s defense of the title, including his nephew, Marc Matoza. He recently recalled for Tour Backspin how terrible the conditions were.
Lema needed to make a nine-foot putt at the 18th hole for a birdie to break 80. His 79 put him three strokes back of Thompson, the leader at 212. Harold Kneece, like Thompson, played before the weather turned nasty, shot a 69 and was at 214 tied with Bob Harris who was also an early starter and shot 73. Crampton played Pebble Beach, teeing off at 8:26 before the heavy weather and shot a 73 for a three-round total of 215 tied with Lema, and Jacky Cupit. Casper was another stroke back at 216. Palmer birdied his final hole to make the cut by one shot.
“I haven’t shot 80 in a long time,” Lema said after his round. “But I was sure sweating this one out.”
In what was becoming a recurring situation, when it came time for Giffin to escort the leader into the pressroom, he was nowhere to be found. Giffin finally found Thompson staring at the leaderboard.
“Heck, I wasn’t even able to make the Houston U golf team. I was seventh on a six-man squad.”
“Shucks, I was just tryin’ to get close, that’s all,” Thompson said once he was finally located and sat in front of reporters. “I’m the luckiest guy around because I know what some of those guys are going through out on the Beach. Heck, I wasn’t even able to make the Houston U golf team. I was seventh on a six-man squad.”
By Sunday’s final round, the weather had blown itself out and the golf was played under sunny skies. The course however, was still soggy and the round was played under preferred lies with players lifting, cleaning, and placing their balls in the fairway.
Lema began the day serving as an altar boy for Father Durkin. He’d done the same thing in 1964 when he won and didn’t want to break the streak.
Thompson’s glory did not last long as he made three straight bogeys at the start of his round while Bruce Crampton was making birdies galore. He birdied four of his first six holes as he pulled out to a lead over Lema, Casper, and Nicklaus. He took his first bogey of the round at the 13th hole after missing the green with his approach shot and then hit his approach at the 14th hole with too much spin as the ball landed on the green and spun back into a bunker resulting in another bogey.
“Jack Nicklaus was sort of shot with his own gun.”
His lead over Lema was down to two strokes as he headed to the 15th hole where the television coverage began. He hit “two great shots, a driver and 4-iron” and then sank the five-foot birdie putt. He then put the tournament away with a 50-foot birdie putt he made at the 16th hole resulting in a four-stroke lead. He bogeyed the par-3 17th hole and parred the final hole to win by three over Lema and four over Casper and Nicklaus.
George Bayer and his amateur partner, Morgan Barofsky, a six handicapper, won the pro-am portion of the tournament. The magic ran out for Jim Lange and Ken Venturi who finished seven strokes back of the winners. Palmer finished with a round of 80, out of the money.
As Bing Crosby noted later at the stag awards banquet, “Jack Nicklaus was sort of shot with his own gun,” referring to the lesson that Crampton received from Nicklaus prior to the start of the tournament.
That lesson was as valuable as the early starting time on Saturday that allowed Crampton to avoid being blown out by the weather as so many of his competitors were.
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BONUS STORY
Ken Venturi’s first round 81 shocked everyone, none more so than the columnists for the local newspapers. They needed to get to the bottom of how the reigning U.S. Open champion had shot such a high score. Prescott Sullivan of the San Francisco Examiner caught up with Venturi as he came off the 18th green at the new Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club after his second round. He asked Venturi what was wrong with him and his game.
“I’m not hitting the ball,” Venturi replied.
“That’s obvious,” Sullivan replied. “But why aren’t you hitting it? What about that problem you’ve been having with your hands? Is it really that bad?”
Venturi motioned Sullivan to follow him away from the crowded green where Bob Hope was regaling the spectators with jokes and stories. Venturi and Sullivan made their way into the pro shop where there was a modicum of privacy.
“Sure, I’m having trouble,” Venturi admitted in a low voice. “But I don’t like to talk about it. I don’t want people to think of me as an alibi artist.”
Venturi then went on to detail what was going on with his hands. Reporters had noticed that he was using hand warmers between shots at both the Los Angeles Open and here at the Crosby. To Sullivan, Venturi admitted that he had been diagnosed with Reynaud’s Phenomenon, a nerve and circulatory disorder which had benched Sandy Koufax for part of the 1962 season.
Doctors advised Venturi to not play golf for at least a few months. Venturi ignored this advice and played in L.A. and at the Crosby using the hand warmers, which didn’t help much. He had no feelings in his fingers on either of his hands.
Venturi announced that he would be taking six weeks off after the Crosby. He eventually was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome which was surgically treated allowing him to again play golf. It was about this time that Venturi embarked on a new career as an analyst for CBS golf broadcasts.
BONUS STORY II
Right before the group with Tony Lema, Father John Durkin, Bruce Crampton, and Paul Spengler, Jr. arrived at the 14th green in the final round of the 1965 Crosby National Pro-Am, a deer bounded out of the crowd. The doe, as surprised as the spectators, ran to find an escape narrowly avoiding Russ Reed, photographer for the Oakland Tribune, before bounding back into the woods.
The frisky doe reappeared at the 16th green but this time she couldn’t find an escape route through the crowd. No worry. The doe simply leaped completely over the astonished crowd and back into the woods.
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 John Lewis who correctly identified #12 at Riverwalk Golf Club in San Diego, CA, in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest. John beat out one other correct answer in the random drawing and a prize pack is on its way to him. Submit your answer for this week and get yourself into the race for the Herbert C. Leeds Trophy, our new perpetual trophy for the annual winner.
PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | Farmers Insurance Open
History was again made on Saturday as Mattieu Pavon became the first player from France to win on the PGA TOUR. Some would argue that Arnaud Massy, winner of the 1907 Open Championship, or Martin Trainer, winner of the 2019 Puerto Rico Open beat Pavon to the first Frenchman to win on the tour. Trainer won while representing the United States but has since changed his nationality to France. The PGA TOUR and the R&A did not have the kind of partnership that they have today in 1907 and the winner of the Open Championship was certainly not considered a winner on the PGA TOUR at that time.
Pavon birdied the final hole to edge out Nicolai Højgaard. Interestingly, Højgaard’s brother, Rasmus, was also a runner-up last week, on the DP World Tour.
Read the PGA TOUR recap HERE.
The call here is fantastic.
Clips You Might Have Missed
There were almost two on the same day.
Nice putt for Rose.
Let’s get ready for the WM Phoenix Open. You gotta admire the level of preparedness here.
Tour Backspin Quiz | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Trivia
Who is the only amateur to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (then known as the Bing Crosby Pro-Am), and what year did he win it?
Scroll down for answer
Swing Like a Pro
Tony Lema’s swing.
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
The Tour Backspin Music
Petula Clark sings “Downtown” live and in front of a raucous crowd in 1965. 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?
It’s a rain edition from 1965. Just looking at that rain gear makes me sweat.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Amateur Johnny Dawson won the 1942 Crosby Pro-Am by three strokes over Leland Gibson and Lloyd Mangrum. Dawson, who was also a golf course architect, also won the 1942 California State Amateur and the 1942 Southern California Amateur. Quite the year.
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.
Vintage Ad
Final Thoughts
The players on the PGA TOUR will have the opportunity to receive over $1.5 billion in equity from the just announced PGA TOUR Enterprises venture. That’s a lot of money for what we’re not really sure of what the end product(s) will be.
How cool is Petula Clark? That sure looks like the Newport Jazz Festival, but I couldn’t find her on the lineup in 1965.
That french call of Pavon’s winning putt is beautiful, but hilarious.
This post was edited on 2/1/2024 to correct the details of Pavon’s finish in the Farmers Insurance Open